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Randal Rauser

Home of progressively evangelical, generously orthodox, rigorously analytic, revolutionary Christian thinking (that's what I'm aiming for anyway)

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divine command ethics

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you? Here’s my response

April 22, 2020 by Randal

If God commanded you to sacrifice your child, would you? The answer is simple: God wouldn’t command that. And if you still want to consider the scenario as a per impossibile claim, you can do that with any moral system, not just divine command theories of ethics.

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: biblical ethics, biblical violence, divine command ethics, ethics

Could God command something morally heinous?

December 21, 2018 by Randal

This article is excerpted from my 2016 book An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar (Prometheus), coauthored with Justin Schieber. Support the authors and consider buying a copy! You won’t be disappointed. Well, okay, you might be disappointed —  life gives no guarantees — but I’m betting you won’t be. Anyway, without further ado, let’s […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar, atheism, divine command ethics, divine command theory, ethics, Justin Schieber, moral epistemology, Randal Rauser, skepticism

Is divine command theory a danger in the hands of the mentally ill?

July 30, 2018 by Randal

Last year, Christian radio host Justin Brierley published his apologetics book, Unbelievable. It’s a delightful book — clearly argued and engaging to read — so much so that it even earned an endorsement from yours truly! It also earned a book-length response from several atheists, predictably titled Still Unbelievable. Ever the hospitable host, Justin has invited two […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine command ethics, divine command theory, ethics, mental illness

Would you sacrifice your son if God told you to?

June 22, 2015 by Randal

Yesterday I noticed the following retweet from Secular Outpost in my feed: Dawkins’ question is an example of what I call the “If there is a God then everything is permitted” meme. According to this meme, theism leads to moral chaos because God could command actions that constitute moral atrocities. I frequently encounter this particular […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: atheism, divine command ethics, ethics, Richard Dawkins, theism

Did God Really Command Genocide? A Review (Part 3)

February 10, 2015 by Randal

Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan. Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God. Baker, 2014, 351 pp. Welcome to the third (and final) installment in my review of Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan’s book Did God Really Command Genocide? For part 2 click here. The second installment of this review ended […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, biblical ethics, biblical violence, Did God really command Genocide?, divine command ethics, ethics, genocide, Matthew Flannagan, Paul Copan, review

Did God Really Command Genocide? A Review (Part 2)

January 30, 2015 by Randal

Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan. Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God. Baker, 2014. 351 pp. This is the second (and penultimate) installment in my review of Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan’s book Did God Really Command Genocide? For part 1 click here. I recommend readers begin with part […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: apologetics, biblical violence, divine command ethics, ethics, genocide, hermeneutics, Matthew Flannagan, Paul Copan

Did God Really Command Genocide? A Review (Part 1)

January 27, 2015 by Randal

Paul Copan and Matthew Flannagan. Did God Really Command Genocide? Coming to Terms with the Justice of God. Baker, 2014. 351 pp. Given the spate of books recently published on the Bible and violence, you might think this is a newly discovered problem. That would be a misreading, however, for theologians have wrestled with this […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Bible, biblical ethics, biblical violence, divine command ethics, ethics, genocide, Matthew Flannagan, morality, Paul Copan, review

Perfect Divine Being, Perfect Divine Commands

January 15, 2013 by Randal

Yesterday one of my readers, Mark, raised the following objection to divine command theories of ethics: “It’s certainly conceivable that there is an omnipotent, omniscient creator of the universe who orders us to kill each other for fun. Correct me if I’m wrong, but philosophers generally take such things as pretty good evidence for possibility. […]

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: divine command ethics, ethics, God, perfect being, theism

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