Does Christianity use circular reasoning?
Some people think Christianity uses circular reasoning and/or relies on the principle of might makes right:
Whatever God says is automatically right, because he's God and is defined to be good and/or he has the power to enforce his laws.
However, the Bible states that God should be obeyed because he's perfectly just and righteous:
Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them...The statutes you have laid down are righteous; they are fully
trustworthy...Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
(Ps 119:129, 138, 140)
It also states that some actions wouldn't be right even if performed by God:
"Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city?
Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to
do such a thing - to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and wicked alike. Far be it
from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
(Gen 18:23-25)
Therefore, good is not circularly defined as "whatever God does, because God is always good." Even if morals
were somehow created by God, God could not arbitrarily decide to change their definition such that an evil
act would become good, or vice versa.
Other examples of actions that would be wrong if performed by God:
- It would be wrong for God to promise to do something and then break his promise. Since God is omnipotent and
omniscient, he would not have the human excuse of not knowing at the time of the promise that he later wouldn't
be able to fulfill it. For instance, God promised
unconditionally that he would never again destroy all life with a flood
(Gen 9:8-17); it would
be wrong for him to create another global flood. (Note: this does not apply to conditional promises, e.g. the promise
to bless the Israelites if they were faithful to God. Since the Israelites failed to hold up their end of the bargin, God
was not obligated to bless them, though he was merciful to them anyway.)
- It would be wrong for God to be sadistic, i.e. to torture someone for the sole purpose of delighting in their pain.
- It would be wrong for God to abdicate his rule over the universe out of laziness or apathy and hand his power and authority
over to someone unfit to rule (e.g. Satan).
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