Morality without God

SkyWriting

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Can you be moral without God?
.....er......um.......Kind of. Maybe.

You can be moral without formal religion, but how much
God controls what He has created is the issue to your question.
 
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Thomas White

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.....er......um.......Kind of. Maybe.

You can be moral without formal religion, but how much
God controls what He has created is the issue to your question.

If you believe in free will, then God doesn't control any of your decision.
 
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JIMINZ

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Can you be moral without God?

Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another)
 
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Thomas White

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Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another)

Soooooo yes?
 
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Maria Billingsley

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Can you be moral without God?
Everyone is made in God's image so with that in mind I would say basic morality resides in all humans until they become corrupt through Satan's deception.
Blessings
 
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Aussie Pete

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Can you be moral without God?
Absolutely. The problem is that man apart from God has his own definition of morality. It's not that long ago that homosexuality was illegal. Now it is Western society's sacred cow. I suppose soon it will be compulsory.
The real problem is how poorly people live up to their own moral values. It's easy to have a code of conduct, infinitely harder to live by it.
 
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JIMINZ

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Absolutely. The problem is that man apart from God has his own definition of morality. It's not that long ago that homosexuality was illegal. Now it is Western society's sacred cow. I suppose soon it will be compulsory.
The real problem is how poorly people live up to their own moral values. It's easy to have a code of conduct, infinitely harder to live by it.

Mankind is corrupt from their youth.

Every single time there has been a Law made for man to follow, man has broken the Law.

Even the very Laws we set for ourselves to follow.
 
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hedrick

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Of course. But I'm judging based on Jesus' criteria. That works in the US because our culture's standards are roughly based on that.

I think the real question is whether in the long run as Christianity has a less prominent role, it will be possible to maintain a moral standard. Oddly, C S Lewis makes a case for standards that cross all cultures, and a non-religious approach. As I understand him, he advocates what philosophers call "reflective equilibrium." Reflective Equilibrium (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) I think this is actually the process used even by Christians, although we have some basic principles taught by Jesus as well.

(The CS Lewis reference is "The Abolition of Man.")
 
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JIMINZ

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Without God there is no standard of morality.

God has set a Standard of Morality in the hearts of men otherwise, mankind could not be held accountable for their actions.
 
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topher694

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Then how do cultures that do not believe in the Christian God set a moral standard?
Because there is a God. He is still the standard whether we believe in Him or not.
 
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