Hunter
Trahan
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
What is the Catholic response to Plato's dilemma?
Does God command actions because
they are right, or are actions right because
God commands them? — Plato
Basically, this is a question addressing the
issue of morality and how it does or does
not depend on God.
Thanks,
Hunter
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{
What
is the Catholic response to Plato's dilemma and how morality is, or isn't, dependent on God? }
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Mary
Ann replied:
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Hunter —
God wills what is good. What is right,
is what is good for Him and for all
His creatures, created according
to His plan so, no, something is
not right simply because God wills
it. If that were the case, He could
just as well will the opposite (as
Islam believes).
It is right because His intellect
and His will are united in possessing
the good. In Him, the true, the good,
the beautiful and Being are all the
same reality. His will does not operate
independently of His wisdom or His love.
Mary Ann
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John
replied:
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Just to throw in my two cents.
Man sometimes makes the error of
looking at God as a Supreme Being.
That actually reduces God to the
level of a being among others.
God is not a being. God is being. In fact, we see that in His Old Testament
Covenant name Jehovah or Yahweh. I means I am that
am.
God can't be reduced to a capricious
being who arbitrarily decides what
is righteous and sinful. Rather,
it is God's nature to be righteous.
Although the roots of this heresy
are found in Islam, several centuries
later a Franciscan monk by the name
of William (of) Ockham gave us Nominalism.
Again, it purports God to be a Supreme
Being. Calvin went nuts with this philosophy and
gave us a distorted and heretical
understanding of predestination.
Now in his defense, Calvin was concerned
with protecting the Sovereignty of
God but in the process, he created
a monster whose holiness demanded
retribution, but at the same time,
Calvin's God arbitrarily chose some
for Heaven and some for Hell.
John
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Paul
replied:
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Hi, Hunter —
That problem is in the Socratic dialogue Euthyphro,
which I was coincidentally speaking
about to my class tonight.
In a polytheistic system, it would
be an easier question: Something
could conceivably be good because
the gods say it is.
But in the monotheism that Jews and Christians
recognize, it would not be possible
for God to command or love evil.
God loves the good because it is
good, but it is good because all
of creation reflects God who is perfect
Goodness.
The idea of goodness comes from
God's very character, which permeates
His creation.
Paul
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Hunter
replied:
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Thanks guys,
Yes, I've thought of how the circumstances
were drastically different from a
polytheistic viewpoint, but it is
still very relevant from a monotheistic
point of view.
Here is a thought that I have been
having recently (but I do not
talk to my professors about theology
because they are all atheists).
My thought:
Morality makes no sense to the solitary
being.
- If you told a man who had
no concept of society or others to
be a moral person, what are you telling
him?
Don't murder, lie, steal, or
cheat.
- To whom would he commit these offenses?
In a nutshell, I am saying that, No
being of extreme solitude can understand
morality as we do. Which only
raises another confusing chain of
thought into my already confused
brain:
- What reason is there to
think that an ultimate, solitary
being has any morals whatsoever?
It only makes monotheism even more
confusing to me than it already has! |
Thanks for your time,
Hunter
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Paul
replied:
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Ahh, Hunter you bring about a very
important point, answered satisfactorily
by the most fundamental doctrine
of Christianity — the Trinity.
God is an eternal communion of Persons
in relationship. The Son, eternally
begotten of the Father, is loved
as His beloved, and the Holy Spirit
who proceeds from the love relationship
of the Father and the Son is the
Love between both; analogously as
a child proceeds from the love between
husband and wife. God is an eternal
Trinitarian family of Persons in
perfect relationship so, in this sense,
God is not a solitary being.
To address the first half of your
paragraph, yes, much of morality
has to do with loving your neighbor,
i.e. others, and it wouldn't make
any sense if there were no neighbors
around.
Nevertheless, don't forget the part
of the moral law that zeroes in on
loving God too — covered in the first
three Commandments. So worshipping
and recognizing God, as God, is important
in the moral life, as is loving self.
We must appropriately care for ourselves
as God's temple in order to properly
love others.
Peace,
Paul
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