If someone said
“Go steal something. Stealing is good”.
Would you believe them and do it?
What if that
someone was
God ?
Would you do it
then ?
Divine Command
Theory
To define Divine Command
theory
To explain problems with
Divine Command theory
To evaluate Divine Command
theory
Imagine the scenario…
God suddenly appears to everyone in the
world, wowing them in a blaze of
miracles and glory, so that even the
atheists now believe in His existence.
Then God speaks in a language we can all
somehow understand.
“I command you to murder every child
you see. Murdering children is a good
thing to do, and you will be a good
person if you do it. “
• Would anyone obey? Why/ why not?
Most sane people would say: “This is not a good
god. Murdering children is wrong, whatever this
god says. And I will not obey a bad god”.
1. Explain the situation and why
some people would obey this
2. Explain how you would
respond to this command &
why.
**Why do you think that some
people do only take their morality
from “God”?
The Divine Command Theory
= Things are right or wrong, because God
IT’S
WRONG!
says it’s right or wrong.
PARADOX:
•Does God command what is good in itself?
•But then this makes God powerless and
not the source of goodness
•Or is it “good” just because God says it is?
•But then God could tell us to do
something wrong as if it was good, and
real goodness wouldn’t exist.
God himself identifies the goodness that he
created by giving us laws/ a conscience to help
us recognise it. So it is good, and He made it to
be so (not just because he says so). God is
good in himself, and so he can never
command anything evil. If he did, He wouldn’t
be God.
1. Explain what the Divine
Command theory says.
2. Do you think God decides
what is right/ wrong, or are
things right/ wrong
anyway?
**How could you solve the
paradox?
Design a cartoon strip story to show
1. God commanding us to do something we
believe is wrong.
2. Draw the effects of what would happen if
people did this
3. Show what people who would do it, are
thinking
4. Show what people who wouldn't do it are
thinking
5. In last box, explain what you yourself would say
and why
**If God changes his mind about something being
wrong/right, does it become wrong/ right?
If things are right/ wrong only because
God says so, then God could say
anything was right/ wrong
Right and wrong could change
overnight: is that possible?
“Killing is right!”
“Helping others is wrong!”
IT’S
RIGHT!
Explain the cartoon to your partner. How
would you respond to the bar-maid if
you were Jesus/ Mohammed?