Do you ever facepalm when you see Christians saying God is an absolute standard of morality?

Question

What they're really saying is that God is good according to God's standard. That's just painful to hear, that's like saying you're good according to your standard.

It's like saying that you've defined morality to mean anything that you do and thus everything you do is objectively moral and you are the absolute standard of morality.

Answer 1

God is good is simply a first principle for Christians. All of God's actions are excused because God knows best and has a plan that is ultimately good for us. Therefore, whatever God wants us to do is also by definition good and moral. That is the nature of religion. I don't agree with this, but I don't consider it to be irrational or worthy of a facepalm. The problem is not the analytical framework, but the fact that the Christian God's directives are unclear. Thus, morality according to the Christian God is subject to multiple and sometimes conflicting interpretations.



This is a form of moral relativism in that God is judged by God's own standard, but your earthly analogy doesn't apply because God is a deity and you are not.

Answer 2

There is nothing wrong with questioning whether or not the Christian God would qualify as "moral". There are parts in the Bible that are confusing so an honest person has to ask those questions. It is also ok to be an atheist because nobody can help that. You are either able to believe or not able to believe.



HOWEVER, you seem to be against "absolute morality". Are you implying that there is nothing in this world that is absolutely wrong?



Can the torture and brutal murder of a small child be justified? If you answer yes to that question then we really have nothing to say to each other from here on out...



If God does not exist then we must invent the standard of absolute morality anyway. Otherwise, civilization is nothing but a gigantic cluster****.



"Read "The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence has Declined" for a quantitative case how well religious morality has worked through history."



You could argue against religious theocracy...but that's it. In Christianity in particular, God is supposed to be the redeemer of the world who would bring an end to all the misery and resurrect the dead. All those who have suffered injustice would get their just deserts. Whether or not the God of scripture properly fits this description is irrelevant to the fact that the idea of the "great redeemer" is the most important part.



Without God, we would need to reach the levels of a supremely advanced technological civilization and do all these things ourselves. We would need to perfect ourselves and reverse the entropy of the multiverse to redeem the past.



If you and others can't figure out what "absolute morality" is then we have NO CHANCE of ever reaching the level of this utopian civilization. No chance at all.



Furthermore, there is a considerable amount of evil in this world that is NOT done in the name of religion. Claiming that removing religion will somehow move us in the direction of peace on Earth is a joke, especially when the ones claiming this don't even profess belief in absolute moral standards. There are millions of selfish individuals in this world who torment and destroy others for their own sick satisfaction. Although it is true that many evil deeds are done in the name of organized religion, there are a far greater number of evil deeds done simply for the sake of cruel satisfaction and pride.



For example, someone murdered 27 people near my home town recently. 20 of the victims were small children. There is currently no evidence whatsoever that this person believed in religion let alone be motivated by it. Those individuals are dead and buried. Only a highly advanced civilization or a deity can undo this damage. We clearly have neither.

Answer 3

No its us saying God is the standard. He by His nature set the rules and made all so u are subject to them. He also cannot change so they are objective.



Objective morals must be given not decided by man.



U sir argue objectivity yet have no logically foundation on which to stand at all.

Answer 4

In the thousands of years of human history, mankind has been able to try every form of self-rule, or human government. Mankind has made some advances in science and other fields, but injustice, poverty, crime, and war have grown ever worse. Human rule has now been shown to be a failure.





1CO 1:23 So when we preach about Christ dying to save them, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense.



1CO 1:25 This so-called "foolish" plan of God is far wiser than the wisest plan of the wisest man, and God in his weakness--Christ dying on the cross--is far stronger than any man.



2 Corinthians 4:4

4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.



1 John 5:19

19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.



Satan is the god of this system of things, and the whole world is in his power. (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 5:19)



1CO 1:24 But God has opened the eyes of those called to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, to see that Christ is the mighty power of God to save them; Christ himself is the center of God's wise plan for their salvation.



For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26



He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3



Proverbs 2:1-6 says he gives you; knowledge, and understanding and wisdom if you seek it.

Answer 5

All the time!

Answer 6

God, in contrast to humans, exhibits incommunicable attributes such as omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternality, holiness- as well as love, justice, mercy, etc.



A singular intelligence which inhabits the sum total of each point in space-time and beyond, who is aware of all POTENTIAL interactions between all particles dispersed throughout all time beyond those actualized (which STILL surpass our comprehensive ability), who balances free will with just punishment of sins committed against His ETERNAL self and sacrificial love of immense simplicity to accept (someone else took your sins- what's so difficult with that? do you have to change the way you live also? I thought pagans were of equal moral caliber)- anyways, run-on- -



God's standards and understanding clearly exceed those of humans. Explaining the dynamics of Wall Street to an ant is an easier task- for humans are limited like ants- God isn't.

