Did God Create Morality and is it Moral?
In this essay, I will evaluate whether God created Morality and if this morality is or should be truly moral. First, I will assess if the Bible passes as a historical document to determine its credibility. Then, I will address counter-arguments in favor of neuroscience contradicting Jesus’ existence followed by my reasons that science in turn supports God. Lastly, I will discuss my final points and conclude with the final answer to the question posed.
Before one decides whether or not they claim a view, they would decide whether the source with the view is credible. Historians do not discredit this process when evaluating the Bible. Is the Bible trustworthy? In order to determine this, historians must first look at the Bible as a historical document instead of as the Word of God. When comparing the Bible to Plato’s work, we see that according to carm.org Plato only had 7 copies of his work with no percentage of accuracy of its copies while the Bible had 5,600 copies with 99.5% accuracy. What does this mean? After the Bible was evaluated, historians have discovered that it is 99.5% accurate to history and that the extra 0.5% was likely just lost in translation from a language barrier. Looking Further, the time between Plato's original work and the copy is 1200 years while the time in between for the Bible was less than 100 years. Why am I comparing the Bible to Plato? People read Plato's work and take it as credible history but read the Bible and call it false religion. As Matt Slick said best, “Though archeology cannot prove that the Bible is the inspired word of God, it has the ability to prove whether or not some events and locations described therein are true or false. So far, however, there isn’t a single archaeological discovery that disproves the Bible in any way.” Through a process of external and internal tests, the Bible has been 99.5% proved an historical document leaving 0.5% for human error.
Using the Bible itself to support Jesus’ existence is circular reasoning so we will instead use physical discoveries. To start my point I will use a quote by archaeologist Bryan Windle, “no serious historian - Christian or atheist - questions the existence of Jesus of Nazareth… there are numerous archaeological discoveries which affirm and illuminate details about Jesus’ life as recorded in the gospels.” The most popular story of Jesus, the crucifixion, actually has evidence. A heel bone was discovered accidentally by a construction crew in Israel inside a tomb. How do we know it is one of the man's heels who was crucified with Jesus? Inside the tomb there was an inscription “with the name Jehohanan (Yehohanan), which contained skeletal remains of an adult male, including his heel bone with a nail still embedded in it” (Windle). After being studied by an anthropologist, the remains determine a man from his twenties crucified in AD 7-66. Additionally, the way that the nail is positioned implies that the man was nailed to a cross. The physical description of the remains correlates to the Bible's description. Through many archaeological findings including this of the heel bone, Jesus’ existence is supported. Why does this matter? Jesus stated the laws of God through the sermon on the mount and other conversations in the New Testament defining morality so He is a testament to a God that cannot himself be proven.
There is an obvious stance against this view. How does this prove that Jesus was God? Could it have been a coincidence and someone else was nailed at the heel around the same time? If it is true that Jesus walked the earth, claimed to be God but wasn’t actually God, that would mean that what He says is either the opposite of morality or false. How could staying in an abusive marriage be moral? How is always putting others before yourself moral? Right and wrong isn’t as black and white as God claims it is. Morality depends on the situation and is not a decision that is always right and the opposite that is always wrong.
My stance to these oppositions would be that Jesus is God because He is foreshadowed by God in the Old Testament. There are also cases of Jesus reading the minds of those around Him. This is depicted in Mark 2; “Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts.” Though there are many other findings in support, it can never be proven because that would eliminate faith.
Now lets get into the definition of morality on God's terms. First, it's important to note that God does not believe one can be moral because Jesus says in Luke 18:19 that “no one is good - except God alone.” Why? Because all fall short of the Glory of God. What makes God so gloriful? He is perfectly moral. Therefore, this verse implies that God is the creator of morality because He is the only one who is perfect. Jesus explains what makes a human perfect in Matthew 5 telling us that we would have to follow the law completely. What is this law? Jesus tells everyone through the Sermon on the Mount. He teaches about anger, adultery, divorce, revenge, loving your enemies, blessing the poor, etc. Among these topics are “rules” like not divorcing unless for adulterous reasons, not committing murder, and always loving your neighbor. This is the grounds for morality in God's eyes. To God, murder is wrong and mercy is right.
