DCT

• Morality can be understood in theistic terms if there is a God
• Offering a supernatural explanation for morality is worth exploring
• DCT explains why some values/morals are universal and absolute
• DCT provides an informative account of what morality is based on God’s character
• DCT can explain the impartiality of morals by appealing to the claim that the demands of morality arise from someone with impartial and deep love for all beings
• Divine Command Theory (DCT)


  Also called theological voluntarianism. It is a meta-ethical theory proposing that an action's status as morally good is equivalent to whether it is commanded/willed by God. To be moral is to follow God’s commands
• DCT explains why morals are concerned with respect for others
• Philosophical reasons for DCT

  • John Mackie, an atheist - if God exists, morality can be derived from him due to his traits.
  • Robert Adams, a theist - an action must be morally wrong if it defies an omnibenevolent God
• Christians have to respect God’s creation and live conforming to the will of God
• Theological reasons for DCT

  • Moral principles in Christianity have developed from the Christian understanding of God
  • The Apostles’ Creed emphasizes belief in God the Father almighty, creator of heaven & earth
• Ways Christians understand God's will

  • The Bible
  • Teachings of the Church (RC)
  • Example set by Jesus
• Humans are made in the image of God, having a rational & moral character
• Jesus’ crucifixion & resurrection were part of God's plan for the relationship between God & humans to be restored
• Christians should follow Jesus’ moral guidance, summed up in the word ‘love’
• God reveals Himself through history and has a plan for his creation
• God's plan influences Christian thinking on morals
• God is beyond human comprehension and is a law unto Himself
• DCT stresses God’s total omnipotence & His indeterminate divine will
• God


  A law unto Himself, beyond human comprehension. His character & actions can't be rationalised & explained through human reason
• Calvin: 'God has eternally destined a person to eternal life or death according to the pleasure of his will alone'
• Calvin: 'God has in his hand and will the free disposing of his graces'
• Calvin: 'For God’s will is so much the highest rule of righteousness that whatever he wills, by the very fact that he wills it, must be considered righteous...'
• There is no higher authority than God's will: "everything which he wills must be held to be righteous by the mere fact of his willing it."
• Key commands

  • The 10 Commandments
  • Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chs 5 – 7)
  • Any of Jesus’ teachings
• No such thing as 'natural law' in the world that can be studied to gain insight into God & how we should behave
• Why God chooses to do something is a pointless question to ask!
• Calvinists: 'Quote from Romans 9 in the Bible to support their view'
• Calvin: 'One of the consequences of Adam & Eve’s disobeying of God in the Garden of Eden was the destroying of our reasoning powers by original sin'
• Barth accepts God’s total omnipotence & His indeterminate divine will
• Only the Elect, guided by the ‘spectacles’ of a Biblical faith, could discern the legible marks of God's presence in nature
• Barth: 'Most important Protestant theologian of the 20th C. Book = ‘Church Dogmatics’'
• Barth defines ‘ethics’ as the divine command of God & mankind’s response to it i.e. obedience
• Barth's understanding of ethics

  The divine command of God & mankind’s response to it i.e. obedience
• Ethics according to Barth

  Divine command of God & mankind’s response to it i.e. obedience
• Belief extends to the Bible

  It contains God’s words but isn’t THE word of God as it was written by humans
• Salvation is available for everyone
• Grace


  God’s graciousness
• For humans an ethical life is only possible if

  People are in a relationship with God (covenant)
• Through His grace, Jesus Christ


  Takes our place as sinners (justification) & accomplishes the holiness or goodness that is to characterize those in a right relationship with God (sanctified)
• Key ideas for Christians to become more Christ-like

  • Agape love, social justice, equality, self-sacrifice, witness to the world about how fantastic God is