We mentioned in part 1 that moral reasoning is an acquired skill. Why is that since we are made in the image of God? The answer is the noetic effect of sin which distorts the mind so that evil appears as good and good is seen to be evil (Isaiah 5:20). Moral reasoning is something we must always work at in this fallen world.

Why is there so much moral confusion today? Scripture indicates several causes:

• Rom 1:24-32 (willful rejection of the knowledge of God)
• 2 Tim 3:1-5 (indicative of the time we live in)
• 2 Tim 4:3-5 (willful rejection of truth)
• 1 Tim 4:1 (apostasy from the faith)
• Matt 24:12 (lawlessness leading to loss of love)
• 2 Cor 4:4 (demonic activity)

Where does our understanding of moral reasoning originate? There are several potential fallible sources:

• Conscience (fallible – 1 Tim 4:2)
• Culture (social media, internet, television, movies, magazines, news reporting, etc – Rom 12:2; mostly wrong)
• Civil Law (fallible – changes through time although the moral nature of an act does not change – for example, slavery, abortion, homosexuality, etc)
• Political leadership – (may be verbally right but often wrong in action (Dan 3:1-30); “Do as I say, not as I do”)
• Secular Ethics (requires careful evaluation; may be right or may be wrong – Col 2:8)
• Religious Leaders (correct when they adhere to Scripture; otherwise fallible – Gal 2:11-14)
• Parents (may be right or may be wrong; increasingly wrong as the culture disintegrates)
• Educational Institutions (may be right; increasingly wrong as the culture disintegrates)
• History (can be useful but not guaranteed – ie 4th century church view on prosperity gospel vs John Calvin’s legalistic 16th century Geneva with forced church attendance and a strict moral code (long list of legally banned names for new-born babies))

John Calvin’s enforced morality (ethics) in Geneva (religious leaders are not infallible):

• Jean Guidon charged in 1553 with creating a ruckus in his own home, being found out by spies on neighboring rooftops peering in his window.
• Jacques Gruet in 1547 charged with attaching an offensive and obscene note to the pulpit at St. Pierre’s Church. The Consistory tortured him into a confession and beheaded him for blas­phemy and rebellion.
• Small Council member Pierre Ameaux in 1545 charged with slandering Calvin at a private gathering. Originally the Council decided that Ameaux should pay a fine and confess his sin. But Calvin was unsatisfied, who wanted a harsher penalty imposed and the Con­sistory backed Calvin, forcing a split in the Coun­cil over the matter. Finally, Calvin was satisfied when Ameaux had spent two months in prison, lost his office, been paraded through town kneeling to confess his libel and paid for the trial expense.
• It is also reported that one child was beheaded for striking his parents. 
• During the seventeen years for which there are reliable records (1542-1564), there were 139 recorded executions in Geneva. By comparison, there were only 572 exe­cutions in Zurich during the entire 16th century or 8.6 per year in Geneva compared to only 5.7 in Zurich. 
• Clearly, the Consistory’s “establishment” as the official civil oracle of God in the hands of Calvin seems to have inexorably cast it into a grizzly coercive role as the public arbiter and de facto enforcer of religious orthodoxy and petty moral preferences.

Where do the Bible’s Ethics originate? Answer – In the moral character of God. Morality eternally originates in the very nature of God as transcendent values. And what is the moral character of God in summary? Answer – God is good. (Ps 119:68) The only satisfactory ultimate basis for ethical standards is the eternal, unchanging moral character of God.

Why must Ethics ultimately be based on the moral character of God? Because it provides an objective unchanging reference point (God is immutable.) God is the final standard of good (Luke 18:19). Thus, God defines good; He is good by nature. All He does is good and worthy of approval. When we say “God is good” we mean “good” in a far stronger way than merely as an adjective – God existence defines good itself. We cannot define “good” on our own. “Good” is what God approves of and God is the source of all good (James 1:17; Ps 145:9; Acts 14:17, etc.) God approves of those who conform to His moral character (Eph 5:1; 1 Cor 11:1) . . . which means that He approves of ethical behavior that conforms to His moral character.

It is impossible that God could have made other moral standards because the moral standards revealed to us are grounded in God’s immutable nature (James 1:17): mercy, justice, love, truth, patience, holiness, goodness, peace, jealousy, wrath are all defined by God’s unchanging nature . . . not by any philosophical exercise.

It’s important to understand that God’s moral standards are universal. Since God’s moral standards flow from His unchanging moral nature, they are universally applicable. They apply to all people in all cultures in all history. Consider Paul’s warning to the pagan Athenians on the Areopagus that they will be judged by God according to His eternal, universal moral standards (Acts 17:31.) Rom 1:18-20 teaches that pagan gentiles who have no knowledge of God’s moral standards will be held accountable because they are without excuse with an innate understanding of right and wrong (Rom 2:15-16.) Even people who do not believe in God or His moral standards will be held accountable to His moral standards

“Once the idea of a divine lawgiver is removed and we are left with just human observation, reason, and intuition, there is no satisfactory way to prove that something is, in fact, morally right or wrong” – British philosopher Elizabeth Anscombe

The Moral Argument for God is quite powerful (it is the strongest argument for the existence of God in my opinion.) I will post the Moral Argument for the existence of God in a future blog.

Part 3 is here