Chapter 5 Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

Ethics for Life A Text with Readings 6th Edition Boss

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Chapter 5
Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

Chapter Overview
This chapter explores the relationship between morality and religion. Many people look to
religion for moral guidance. While most religious people believe that morality exists
independently of God’s commands (see natural law theory), others believe that morality is
relative or dependent on God’s commands and, therefore, can change from time to time and
from person to person. In this chapter, we’ll be examining this theory as well as the concept
of civil religion which claims that God’s commands are relative to a particular culture and
time.

Learning Objectives
In this chapter, students will learn about
• the relationship between morality and religion.
• the difference between divine command theory and natural law theory
• the divine command theory and its implications.
• civil religion and its connection to cultural relativism and national morality
• Robert Bellah’s critique of American civil religion
• the role of religion in the civil rights movement
• how religious views affect the concept of moral community
• the definition of a supererogatory moral act
• the distinction between morality, spirituality, and religiosity
• why morality is not dependent on religion
.

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 Chapter 5 Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

Readings
Plato, Euthyphro
Summary Plato (c.428-347B.C.E.) was a student of Socrates and founder of the Academy in
Athens. As a teacher, he used dialogue as a pedagogical tool. In this excerpt from Plato’s
Euthyphro, Socrates carries on a dialogue with Euthyphro, who claims to be an expert in
religion and piety/morality. In the dialogue Socrates, who has recently been arrested on
charges of impiety, questions Euthyphro about the meaning of piety/morality, which
Euthyphro defines using variations of the divine command theory. Socrates, in responses,
finds a flaw in each of Euthyphro’s definitions.
Tips Socrates’ rebuttal of Euthyphro’s definition of piety/morality illustrates some of the
problems with divine command theory. Ask students if Socrates’ argument against
Euthyphro’s divine command theory would also apply to monotheistic religions. Note that
while Euthyphro believed in multiple gods, some of the problems Socrates points out still
exist even when there is only one God issuing the commands. For example, who interprets
what God’s command is when there is uncertainty? What are the implications of this moral
theory for those who are atheists or agnostics?

Teaching Suggestions
1. Do not put students on the spot by asking them about their religious views. At the same
time, do not dismiss religion as being irrelevant to morality. Religious views, while not the
source of morality, influence how we prioritize and act on moral values.
2. Watch out for the circumstantial fallacy. Students may dismiss a moral argument because
it is being put forth by a person with a particular religious background. Encourage students
to be respectful of other people’s religious views and to look for common ground in their
belief systems.
3. Distinguish between divine command theory and natural law theory (See Chapter 9).
Emphasize that divine command theory is a relativist theory and that most religions,
including mainstream Islam, Judaism and Christianity, do not accept divine command
theory. If your class wants to go into more depth on the relationship between morality and
religions, do this chapter in conjunction with Chapter 9 on natural law theory.

Sample Test Questions

Multiple Choice Questions Questions 1–20 are from the text and readings in Chapter 5.

1. According to divine command theory,

a. the moral code embodied in theTen Commandments are morally binding on all
people, including atheists, at all times.
*b. it was morally acceptable for the terrorists to bomb the World Trade Center on 9/11,
if the command to do so came from God.
c. God would not command a person to commit an act of terror because it is morally
wrong to target innocent people.
d. God does not exist because an all-loving God is incompatible with the existence of
evil in the world.

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 Chapter 5 Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

2. Divine command theory is a type of

*a. ethical relativism
b. universal moral theory
c. emotivist moral theory
d. ethical atheism

3. If a woman sincerely believes that God commanded her to kill her children, a divine
command theorist would most likely respond that
a. she is probably insane.
b. she must be misinterpreting what God commanded, since God would never
command the killing of innocent children.
*c. she did the right thing by killing her children.
d. God does not exist.

4. If there is no God then, according to divine command theory,

a. morality would still exist.
b. each person should decide individually what is right or wrong for him or her.
c. morality would be relative to each culture.
*d. there would be no morality.

