The Moral Argument for God

[Ben Davis]

1. If objective moral values and duties do not exist, then God does not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists.

The logic of the argument is solid, so any disagreement must involve the definitions of the terms, one or more of the two premises themselves (of course), or both.

Hi athrock, from the UK

First I'll echo Simon's point that you should phrase your first premise as an imperative not a negative: 'If objective moral values & duties exist then God exists'. The reason for that phraseology is it makes your base, unstated assumptions clear: 1. Objective moral values & duties exist, 2. God = objective moral values & duties. There are a number of problems with this.

1. You must be able to demonstrate that objective moral values & duties exist.
2. You must be able to demonstrate that God exists
3. You must be able to demonstrate that God and 'objective moral values & duties' are the same thing (or part of the same thing).

None of these things are demonstrable consequently the argument must be dismissed:

1. All moral values & duties that currently exist are demonstrably subjective. Or best knowledge indicates that morals can only arise from subjects applying value-systems to specific circumstances, in context.
2. I don't think I need to expand much on the size of this task!
3. A 'being' and a 'concept' cannot be the same thing, by definition. Consequently, the best that can be argued here is that God is the 'arbiter' of 'objective morals' however that makes them subjective, by definition as God becomes a subject making an arbitration.

Hope that helps.