In the book he makes a very good case for there being no objective moral code once God is whited out of one's worldview. The result is nightmarish:
"People are raped in this world, and rape is evil. Because evil exists, there must be no God. Because there is no God--no authoritative standard over creation--the badness of rape downgrades to a mere matter of societal taste. Ethnic cuisine, ethnic ethics. In God's absence rape is no longer fundamentally evil. In our country, you'll get confined to a cell (if caught and convicted), but that just means we enforce our taste, not that our taste has any real authority over anyone else. In other societies, girls have been passed around and traded like baseball cards. Is that right? Is that wrong? Neither. You like exploitation; I like apple pie."
Ultimately the preference of the most powerful will win the day. No rule of law. And we were promised freedom by the new atheism. May God stem the tide before the darkness falls on us.
Guess what?
ReplyDeleteAdding gods does *nothing* to change this problem.
If you disagree, try to determine if, say, polygamy is moral or not. Some religions say yes, some say no. But since gods NEVER show up to settle the matter, it's still entirely up to humans.
Dear Brian, Thanks for commenting. It helps me to see what needs to be clarified.I am not talking about the gods men make. You are right that they are no help at all. I am talking about the God who made all men -- you and I and everyone and everything.
ReplyDeleteGod has spoken in his word about marriage. In Genesis it is recorded that he made Adam and Eve and said the man should leave father and mother and cleave to his wife. God did not condone polygamy but when men sinfully entered into such marriages he regulated it. Among other rules, the man had to provide for each wife and could not cut the child of an unloved wife out of the inheritance. We may need to wrestled to apply the details of this law, but this is far different than maintaining that there are no moral standards at all.
Brian, may I suggest that you read Peter Hitchens new book called The Rage Against God. (Peter, a former atheist, is the brother of Christopher Hitchens, and was converted while looking at a work of art depicting the judgement of God.) He suggests that the motive of professed atheists is to be free of God's law so that they can live just as they wish.
But God's judgement is real, Brian. And the only way to avoid it is to acknowledge that you have broken God's law and need Christ to be your substitute --both in taking your punishment and obeying that law that you (and all men) are unable to obey. May God be gracious to you.