5. According to divine command theory, if there is a conflict between what is considered to

be a universal moral principle, such as “Thou shalt not kill,” and God’s command to a
particular person or group
*a. God’s command overrides the universal moral principle
b. the command cannot be from God if it violates a universal moral principle.
c. there would never be such a conflict since God would not command something that
violates a universal moral principle.
d. we should go to war to resolve the conflict.

6. If there is a conflict between what two people claim God commanded them to do
*a. we have no means of resolving the conflict.
b. we should look to the law of our country to see which person is correct. If one of
the commands violates the law then it cannot be from God.
c. we use the five-step method for resolving a moral conflict to help the two people
come up with a mutually-acceptable solution.
d. we ask our clergy or rabbi to determine who is correct.

7. Both Gottfried Leibniz’s and John Hick explain the problem of evil and suffering by
arguing that
*a. the purpose of suffering is the perfection of our souls.
b. morality is relative to each individual.
c. the world is evil and will come to an end soon, as Revelations predicted.
d. the presence of so much evil proves that there is no God.

8. Those who argue that divine command theory is true because others are unable to prove
that particular commands are not from God, are committing the fallacy of
a. equivocation
b. appeal to tradition
c. appeal to inappropriate authority
*d. ignorance

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 Chapter 5 Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

9. Émile Durkheim argued in his book The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, that
*a. each society creates God in its own image.
b. religion has no redeeming qualities and is a destructive force in society.
c. religion should be taught in elementary schools.
d. religion exists independently of cultural values.

10. According to Bellah, the morality supported by mainstream religion in the United States
is primarily based on
a. divine command theory.
b. natural law theory.
*c. cultural relativism.
d. ethical subjectivism.

11. Which of the following is a basic tenet of American Civil Religion?

a. We have a moral obligation to redistribute America’s wealth to the poorer
nations of the world and to open our borders to the poor of the world.
b. Waging a preemptive war is immoral, even if it may be in the best interest of the
United States to do so, since doing so is a violation of the just war theory.
*c. God is actively involved in history and has a special interest in America.
d. Jesus is the supreme ruler of America.

12. Unlike most Native American religious traditions, Western concepts of God tend to be
a. based on equality of all living beings—both rational and irrational.
b. egocentric and atheistic.
*c. anthropocentric and patriarchal.
d. based on a belief that God is imperfect and, hence, morally flawed.

13. According to philosopher Gottfried Leibniz,

a. a God that allows so much evil in the world is not worthy of worship.
b. morality is subjective.
c. God is actively involved in history and has a special interest in America.
*d. this is the best of all possible worlds.

14. On what grounds does philosopher David Hume argue that God does not exist?
a. Human culture, not God, is the source of morality.
*b. There is evil and suffering in the world.
c. The world is mechanistic; God, free will, and morality do not exist.
d. The Bible is fictional; Abraham and Isaac never existed.

15. Which of the following documents has been used to support the belief in American civil
religion?
a. The UN Declaration of Human Rights
b. The Ten Commandments
c. The Communist Manfesto
*d. The Declaration of Independence

16. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

a. supported divine command theory and the belief that god has given the United
States a privileged role in the world.

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 Chapter 5 Divine Command Theory and Civil Religion

b. claimed that God had called on him to declare war on the white supremacists.
c. opposed the use of civil disobedience
*d. rejected divine command theory.

17. Carol Christ and James Cone argue that religion in America tends to promote
a. racial equality
b. war and the use of torture
* c. sexism and racism
d. capitalism

18-20. Identify the person who said each of the following.

18. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is
the spirit of spiritless conditions. It is the opium of the people.”
a. Ruth Benedict
b. Plato
*c. Karl Marx
d. Robert Bellah

19. “Do the gods love holiness because it is holy, or is it holy because the gods love it?”
*a. Socrates
b. Robert Bellah
c. Karl Marx
d. Émile Durkheim

20. “[God] is actively interested and involved in history, with a special concern for
America.”
a. Émile Durkheim
b. Martin Luther King Jr.
c. Black Elk
*d. Robert Bellah

Essay Questions The following exercise questions in this chapter are suggested for use as
essay questions: Page 139, #2; p.143, #2; pp. 151, #1; p. 155, #5.

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© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or
distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a
website, in whole or part.