I had to read Moral Choices by Scott B. Rae, PhD, for my Ethics class.  Below is a paper I just finished comparing Divine Command Theory and Virtue Theory.

Comparison of Divine Command Theory and Virtue Theory

God is good.  The Scriptures confirm that God is good.  “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:17)  King David wrote, “Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:68)  During the various works of creation at the beginning of time, God Himself described His own works as “good”.  In Luke, Jesus declared to a certain ruler that only God was good, “And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.” (Luke 18:19) (please do your research before questioning me about the deity of Jesus)
Rae defines Divine Command Theory as follows: “A divine command system is one in which the ultimate foundation for morality is the revealed will of God, namely, the commands of God as found in Scripture.”  (Rae, pg.47)  Since I am here, I will also include that Rae says this of God’s commands, “Morality is ultimately grounded in the character of God that is, the ultimate source for morality is not God’s commands but God’s character.” (Rae, pg.24) Now, in the very same chapter, Rae tells us that traditional divine command theory holds a slightly different view than what is advanced here in Moral Choices.  I, however, am inclined to agree with Mr. Rae on his first assessment of God’s commands, that it is not the command that makes a thing good, but the character from whence the command originates, from within God.
For as much as I have established where “good” comes from, it should also be noted that I do not believe there can be “morality” without an originating source for the same.  It certainly does not come from the trees or the mountains.  No, morality has it roots and owes its very existence
to God as well.  We have said previously that morality is grounded in the character of God.  We know from Scripture that there was nothing before God (“I am alpha and omega, the beginning and  the end”), therefore morality could not have come from man or earth or anything finite, up to and including any man-made notions, ideals or concepts, respectively.
The gist of Divine Command Theory is that a thing is good if God commands it.  I submit that this is only partially true.  A command that comes from God is good only because God is good.  That is, the command’s source is good, therefore it is good.  It is not the command itself that is good.  I wrestled with this at first because I said, “Well if God is good and the command comes from God, the command must be good.”  This is true, but again, it subtly indicates that the command is good.  Additionally, and in response to the question posed in Plato’s “Euthyphro dilemma”, things are not good because God commands them, things are good because God’s commands are derived from His character, and His character is good.
Virtue Theory is generally explained as an approach to ethics that emphasizes importance of an individual’s character rather than the basic motivational elements of the acts that an individual engages in (known as Deontology) or their consequences (known as Consequentialism).  Rae does not spend an exorbitant amount of time on Consequentialism.  “Virtue theory . . . holds that morality is more than simply doing the right thing.”  (Rae, pg.91)  We can infer that what Rae means here is that virtue is not whether the act itself is good or bad, but the source nature (or intention maybe) of the act before it is performed.  Now, since we have concluded that God’s character is where goodness comes from, it seems prudent that we determine that our own virtue comes from within.  My personal opinion is that everyone is born with an inherent sense of right and wrong.  Yes, we learn lessons and are taught what behavior is proper and/or socially acceptable as children, but ultimately, without a pre-existing internal knowledge of good and bad, why in the world would anyone do good (even if only for personal gain)?  Why do good at all?  We do good because it feels right.  It might be confirmation from God that we are doing the right thing; that we are operating within His will.
With respect to Virtue Theory, Rae says, “. . . the ideal person will model Christ”, and “. . . the moral obligations for the follower of Jesus are subsumed under the notion of becoming like Christ.”  (Rae, pg.41, internal citation omitted)  In choosing to follow Christ, we, by default, choose to change our inner-man.  We are made new in Christ Jesus.  We are told in Scripture that we (man) have a sin nature.  This supports my previous statement, “why do good at all?”  I do agree with Rae to a small degree, that Christians ought to hold at least some level of agreement with Deontological ethics.  Even though God commands us to love our neighbor, He goes into explicit detail about why.  It is their salvation that we should be concerned about.  Similarly, we are to appreciate, sympathize, and give to the poor and needy.  Not strictly because God commands, but because it is the right thing to do and assists with securing our own place in the Kingdom of God.  From the time of Adam and Eve, our natural internal state is one of evil, greed, and biased unabashed selfishness.  The inherent sense of right and wrong that I mentioned earlier is like a “God override”.  If you consider how many people daily and perpetually seek to fulfill the lusts of their flesh and how infrequently those same people perform “good” unselfish deeds, it makes sense.
Mirriam-Webster defines virtue as: (a) conformity to a standard of right: morality; and (b) a particular moral excellence.  Both of these definitions concern the word moral which we have previously established is found in the character of God.  And if we want to go even further, it is probably no coincidence that virtue is also defined plurally as: (c) an order of angels - see, celestial hierarchy.
I would argue that Divine Command Theory is the more “right” of the two theories, primarily because I believe that humans are not naturally virtuous except for the aforementioned “God override”.  The danger for churches generally is that if a church teaches that virtue comes from within it inadvertently acknowledges that virtue does not originate from God, unless that change is initiated by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ.  The Divine Command Theory likewise can be dangerous because it must be emphasized that it is God’s character that makes a command good.  God does not command a thing because it is good.  The command is good because it comes from God’s character.  The church today probably focuses more on Divine Command Theory.  Consider that most Christian denominations focus on letting Christ change us from the inside out and that as new Christians we are to obey God’s commands as they are laid out in Scripture.  Most sermons today focus on obedience to God and accepting Jesus as Lord and savior.

