Research Paper Notes

On justifying one’s acceptance of divine command theory Dennis Plaisted

 I will refer to the first type as Normative Divine Command Theory (NDCT). NDCT

maintains that any act we are morally obligated to perform is so in virtue of God’s

having commanded it. Obedience to God’s commands is our ultimate moral obligation.

The second type, Metaethical Divine Command Theory (MDCT), puts forth claims

linking the very nature of moral obligation with God’s commands. MDCT might claim

such things as that moral obligation itself can only be understood in terms of God’s

commands (that is, obligation itself is essentially a theological concept) or that the

property of being obligatory just is the property of having been commanded by God.

(320) It will be good to distinguish these in my paper aswell as which view I am taking

 The Good/Right Response to the Euthyphro Dilemma is interesting. What is good and

what is right are 2 separate things. God only commands what is right, not what is good.

(323)

 Romans 2:14-15 -God has given the notion of goodness within us. (328-329)

 How can one person find gay marriage quite permissible, while another is morally

repulsed by it, if God authored the moral notions of both? A standard answer to this sort

of objection is that God did give everyone the same set of moral beliefs initially, but

these beliefs are not set in stone. (329) A response to a question of if God has given

everyone they’re sense of morality why do people believe in different moral systems.

 It seems that we must appeal both to our standards of goodness and our standards of

rightness to make an adequate evaluation of God or God’s commands. For example, to

determine that God is good, we would need to evaluate, among other things, whether his
 actions (e.g., as revealed perhaps in scripture) were right, as we would not be justified in

viewing him as perfectly good if we had no idea about the rightness of his actions. A

perfectly good being is one who, among other things, always does what is right.30- We

can discover that God is perfectly good or all good by viewing His actions in the world.

Morality is real, objective, and supernatural Christian B. Miller

 These days there are two leading answers among voluntarists. The first is provided

by divine command theory, where the basic idea is that God’s commands are the

basis or source of our moral obligations. The other leading position is called divine

will theory, which says that God’s will is the basis or source of our moral

obligations. (75) – Discuss in my paper the difference in both Divine Command

Theory and Divine Will Theory.

Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem

 God’s Goodness

o “What is “good”? “Good” is what God approves. We may ask then, why is

what God approves good? We must answer, “Because he approves it.” That s

to say, there is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and

his approval of whatever is consistent with that character.” – Here Grudem

looks like he takes the second horn of the argument at first but is taking my

position. Since God needs no other moral source outside Himself , He

commands and approves what is good by itself. This also ties in with God’s

unchangeableness and eternality.

 o Verses to use for Biblical support of God’s goodness – James 1:17; cf.

Ps.145:9; Acts 14:17

 God’s Unchangeableness

o Biblical Support for God’s Unchangeableness – Psalm 102:23-27; James

1:17. His purpose – Psalm 33:11; Isaiah 46:9-11.

CAN GOD’S GOODNESS SAVE THE DIVINE COMMAND THEORY FROM

EUTHYPHRO? JEREMY KOONS

 An article that challenges my view.

Good God David Baggett Jerry Walls

 Hi

The New American Commentary 397

 Expositers Greek New Testament. Vol 4

Divine Command Theory Internet Encyclopedia Article

Beneficence Baptist Faith and Message

Millard Erikson

Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words

Expositors Bible Commentary

Hondas?
  Find the translation of the Euthyphro I am using!!!!!

 Use the “One of them must be true” line in my paper

Cut content from my paper:

One way a Christian can respond to the dilemma is that divine will theory. Divine will

theory states that God’s will is what we derive what is good from. Since God’s

commands stem from His will and his commands are according to His will then what is

good is what aligns with His will and not His commands themselves. Christian Miller in

his academic journal, Morality is real, objective, and supernatural, summarizes divine

will theory as, “God’s will for human behavior is what he desires for us to do. God’s

desires, in other words, are the basis for the life we should be leading.” An example a

divine will theorist would use to prove their point from a biblical perspective is the

sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. A divine will theorist would say that it was God’s

command for Abraham to sacrifice his son but that was not the will of God for him to do

so. This means that God was pleased in Abraham for following the will of God by not

sacrificing Isaac even though God commanded him to do so.