Who Says What is Right and Wrong?

19 Jan Who Says What is Right and Wrong?

WITHOUT GOD, THE CONCEPTS OF RIGHT AND WRONG DISAPPEAR, AND WE ARE LEFT WITH THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE: THE TRIUMPH OF THE STRONG OVER THE WEAK

In recent blogs, we’ve made the case that secularists cannot explain our body, they cannot explain our mind, and now we see that they cannot explain our soul. By the soul, I mean that transcendent part of man that raises him above the animals. Humans have a concept of beauty, morality, eternity and God, and we do not have an adequate natural explanation for those traits.

Animals do not create art, they do not marvel at the stars at night, they are not amazed by a spectacular sunset. And while dogs may appear to adore their owners, they certainly do not worship them, and do not long to spend eternity with them when they die.

And concerning morality, throughout all of recorded history, there have been things that are considered right and wrong.

• Murdering innocent people has always been considered wrong.
• Stealing from others has been considered wrong.
• Child abuse has always been considered wrong.

Why is that? Where do the concepts of right and wrong come from? How is it that we have all agreed on these things, from all of time?

As Dostoevsky wrote in Brothers Karamazov, “Without God, everything is permitted.” (Part 4, Book 11, Chapter 4)

In other words, if there is no God, then who is to say what is right or wrong. You may believe that murder, theft and sexual abuse are wrong, but someone else believes they are right. You and he are equal… just two human beings… so the values are equal.

That viewpoint is gaining acceptance on American college campuses today. It used to be that everyone agreed that the murder of six million Jews in the German holocaust was wrong. But now more and more students are saying, “Hitler thought it was right, so who am I to judge?”

But that is purely a philosophical response.  No historic cultures have accepted that. And no national laws have functioned that way. Historically, murder, theft and child abuse have been considered wrong, and anywhere they HAVE been accepted, that place has been considered barbaric and perverted.

Throughout history, actions such as rape, torture, and child abuse aren’t just socially unacceptable behavior—they’re moral abominations. Similarly love, courage, and self-sacrifice are universally considered good. These values have been agreed upon by all major civilizations throughout history. Embedded in our souls is a concept of right and wrong that has exhibited itself in all major civilizations throughout all of recorded history.

Evolution has no explanation for these concepts of beauty, morality, eternity or God. To those who have no anti-supernatural presupposition, they are perfectly reasonable arguments for the existence of God.

In Psalm 95:4-5, the psalmist marvels at the wonder of nature:

“In [God’s] hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also.  The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land.”

 Based on his observations of the wonders of nature, he then says,

“Come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” (Psalm 95:6-7)

Indeed. He is our God.

Let us observe His creation and based on that observation, let us worship Him. He is our God. That’s what He intended us to do.

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