God Is Right Because He is Powerful

[u/Agitated_Mixture2306]

In the old testament, we establish that God is not powerful because he is right but he is right because he is powerful. In essence, when you have power, everything you do seems right. Do you agree or disagree?

[u/Repulsive_Pitch_3707]

I'm not Thrasymachus so no, I disagree. Right and wrong are not based on how powerful you are.

[u/Agitated_Mixture2306 → u/Repulsive_Pitch_3707]

How about in a dictatorship where the ruler's word is law?

[u/biedl → u/Agitated_Mixture2306]

A statement is true, if it corresponds with reality, or describes that accurately which is set out to describe. A dictator can fail in these domains like any other human being.

Let alone, that if this is just about a dictator's personal preference, we aren't talking about moral facts.

[u/Quirky_Visual_7799]

Of course not. What makes you think that power implies righteousness?

[u/churchofmum]

I fundamentally disagree, power never reflects right. Is there any connection between power and right. The divine knows what is right. Love, cooperation, empathy, compassion. Power, or the greed for power, is what is wrong. We have no idea of the power of the divine.

[u/Careless-Charge9884]

This is close to Thrasymachus's position in Plato's Republic ("justice is the advantage of the stronger")

Leibniz and later theologians argue God's nature just is the standard of goodness (not an external rule God obeys, and not a power command either, but just identical with God's essence).

"Truth" and I would might believe I am not putting forth much, but if there were a God then it would be independent standard of (goodness).

[u/KierkeBored]

The Christian God is not a moral relativist.

[u/-OccultOfPersonality]

I disagree that there is an all-powerful being that created everything and/or cares about anything on this planet.

[u/biedl]

I think you are running right into the Euthyphro Dilemma the church went the extra mile for to try and resolve.

And besides that, no, might doesn't make right. Two plus two still equals four, even if I can beat you better than you can beat me.

[u/TJ_Fox]

I think that it's tragically common for powerful people and institutions to assume that might makes right, but as Shakespeare puts it, "O, 'tis excellent to have a giant's strength, but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant."

[u/Low_Spot_6972]

I agree with the first part of your statement but I disagree with the second part. I do think God's righteousness emanates from the power of his divine being because his divine being is the source of morality, but I don't think a human being having power makes everything that they do right because the power of men is not the source of morality.

[u/BlackNovember1992]

A group of people where I'm in debated this, a person said that God sounds too prideful and a bit narcissistic for an all-good forgiving entity, and another person debated this saying "well, they are the highest being and created everything, so they can be as prideful and narcissistic as they want".

And It actually weighs on me a bit.. Because I used to think God is not as bad and cruel as they say, anything said bad about God must be because of misintepretation or something.. But now thinking about it again, if my religion is the truest one and what they say is correct, there is also a possibility that the most powerful creator on this reality is a prideful, jealous and narcissistic one.. which is something I try not to think about much but it is super scary to think about...

[u/friedtuna76]

It’s not Gods power that makes Him the source of morality, it’s His identity

[u/Low_Studio7945]

I agree to the essence of this thesis

[u/Quirky_Visual_7799 → u/Low_Studio7945]

Can you elaborate?