Thursday, February 19, 2015

Creation or Evolution III?

            Have you ever thought about why we know certain things are right and wrong?  Why is it that we have morals and consider certain acts such as kidnapping unacceptable?  No logical person would ever condone the horrific actions of men like Adolf Hitler or Sadaam Hussein.  As a result, the societies we live in have certain laws and regulations that we are adhere to.  So where do these principles and morals we live by come from?  If we came about through evolution and not creation then the only place such morals could come from is nature.  With that said, does nature reflect the objective moral human values we hold?  Anyone who has ever been in nature or watched the Discovery Channel knows that the animal kingdom consists of ruthless acts of survival.  A lioness doesn't have any moralistic values she is considering while hunting an antelope to feed her cubs.  Neither do we see a community of apes with a system of laws based on their desire to live in a morally acceptable society.  Philosophically, this is called the "Moral Argument."

         William Lane Craig's explanation of the Moral Argument is this:
  • If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.
  • Objective moral values and duties do exist.  
  • Therefore, God exists.     
If there weren't objective moral values, then no one would have legitimacy in denouncing horrific acts committed by those like ISIS and Al Qaeda.  This would be true because deciding right and wrong would be based on opinion.  Without a moral law giver (God), then whatever each individual deems acceptable would have to be the rule we live by.  A society based on such a principle would no doubt be a terrifying and dark place.  Even in our morally law based world of today, there are still horrific acts of violence; however, how much worse would it be if not for our objective morals?
          There is an undeniable distinction between humans and animals.  This distinction goes far beyond the physical attributes of survival we would have developed through evolution.  As people, we have a built in sense of what is morally right and wrong, whereas animals possess no such attribute.  Since we were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), it would be illogical to think that our moral instincts come from anywhere but Him.  The Apostle John told us that "God is love" (1 John 4:8).  So if God is love, and we were created in His image, then it is only natural that our moral principles were divinely given to us.  If you accept that certain things are right and others wrong, then the only possible explanation for our existence is that we were created by God.            
      


                                                                                                                                               

  

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