Is goodness without God good enough? by Robert K. Garcia

Author:Robert K. Garcia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

The most common response by Christians is that we know divine commands through the holy scriptures. Unfortunately, the Bible contains some horrible moral messages about slavery and killing nonbelievers:

As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you. (Leviticus 25:44, English Standard Version; see also Exodus 21:7–11)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ. (Ephesians 6:5, English Standard Version; see also 1 Timothy 6:1)

If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” . . . you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. But you shall kill him. (Deuteronomy 13:6–9, English Standard Version; see also 2 Chronicles 15:13 and Luke 19:27)

So Joshua struck the whole land. . . . He left none remaining, but devoted to destruction all that breathed, just as the Lord God of Israel commanded. (Joshua 10:40)

In addition, there is the great flood, where many innocent children were supposed to have been killed by God. Of course, there are also some very nice passages and messages in the Bible. Like most books written by humans, the Bible is a mixture of good and bad. As such, it cannot serve as a reliable guide to morality. If we follow all of the Bible, we will be led astray into immorality. On the other hand, if we pick and choose which Bible passages to follow, then we need to use our prior moral views to guide our choice. Either way, the Bible cannot provide a sound foundation for morality or for knowledge of morality.

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