Answer 7

Well, I suppose that you believe that YOUR opinion is the standard of morality. So, you are good according to your standard, which is just exactly what you are accusing Christians of saying.



So, in order to avoid hypocrisy with this statement, you would have to admit that there IS NO absolute standard of morality, and that you personally have no way of knowing what is or is not moral. But then, when you live your life, you still have to decide what is right and wrong, now don't you? So, you might decide to "be nice." Okay, but what is nice? Doing what you want and letting others do what they want? What if behaviors harm society at large or harm the individual? What is harm? You could go at this all day long.



But the one thing you have decided is that it is immoral to believe in God's standard of morality, a standard that has been handed down through human history and if you are pragmatic about it you have to admit works pretty well.

Answer 8

He is and isn't. Morality shifts according to societies, and shortly thereafter, religion closely follows as though it had dictated the moral change in the first place. But since God guided evolution, He is what propels the moral shift in the first place you could say.

Answer 9

What is it about " treat others the way you would want to be treated" or " love your enemies more than your friends for if you only love your friends , what is the reward" you don't understand?

Answer 10

What if god decided to write a newer testament that said it was okay to kill children?



Would Christians then decide it's okay to kill children? No? Well then god isn't an absolute standard of morality.



To this day, no theist has ever been able to reconcile the dilemma I've posed; instead they just cop out by saying "well god would never do that" - which has a further amusing implication; they think they can read their god's mind, I guess.

Answer 11

I hesitate to even answer because of the way you've slanted the question. I'll just point out one thing, even though it's unlikely I'll be heard above the din. God's character is the basis for Christian morality. He didn't "decide" or discover morality any more than you decided to be human and breath air. According to Christianity, humankind was created to represent God in the world. That's our telos. From this is follows that we are obligated objectively to mirror His character.



Contrary to what you assume, this is rational and consistent. God is unchanging in his essence. Morality, therefor isn't subject to even God's whim. It is logically impossible for God to act contrary to his nature. That's why hypotheticals which posit an evil God are incoherent. It is metaphysically impossible for God to do or will evil.



Oh well, I hope you don't hurt yourself over my answer.



peace

Answer 12

I "facepalm" when another pointless harangue about religion starts.



I am an atheist, but I don't expect everyone else to be. Some in the atheist camp keep insisting on "proof" of the existence of God. The important but often overlooked term here is "faith".

Faith is belief without proof. You have faith or you don't. In some parts of the world to deny the prevalent religious tenets is to flirt with injury, even death. Medieval Islam seems to have been more tolerant than modern Islam-in fact, even more tolerant than some modern Christian sects.

We define our own "gods"-which is why in parts of Latin America both Jesus and Mary are depicted as dark-skinned while in European Christian churches Jesus is blond and very Caucasian.

Answer 13

Your view is extremely distorted. First of all, it's not an "absolute standard", it's an objective standard. Granted, the terms could be interchangeable, but absolute usually draws the inference of codified ethics as in a list of rules and regulations. God's morality has to do with the condition of the heart and loving our neighbors as ourselves, in addition to some fundamental standards.



All this has to do with us. God is good because he is, not because he has defined his objective morality. You have a problem with God and the need to repent, not his morality.

Answer 14

no



i face palm when i see people claiming they do not need god and can make up their own morality then wonder why there can be no peace when every one makes up their own standards of morality



god is moral and just he does no evil



god is holy he does not do any evil



that is exactly what god is that god defined morality to mean anything that god does is objectively moral and the absolute standard of morality.

Answer 15

Which god.... there are multiple gods in the bible... I have chosen not to submit to these aliens

Answer 16

Not always. Sometimes I facepalm but other times I bang my head against the wall. Other times I say "oh, come on." It varies.

Answer 17

God is THE absolute standard of morality





there you go

Answer 18

The fact that the world is so chaotic shows what everyone having a different standard has caused. Don't blame Christians for that. Your state of mind is your own doing.

Answer 19

no, I just shake my head and sigh

Answer 20

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Answer 21

I face palm when they make any claims about a being that has yet to be proven to exist



They pretend to know what god wants, what he plans, how to get heaven and lots more



They arrogantly and naively think that if it is in the bible it is true, because it is the bible



I remember my mums incredulity when I questioned the authenticity of that book



You simply get, of course it is true ...it is the bible

.

Answer 22

Hitler was good according to his standard.