**I apologize for not going into more detail about the traditional philosophical arguments associated with either theory, but assignment parameters simply would not allow it.

Excerpt from my schoolwork

In my Christian Perspectives class we had to watch a lecture by Dr. Peter Kreeft, a "well known" professor of philosophy at Boston College and Lutheran pastor.  He is known for his writings and thoughts on moral relativism, modernity, and the postmodern movement.  I was asked to write a brief review on his most recent work, ‘How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Culture in Crisis.’ Here is the link to the lecture, it's about 45 minutes long (I recommend it if you have the time, otherwise my review will give you an idea of where he's coming from):
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=tm08x8YiuXk&feature=player_embedded.  My review of his lecture is below and I did not hold back.

Kreeft comes across as an angry and cynical human being. Understandably so given the state of society as a whole, but to the extent that he should presume to know how to combat cultural warfare by telling Christians how they should treat and approach non-Christians, he probably shouldn't be the ringleader.

Kreeft makes some good points with respect to his "P.H.O.N.E.Y" acronym. (Politics, happy talk, organizationalism, neo-worship, egalitarianism, and yuppydom)

I agree that God is love and that the very essence of politics is force. However, I also believe that the realm of politics, because it is so influential, can provide a substantial platform for Christian activism.

Regarding "happy talk", I have no issues there. I agree that we should "shut up and fight."

"Organizationalism" is a tough one to be on board with, but I think I agree. We should be real and meditate on God always. Being fake subtracts from who we are in Christ. That being said, "not being fake" is a good way to be martyred.

As far as "neo-worship" is concerned I have never been a fan of "newer is better", however, I see it all the time within our culture (Christian). While I continue to learn and expand my horizons, I do not fall victim to believing everything that claims to enlighten me or allow me to be more open-minded. The Bible has withstood the test of time, do not interpret it to be something it's not.

As humans, well, we are all humans. In that regard we are all equal. But anyone who thinks that people in general are equal, is silly. Look around. Men and women are different, respectively. As far as "moral relativism" is concerned, as long as people have a conscious that can eat at them, we will have people justifying their behavior. Egalitarianism.

Cheerful giving and self-sacrifice is very nearly the definition of being a follower of Christ, and selfishness is the opposite of that. I do not agree with what Kreeft said about why Islam is growing faster than Christianity. What I mean is, he may be right about the rate of growth, but I think he is wrong about why. I do not particularly care to expand here.

I agree with Kreeft and what he said about spirituality. Don't be concerned with stuff (yuppydom), be concerned with people. I also agree that the more we love on our neighbor and reach out to them, the more likely we are to see them in heaven.

Overall, I think Kreeft has some valid points and I like where his head is, but I question if his heart is really in the game. As I mentioned, I think he is angry at the world and possibly angry at God for letting it get this way. I don't know that his "plan" could help win the cultural war because I believe that it lacks love. He speaks of love as a primary driving force for Christianity, but yet he is cynical and is often steered in his thoughts by his own anger.

