Does morality depend upon God

Answer 1

A:In ancient times, pagan religion was largely kept separate from morality and it was the role of philosophers to provide moral guidance. The Roman Empire even provided remuneration for some philosophers so that they could perform this important social function. The Abrahamic

religions are somewhat unique, at least in the West, in the they (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) claim a monopoly on moral instruction. By combining the traditional roles of religious worship and ethics, they make morality a responsibility of God.

Whether they do so successfully is another matter. Evidence exists that shows that people of strong religious conviction hold no stronger moral values in general than do those without religion. Even clergy are not found to be more moral than those without religion, as recent events have shown, so from this perspective morality has nothing to do with God.

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Catholic AnswerMorality flows from God, as it is He who made us. And He made us with the express purpose of being fulfilled, being happy with Him in heaven for eternity. Thus for us to do what is according to our design is morally good, for us to frustrate the purpose for which we were created is morally evil, it is like trying to use a screwdriver as a hammer, (poor analogy perhaps) but you will ruin the screwdriver and will not accomplish your purpose; just so with us, we will be unhappy, and we will be eternally frustrated.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon,

S.J.

Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Morality. Relation between a human act and the final destiny of a human being. It is the norm of behavior that flows from each person's ultimate end, which is the possession of God in the beatific vision.

Depending on what is conceived to be this final destiny, morality will bedeterminedaccordingly. Since Catholic Christianity believes that this destiny is heaven, a human act is either good or bad according as it leads to or detracts a person from his or her heavenly goal. The moral norm of human acts, therefore, consists in their aptitude at leading one to that end. Such an aptitude cannot be created by the human will, nor is it entirely at the disposition of some arbitrary divine freedom. It flows necessarily from the nature of God, from the human nature elevated by grace, and from the nature of the acts themselves. Hence the norm of morality contains precepts that transcend every legislative will. The acts related to them are said to have an intrinsic (essential) morality of good or evil.

Answer 2

Ultimately, everything depends upon God, nothing exists without God, be definition, God is the only non-contingent being. However, when God created men (and I use the word as originally defined to include men and women) He created them a certain way. Morality is to function as we were designed to, immorality is to function against our design. So, yes, morality depends upon God, but He is not arbitrarily assigned "good" and "bad" labels to something that could be otherwise, He is assigned labels according to reality. God is good, by definition, to exist is a good, non-existent is evil. Evil (bad) is not a positive thing, it is the absence of a good, like a shadow is an absence of light, so evil is an absence of good, that which should be there. In philosophical terms, to be blind is a physical evil, we were designed to have sight, the absence of sight then is a physical evil. This is something that homosexuals do not understand when the Church says that homosexuality is an evil, they are not saying that just not having an inclination to the opposite sex is a sin, they are saying that what we were designed to have (the desire to be one with the opposite sex and procreate) is missing.

Human beings were designed a certain way with a certain "end" in mind by God. They were designed to love Him, and to be happy with Him forever in heaven. As they were designed this way, an act which tends to fulfill that is a good moral act, any act which tends to frustrate that end is a sin. These "rules" are not arbitrary, if you designed a screwdriver and attempted to use it as a hammer, you would not accomplish your purpose and would end up damaging the screwdriver. Not a great analogy, perhaps, but that is what happens when people sin, they try to do something or be something that they were not created to do or be, they end up damaging themselves and not attaining the purpose for which they were created: happiness forever with God in heaven.

from Modern Catholic Dictionary by John A. Hardon, S.J. Doubleday & Co., Inc. Garden City, NY 1980

Morality. Relation between a human act and the final destiny of a human being. It is the norm of behavior that flows from each person’s ultimate end, which is the possession of God in the beatific vision.

Depending on what is conceived to be this final destiny, morality will be determined accordingly. Since Catholic Christianity believes that this destiny is heaven, a human act is either good or bad according as it leads to or detracts a person from his or her heavenly goal. The moral norm of human acts, therefore, consists in their aptitude at leading one to that end. Such an aptitude cannot be created by the human will, nor is it entirely at the disposition of some arbitrary divine freedom. It flows necessarily from the nature of God, from the human nature elevated by grace, and from the nature of the acts themselves. Hence the norm of morality contains precepts that transcend every legislative will. The acts related to them are said to have an intrinsic (essential) morality of good or evil.