ABSTRACT

The first and second of these are held true in Christian, Judaic and Islamic thought. They are not, however, essential to the idea of a creator of the universe. There could be a transcendent creator of the universe who has no moral attributes, or who is indifferent to our moral state. But, in this chapter, we shall consider those varieties of theism which argue for a tight connection between God and morality. This takes us to doctrine (c). What it asserts is that a proper understanding of the nature of morality must make reference to God, an idea that, in one form or other, has played a crucial role in theistic thought. Expressed like this, however, the idea is somewhat vague, and open to more than one interpretation. Here is one, not very plausible, interpretation: morally correct behaviour depends on belief in God. If this implies, as it seems to, that atheists are liable to behave badly, then we can reject it quite quickly. Atheists may have exactly the same views about what counts as good and bad, and may behave just as well, or as badly, as theists. A more interesting interpretation of (c) goes as follows: in deciding what is right, the theist may make use of some religious image. For example, the Christians may take Jesus as

the model on which to base their idea of right conduct. In this sense, faith informs moral conduct.