It doesn't really matter in the grand scheme

My previous post with respect to the Emergent Church movement explained my take on the matter.  But what it did not do is clarify that a Christian is a Christian is a Christian is a Christian.  For those that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, no amount of arguing over which doctrinal interpretation is correct can rob that salvation from you.  The Lord showed me this very fact a month or so ago.  I make no qualms about it.  I myself was struggling mightily with the concepts being taught from my own textbooks.  There was arguing over the continuing providence of God, whether the Holy Spirit still performed miracles since the resurrection, and that we should love our Christian brothers and sisters even more so than our own blood, strangers, and unbelievers.  For now, I will not go into the details of the arguments and I may never.  Then again I am tempted to all the time.  These topics threatened to become a stumbling block for me, but the Lord helped me through.  You see, while you and I may not agree on every interpretation of Scripture, every topic or doctrine, what I do know is that my salvation (and yours if you believe) is intact.  I struggled because I felt that there were students that would be told and taught something other than what I know to be the truth.  Thing is, who am I to judge the truth?  All I know to be true is what the Bible tells me is true.  I generally feel that if an argument can be made with much scriptural basis, it is a good argument, but what happens often is people like to infer or cause you to infer and that is dangerous.  My red flag goes up anytime I hear, "what God meant was.." or "what the Bible is saying here is...".  Yes there are parables and a goodly amount of poetic (figurative) language that should not be taken as literal.  That is where prayer and study come in.  Without prayer and study we can not hope to understand the Word of God.  The Bible is written and interpreted in many languages because God knew that we humans would be able to communicate through written/spoken words.  Scripture is meant for us to understand and not be a source of great confusion.  The point is that God wants us to understand the Bible as The truth, The whole truth, and The only truth.  Whether the Bible is in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, NIV, KJV, ESV, it doesn't matter how much, if anything, was lost in translation.  The Bible is God's Word and it is infallible.  Believe that when you read it.

The devastation of the Emergent Church

First, the emergent church (hereinafter, “EC”) is an upstart of an “event” that now threatens to spread like a plague, or should I say, an epidemic.  Its reaches are clearly global and that means up to, and including, the infiltration of Bible-believing churches.  It began in the late 20th and early 21st century, and the movement’s attraction is phenomenal.  The EC is recognized for its daring breaks from the mold of traditional church and tendency to venture into blasphemous beliefs.  EC members prefer to live their life as a "post modern" society and are often impossible to differentiate between secular society.  The gist of it is that most of them are upset that they can’t hang with genuine "organized religion."  Truly institutional church rules are way too hard to comply with and they figure the best way to be the Christian they WANT to be is to create a new version, Version 2.0 if you will.  Because of this “re-branding” of the church, bible discipline, church organization (government or polity), the sacraments, and church offices, are all being snubbed with the greater implications being the compromising, ongoing, unrepentant sin to exist throughout the Body of Christ, i.e., the church.  Further, Paul and the other apostles taught that church discipline for blatantly sinful and generally unrepentant members hurts the Body of Christ and diminishes  the witnessing abilities of the church.

The EC is very pro-active in its quest to change and sway society.  This of course means the use of political leverage to create and operate from a platform of social activism, and trying to overtake or displace a well-standing system presently being viewed as “harsh” by most lay people.  What the world should see in both missions and evangelism, is emphasis on the love of God as one of the primary attributes of God.  Instead, the EC frames its beliefs around the “stripping” of the gospel, of the necessity of a Savior.  To a repugnant degree they neglect to preach sin, repentance, confession, church discipline, and the shining fruits of the Holy Spirit.

One defining characteristic of the EC is the lack of presence of the Lord’s Supper.  I don’t fully understand why, but I suspect that it is because they don’t like the idea of “eating” and “drinking”, even as a symbolic gesture, the body of Christ.  Paul discussed the importance of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”  Then, with the cup after supper he said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”

EC claims that we cannot know the full truth regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality, among other doctrines in the Bible.  They say “truth is relative.”  Another defining feature of the EC is denial of the inerrancy of the Word of God (Bible).  They figure that it was written by men regardless if it was under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit.  Go figure.  Not all EC’s are alike and not all follow the methods I’ve described above.  The overwhelming tendency of people nowadays is to venture from church to church looking for something “not so strict.”  They don’t want to tithe and they don’t want to be told that they need to repent of their sin.  Taking accountability and trying to be a better person really isn’t so bad of a thing, is it?  Postmodernists want good music that has near secular tendencies and they are more concerned with being comfortable in church than they are of hearing the truth of God’s Word.  It has been said, and I tend to agree, that most EC members are very much involved with religion for selfish reasons, i.e., they really aren’t all that interested in serving others.

Popular culture is attempting to change Christianity into something it is not.  Truth is truth and anyone who believes that truth is a relative concept has been blinded.  Paper is made from pulp. Concrete is hard.  A forest is comprised of trees.  Hurricanes are devastating.  All truths.  Not fiction and not “tailored” to be true for one person and not another.  People and churches can be sincere but still be sincerely wrong.  Ignorance is no excuse.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6) and “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). These are blanket statements.  They are true for everyone.

