Can there be morality without God?

[SkyWriting]

Can there be morality without God?
What would that even mean?

 

[RDKirk]

We can argue that the prime cause of morality is God, however that doesn't mean that religion is necessary for morality. The ancient Greeks were moral even though their gods did not dictate morality...they believed morality stemmed from conscious thought, not from religion.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Without God "morality" is defined by our society. But then we got no objective morality, no absolute. We could not say "This society has the right morality and that society has the wrong morality". We could not condemn a society like Hitler's regime because the morality in that regime was part of the society just like other societies got different moralities.
Without an absolute nobody had the right to say "Your morality is wrong and mine is right". Without God there could be no "right" and "wrong", no "good" and "evil".

 

[SPF]

Without God "morality" is defined by our society. But then we got no objective morality, no absolute. We could not say "This society has the right morality and that society has the wrong morality". We could not condemn a society like Hitler's regime because the morality in that regime was part of the society just like other societies got different moralities.
Without an absolute nobody had the right to say "Your morality is wrong and mine is right". Without God there could be no "right" and "wrong", no "good" and "evil".

Is the pious loved by God because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by God?

 

[BNR32FAN]

Can there be morality without God?
What would that even mean?

Without God morality is subjective, meaning morality becomes an opinion which is subject to change depending on who’s assessing the particular situation or infraction.

 

[RDKirk]

Is the pious loved by God because it is pious? Or is it pious because it is loved by God?

I've been to that debate many times.

My conclusion is that God determines righteousness and righteousness does not exist except by God's determination. There is not a concept of righteousness above God, or independent of God to which God must adhere or even to which God must agree. Righteousness is a creation of God.

 

[SPF]

I've been to that debate many times.

My conclusion is that God determines righteousness and righteousness does not exist except by God's determination. There is not a concept of righteousness above God, or independent of God to which God must adhere or even to which God must agree. Righteousness is a creation of God.

I agree. And then to take it a step further, thankfully, God is immutable in Character, which is why then we can objectively say that something is always wrong - because God does not change His standard.

 

[RDKirk]

I agree. And then to take it a step further, thankfully, God is immutable in Character, which is why then we can objectively say that something is always wrong - because God does not change His standard.

But...peoples around the world and throughout time have developed certain common moral values without following an Abrahamic God religion.

I would argue from Romans 1 and Psalm 19 that the moral bedrock of God is the foundation of all such common moral values...but that's just me, though.

 

[Noxot]

Can there be morality without God?
What would that even mean?

Since God is goodness itself it means that morality does not exist without God because goodness is of God. Of course it is always the inner man which is the most important thing because the spirit is what it is. The outward appearance somewhat hides the truth. The inner must shine through the outer but inward conditions can vary greatly while the outward appearance all seems the same. and the inner can all be the same but the outward seem different. Most of us humans are a mix of crude and pure elements.

all stained glass windows are not the same but if they're done right there is beauty when the light shines through them. God is with any who are willing, we shall know them by their fruits. But if we are lacking in discernment then we may mistake a fruit for a poisonous fruit and not want to eat it or touch it at all. Or we might mistake a poisonous fruit for a good fruit.

God is with atheist as much as their Inner Man wills it to be so.

 

[SPF]

But...peoples around the world and throughout time have developed certain common moral values without following an Abrahamic God religion.

Of course, we are not born with a blank slate, all of us have an innate sense of right and wrong. That's one part of what it means to be made in the Image of God, which all human beings are, even if we are born with an inherited sinful nature.

 

[Tolworth John]

Can there be morality without God?
What would that even mean?

Define morality?

Of course people can and are moral when they have no belief in God.
Of course people can develop there own or there societies morality.

What is interesting is that people All believe in morality, morality that often contradicts there beliefs.

It is for the atheist to explain this??