“God will know what ethical decisions we will make” Discuss (35 marks) There are many views as to whether God does know what ethical decisions we will make, the three main views being; hard determinism, soft determinism and libertarianism. These all pose different strengths and weaknesses into this statement which I will discuss in this essay. God is universally known throughout religious faiths as omniscient, meaning that he is an all-knowing being. Thus suggesting that in the eyes of Christianity, God would surely know what ethical decisions we make. Another idea related to this is the idea of predestination which was the view of the philosopher- John Calvin.
Overall the Puritans were a religious group with a core of specific beliefs that are at the essence of the Puritan Faith. Those two beliefs are the belief that man is predestined or divided into two groups, the damned and the elect. The second core belief is that of free grace versus a doctrine of works. This means that man cannot save himself by changing his ways and doing good deeds. Instead it means than humanity is only saved by the free grace and mere good will of God and that whosoever believes in Christ and has faith may escape Hell.
As previously stated, in order to be a KoF, you must be willing to nullify the ethical standards you are most accustomed to in order to comply to the declaration of God or any other divine or spiritual medium. The definition of a Tragic Hero, (TH) is quite easy to understand. A TH can also be a good or bad guy, also depending on your religious stance and how you view the biblical accounts of the story of Abraham and Isaac. The TH is the person who will never defy the moral ethics of
Even in contemporary society, we tend to associate morality with some kind of divine will, but through the Euthyphro, Socrates seems to suggesting we think along another line altogether. Is something moral because God commands it? Does morality depend on religious belief? A common view among religious, and even some secular, philosophers is that just as conventional laws require lawmakers, morals also require some ultimate source. The Divine Command Theory is the view that moral actions are those that conform to God's will.
And for morality to require God in such a way, there must be a direct link between the two. I believe that morality is defined by God, therefore immoral actions are wrong solely because God forbids them. Similarly, the “rightness” of moral actions is only because God has commanded them. In today's world things are defined as “right” or “wrong” or “moral” and “immoral.” This is because God, is the one that has allowed us to even understand what morality is. I believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things, and that we would not even be self aware, let alone aware of right and wrong, if God had not created within us his image, and therefore the ability to make moral distinctions.
Just like a religious believer who states “god loves us” but can’t explain the contradiction of evil in the world, believers qualify their statements by explaining god’s love is not like humans love he calls this “death by a thousand qualifications”. Therefore religious language is meaningless. However religion has responded to the falsification principle. R.B Braithwaite argued that the falsification principle explains religious language as cognitive when it if in fact non cognitive and therefore cannot be falsified, religious language is therefore still meaningful. Hare also responds to the falsification principle, showing that religious statements are meaningful even though they cannot be falsified because they have a significant impact for the people using the statement.
Paul Tillich argues against the literal theologians and the social scientists as well. He says that “religion has rediscovered its true place in man’s spiritual life, namely, in its depth, out of which it gives substance, ultimate meaning, judgment and creative courage to all functions of the human spirit.” (Tillich 9) In my opinion and it may be clouded by my religion, which is Christianity, is that God does exist and one will not
The Disguised Truth About American Christianity In “The Christian Paradox: How a Faithful Nation Gets Jesus Wrong,” Bill Mckibben argues that the way Americans view the messages and teachings Christianity displays are far from what the Gospels of the Bible actually say and teach. McKibben points out how our nation is the most outspoken when it comes to Christianity. However, he later goes on to claim that as the most outspoken of the Christian nations our actions and decisions do not reflect what we preach. It is this contradiction that McKibben insists is the paradox of our Christianity in America. According to a statistic laid out by McKibben, seventy-five percent of the American population is under the belief that “God helps those who
The Christian worldview understands that everything is the Lords and we are to treat it as such. Sometimes it is the lack of understanding regarding the ways of God and the principles of His word that can keep leaders from treating their employees with respect and with moral love. Nash (1992) stated, “Christianity simply will not make sense to people who fail to understand and appreciate the Christian doctrine of sin” (p. 48). It is easy to look at our ways as right when if they were put against the word of God we would see how wrong they really
Only he can redeem, justify, and sanctify us, and we need all three for our salvation. So we understand that our nature is sinful, but through Jesus we can win the battle against our flesh. Paul wrote that through the law we come unto the knowledge that we are sinful. We understand that through the work of the law, that we cannot be justified in the sight of God. We must know that we are justified by grace apart from any works in the