So the American Atheists have put their heads together and decided that it was a good idea to put a GIANT billboard in Times Square, NY that reads, “Who needs Christ during Christmas?” and then a hand sweeps across the board and crosses out "Christ" and writes "Nobody."

Mr. David Silverman, the President of American Atheists, says that "This season is a great time of year for a hundred reasons, none of them having to do with religion.  This year, start a new tradition, don’t go to church.  You hate it, it’s boring; you probably only go because you feel guilty or obligated.  Instead, spend more time with your family and friends or volunteer. There are better uses of your time and money.” “Most people don't care about any religious ties to the season because church and religion are not what Americans care about during this time of year—they care about family and friends and giving presents and food and having fun,” said Public Relations Director Dave Muscato.  “Many so-called ‘Christmas’ traditions celebrated by Americans have nothing to do with Christianity.  For example, the North Pole and Santa traditions come from Nordic and Germanic pagan traditions, and caroling, yule logs, mistletoe, holly wreaths all pre-date Christianity.  Christianity has been trying to claim ownership of the season for hundreds of years.  But the winter solstice came first and so did its traditions.  The season belongs to everybody.”

Some of the past billboards in New Jersey and throughout NY said things like, "Disaster victims need real help, not religion."  They need "real help, not bibles."  They need real help, not prayer."

Now then, I do not feel the need to express my thoughts regarding the purpose of the American Atheists organization. What I will say is that the same dude that says Christians go to church even though they hate it and instead they should try volunteering may not be the brains you want in charge of your operation.  Because everyone would rather volunteer instead of go to Church. Just ask the people who are in charge of volunteer organizations if their numbers are even close to the attendance of even the smallest town churches.  Silverman also mentioned that it is a great season for many reasons and not to do with religion. Tell that to nearly 1/3 of the total population which happens to be...yup, you guessed it, Christians. As far as the rest of the comments made by the representative of the American Atheists, in the interest of fairness, I have no comment. I wonder how many millions of dollars spent on billboards trying to debunk ONE religion could have been donated to charities or volunteer organizations.  I wonder how many Christians, after looking at those billboards said, "you know something, he's right." Probably not very many. Anyone wanna take a stab at how much Christian organizations help the homeless and disaster relief victims throughout the world? Yeah, it’s astronomical compared to what the American Atheists organization gives.  God saves.  Not man.  Get over it.  Living a life not believing in anything is a post for another day.

I Was Gone, Now I Am Back

It is time to revive the inner dimensions of my geniusness. I stopped blogging for a bit particularly because school and work were taking up an exorbitant amount of my time. While I will fully disclose at this time that much of what I pontificate both now and down the road is personal opinion, going forward I will be "re-purposing" my Blog. I understand that I may have previously sent signals that were not necessarily received as I intended them, but rather they were interpreted as misguided and/or close-minded. For shame! I am a Christian and as such I wish to emulate that behavior. I fancy myself the antithesis of close-mindedness and apologize to all whom may have consummated the notion. I will endeavor to consider the thoughts and positions of others whilst I postulate. My first post since August is forthcoming.

God is Sovereign, not Arbitrary

Choose life. There are those who have muddied the waters of the river and rendered it undrinkable.
Free will is what separated us from God. Eve chose to believe Satan’s lie and she could not have foreseen the snowball effect it would have. In His sovereignty, God allowed this to be. However, He also assured us that the very same sovereignty that allows so many wrongs to occur in our world and separated us from God can, when combined with our ability to choose right from wrong, get us back into God’s loving arms. See, Acts 16:31.
Take a look around. There are 2 types of people, believers and non-believers. Personally, I argue that our very existence is evidence of God. Besides, science all but proves there are too many intricate coincidences for nature to have accomplished the formation of our world by happenstance and/or evolution. Now pause for a moment; think on the world, its problems, and its endless supply of atrocities. These actions by humankind show us that God has given free will and that in His sovereignty he allows these things to take place. Granted, judgment is coming.
Now think of the beautiful things that without Him are not, nor could not be possible. If you aren't going to believe, then you are just living to die. Where is your hope? What hope do you leave your children? He has given us the opportunity for the greatest hope of all, and freedom from the dreadful life we would lead were it not for His saving grace.
Self-awareness can be a blessing here because when you look at yourself in relation to the world you can see that, in fact, you are no different and do need a savior, that life everlasting is a futile endeavor without God. This part only makes sense if you believe there is purpose to our lives, which anyone who believes that God put us here to grow old, breed, and die is silly. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. See, John 3:16. He wants us in heaven and He wants us to tell others. That’s our purpose.
This world is full of people who are living proof that we may choose good or evil, life everlasting or eternal damnation. We must accept the grace of God as it is freely given. It will not be forced upon you by Him. I believe everyone is born with an inherent sense of right and wrong, otherwise the world would abound in chaos (it only seems like it does now). Those who do not possess this “inherent sense” are typically classified as "nutty”.
Society will shape you and mold you because you are in the world. Sin is ever present. Resist temptation to do wrong, pray for God's will. Do not conform to this world because it means that you have given up hope. God is not going to arbitrarily call some to Him and shun others. His will is that we all come to Christ. There's a narrow path that leads to eternity, find it. When you do find it, give glory and praise to the one who showed you the way.

