The Divine Command Theory

One of the fundamental notions involving morality has been its connection with religion. With morality being defined as a set of norms, we need someone with authority to create these moral laws. In that, moral law like any other regular law requires a lawmaker. Yet, humans lack the authority to create moral law, since humans are imperfect. Thus, if humans cannot be the author of moral law, then a higher power is required, God. With this notion, the Divine Command theory constructs the idea that when something is morally obligatory it’s only because God commands it, and when something is morally wrong it’s only because God forbids it. The strength of this theory lies with the universally recognize power of God’s commands, regardless of local
While Divine Command Theory preserves God's power, philosophers generally found the theory unacceptable due to various faults and assumptions. The Divine command theory makes the assumption that God exists. But if God does not exist or God does not care to give commands (Deism), then morality is bogus. In that, if morality is based on God’s commands, and God does not exist (or God is dormant), then morality also won’t exist. The Divine Command Theory also contains a major fault in logic that Plato had noted in his book, Euthyphro. The problem lies with the reasoning of whether God has justifications that support His commands, or He lacks such justifications. If God lacks the justifications that support His commands, then He is acting arbitrarily. But God cannot be acting arbitrarily because this will cause Him to be considered imperfect, and thus weakens His authority on creating moral laws. Hence, if God must be all-knowing and perfect, then God must have explanations that support His commands. And it’s those
In fact, God can be viewed as crucial in morality, since God is able to act as an expert moral guide. With God being infallible, omniscient (all-knowing), and all loving, He will want to share His wise wisdom. God is able to share His wisdom in two fashions, either through direct communication (where God talks or gives signs directly to someone) or through indirect communication (where God had inspired the authors of a sacred texts). Usually, God’s direct communication tends to be insignificant. Since, we don't have any reasons to believe these so-called prophets, and they also tend to contradict each other. Hence, the only for reliable sources of God’s moral guidance is found in religious texts. Yet, even the sacred texts contain their own problems when trying to found moral guidance. With a myriad of religious texts that often contradicts with each other, the statistical odds of founding the correct sacred text are extremely unfavorable, (with an assumption that there is a correct sacred text). Even if you found the correct sacred text, it’s likely the text does not give moral guidance on the challenge that we encounter in today’s age. Issues such as immigration reform, climate change, and social inequality tend to be lacking from religious texts. And even if moral guidance on the issue is given in the scared text, religious