Now let's get into the definition of morality in general. Dictionary.com has definitions such as; “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior” and “a particular system of values and principles of conduct, especially one held by a specified person or society”. Does God's law align with this format? God, a specific person, gives His followers a set of values. He tells them what is right and what is wrong through these values.
Now that we have assessed that God's morality aligns with the definition of morality, let's assess whether or not this idea of morality is truly right. Is it moral to say not to love others? If someone were to purposely trip you, you would likely say that was unjust and rude behavior. Is it moral not to murder? Look at the pain that murder causes in the world and decide if it is just. Is it moral to say that you should stay with a spouse who abuses you? I will name a few of these arguments that christian’s hold in favor of God's point of view. God's will is always restoration and glory to Him. Divorcing a spouse from adultery is a sin against your own body which is the worst of them all. However, abuse is not a sin against your own body. Though it is cruel, in God's eyes it is a testimony waiting to happen. God tells His followers in 1 Corinthians not to divorce their unbelieving spouse. Why? In hopes that they will one day be saved through the believing spouses faith. God always wants glory to be to Him and a broken marriage is a chance for his restoration and healing to be shown. Does this make God egotistical? No. In fact, it is quite the opposite. God gains nothing by this and the believer gains everything - heaven.
A common argument against God is science. Specifically, molecular science. Neuroscience can often come into the atheists argument. Why? It is not God who created morality, it is the natural works of our brains. God doesn’t control us, our brains do. God doesn’t decide what is right or wrong. Motives, personality, genetic makeup, neurons, and evolution decides what decision a human makes in the moment. As American Atheists would say, “most behaviors result from environmental activation of nerve circuits which are formed automatically by the time of emergence of the adult fly.” In other words, evolution has changed the way humans respond to certain situations.
However, I would agree. Environment is what has changed humans’ decisions. But the bigger question is who dictates the environment? I would argue that yes our brains decide morality. But who created these brains that naturally know that murder is wrong, give us the urge to stay in a wrong relationship out of hope, and convict us when we are not loving towards our neighbors? If science is our God I would argue that is because our God created that science. Science aligns with God's idea of morality because the creator of morality created our brains. Where is the proof? When neuroscientists study the brain and the Bible they see the correlations. For example, it is shown that our brains' DNA expressions alter based on every experience a human encounters. This includes every sin. When your DNA is expressed differently, this passes onto your children. If you get into the habit of a sin you used to not struggle with, your DNA picks up on that and your future offspring will be affected by this DNA expression. Deuteronomy 5:9 says, “If people sin against me and hate me, I will punish their children, even their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.” Exodus 20:5 says, “I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. “Does this mean that the sins of parents can affect their descendants? The answer is clearly yes.” (Carter). When a neuroscientist reads the Bible, it is hard to neglect the clear correlations they have.
To conclude, I argue that God created morality and that His definition of morality is moral. This is because it is backed up by historians that the Bible is an accredited historical document, creation needs a creator who is like God, biblical morality recognizes right from wrong rationally, and if God is the creator and the Bible is credited then God is the creator of morality and it is moral.
Citations
“Ethics without Gods.” American Atheists, 29 Mar. 2017, https://www.atheists.org/activism/resources/ethics-without-gods/
Paul Carter. “Are the Penalties for Sins Passed down?” Life, Hope & Truth, https://lifehopeandtruth.com/change/sin/are-the-penalties-for-sins-passed-down-to-future-generations/.
Slick, Matt. “Is the Bible Trustworthy as a Historical Document?” Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry, 26 Aug. 2020, https://carm.org/the-bible/is-the-bible-trustworthy-as-a-historical-document/.
Windle, Bryan. “Top Ten Discoveries Related to Jesus.” Bible Archaeology Report, 19 May 2022, https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/04/02/top-ten-discoveries-related-to-jesus/
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