God is Omniscient

God is omniscient.  He knows your struggles.  He knows your pain.  He knows.  He understands.  Believe in Him and persevere.  He will hold your hand through the hottest fire.  He will be there in your victory.  He will allow you to be tested beyond your wildest imagination and just when you think you're drowning in the deepest darkest pit of despair anyone has ever been in, He will whisper to you....because he loves you.   He wants you to throw down your life and choose Him.  He is there.  He knows your struggles.  He knows your pain.  He knows.  He understands.  He will be waiting for you at the end of the journey.  Just believe that He is your Savior and He will save you.  You will be persecuted for that belief but you will be FREE.


(Understand that everyone's pit of despair is different.)

Take it to the Bank

Went off the grid for a bit. Gained some perspective though.
Man, let me tell you somethin' man.  The Bank is amazing!  I learned this week that the smartest people in the world, including attorneys, work for the Bank.  Ruthless, cunning, and greedy.  So I'm analyzing loan docs and I come across the words "Participation payment."  Turns out, Participation payment is when one Bank (not the original lender) makes installments to another Bank (the original lender) in order to keep the loan alive even after maturity.  During the process of collection and if any funds are paid toward the payoff amount, a kickback goes to the participating bank.  The downside is that if no money is ever paid on the loan to the originating bank, the participating bank never makes a dime in return!  So they are paying money, in order to make money off of another bank's loan with the possibility of never making money!  Amazing.

Confusing the Children

The Boy Scouts are silly.  Homosexual children.  The Boy Scouts of America has decided to allow gay children to join, thereby showing children that not only will we accept you for "who you are", but we encourage you and will facilitate your choices. Homosexual children.  How ridiculous does that sound?  By displaying their "tolerance" they are telling kids its ok.  That it's ok to be homosexual.  Well let me tell you, it is not ok to be gay.  Are they so afraid of the backlash from homosexuality advocates that they are willing to compromise their values for it?  I don't want to sound so angry, but the truth is there isn't going to be any tolerance and grace from adolescents.  Imagine if you will, a group of 5 boys in a tent camping in the woods.  One of the boys decides this is a good time to announce his particular lifestyle choice.  Do you really think that what is going to follow is a nice insightful discussion on the differences between heterosexual and homosexual children?  Uh uh.  I remember being twelve and I can tell you that is not what's happening jack.  At twelve years old these children don't understand bigotry, tolerance, and hate.  They don't know that they are ignorant to so many things in life.  Sadly, it doesn't change much the older you get unless you have a propensity for learning and growing and open-mindedness is one of your stronger characteristics.  No, more likely what is going to happen is a constant and ferocious berage of insults and beratement.  Something he will have to live with and grow with because if he stays the same course he will need to get used to that kind of treatment.  As a society, we are not so tolerant as we'd like to think we are.  We are carnal, instinctive people.  And if we know that someone is different than us, our first instinct isn't to ask them questions about why they are the way they are, but to go on the offensive.  Seems almost cruel doesn't it?  Luring a child into a group by telling them they are accepted, then pitting them with others who are not like them.  It sounds like a ruthless science experiment.  Lets put this different thing in a group of things that are all alike and see what happens.  My main point here is that the Boy Scouts are now telling our youths that it is ok to be gay and I have said and will say again, it is not.  I don't condemn it, but I don't condone it.  It's wrong and it's sending a bad message.