Morality Without God
A popular idea among atheists, self-styled intellectuals, and others whose favorite hobby is disparaging religion is that mankind doesn't need religion to be moral. They claim that we've outgrown it and, therefore, to believe in it now is backwards. The vast majority of these worldly philosophers grew up and live in what are historically considered Christian countries. Thus, the bulk of their anti-religious rhetoric is directed at those who claim to be, or are, Christians. There are also those who advocate for Biblical morality, while simultaneously deriding anyone that considers the Bible to be a true historical record as a “fundamentalist” (intended as an insult but is really a compliment to any faithful Christian).
These sorts of people believe that their intellect has surpassed the wisdom of the ages, that we live now in an age when human reason will carry us into the future, and we may dispense with the Bible and its teachings. Out with the old, in with the new. But, as any well-read Christian and serious student of history knows, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). This “age of reason” is nothing new. It is also a misnomer. Just as we hold God's Word in reverence, they religiously vaunt “rationalism” in an attempt to construct a false dichotomy, in which we are implied to be irrational.
However, their evangelism, in the name of the “rational,” has resulted in an increasingly secular civilization that is decidedly irrational. Behold, the fruits of their labor: men, women, and children undergoing surgical butchery so they can pretend to be the opposite sex, tolerance and praise for genocidal terrorist organizations, prosecution of rape victims instead of the rapists in the U.K., murdering unborn babies in the name of convenience, and on and on the list could go. They say, “We don't need the Bible to tell us not to murder, lie, and steal. Everyone knows not to do those things.” Evidently not.
The morality of America, for example, is not solely the result of an innate sense of good and evil common to every single person from birth. It certainly isn't the result of secular “rationalism.” Biblical principles were inveterate in Europe for centuries, the early settlers carried them to these shores, and the founding fathers established this country upon these principles. It is, therefore, rational to believe they are foundational to our morality and culture, and irrational to believe that morality will persist after removing its foundation.
As referenced earlier, there are those who at least acknowledge the good that Biblical principles have served in shaping the culture, but they stop short of the conclusion that the morals formed thereby are from God. They then, of necessity, do not deem Biblical teaching to be an objective moral standard. They say, “We'll pick and choose what parts of the Bible we think are good and leave aside all the rest that offend our modern sensibilities.” This isn't the first time in (relatively) recent memory that this issue was at the forefront of societal discourse. In his campaign to abolish slavery in England, member of Parliament William Wilberforce in 1797 wrote the following in his book, A Practical View of Christianity:
The error in question is that of exaggerating the merit of certain amiable and useful qualities, and of considering them as of themselves sufficient to compensate for the want of the supreme love and fear of God.
It is not enough to simply think of the Word of God as a book that contains some good lessons that should be cherry-picked and applied only as man sees fit. An appeal from mere human rationalism was not enough to rid England, the U.S.A., or any country in all of history of the yoke of slavery. It took the inculcation of the knowledge that every human being was created in the image of God (and are therefore of equal worth) across millennia to remove a practice that was globally ubiquitous for millennia. That is, slavery wouldn't have been abolished were it not for God's moral standard.
This country wouldn't be here, or at the very least wouldn't look anything like it does now, were it not for God's moral standard. Christians wouldn't be here preaching the Gospel, virtually without persecution, were it not for God's moral standard. These humanists wouldn't be here spouting their drivel were it not for God's moral standard, which allowed for a society of such unparalleled freedom to be established. The freedom which they use to criticize is the very thing that gifted it to them. The freedom we enjoy can only be properly utilized by a people that fear God and are therefore wise and humble enough to respect such freedom. Human “wisdom” has produced a population that uses the great liberty we have in service to naught but their own bellies. But Christians know, “…that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as the servants of God” (1 Peter 2:15-16).
True morality has always been established by God, from the very beginning. God gave Adam the first moral standard: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it.” (Gen. 2:17). Adam and Eve failed to keep this standard. Cain and Abel both knew what sacrifice was pleasing to God, yet only Abel upheld this standard (Gen. 4:4). There was an age of human reason recounted in Genesis. It reached its natural conclusion: hedonism. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5). And so it went throughout history. Abraham was honored because he upheld God's moral standard. God's covenant with him brought about the Israelites, who tried and failed to uphold His standard time and time again. And thus, Christians have endeavored to meet Christ's moral standard for 2000 years. It cannot be overstated how integral God's commandments are in the propagation of righteousness in humanity; moreover, it simply wouldn't happen apart from God. Men everywhere have been trying for untold centuries to establish their own moral codes, yet they have never been successful in contending with the sins we all commit.
As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that understandeth; There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one (Romans 3:10-13).
And again, it is written, “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). There is no true morality apart from God.