On Moral Authorities

[FallentoReason]

Which arguments do you regard to be sound? We won't discuss them here, but I'd like to know your context please.

The Five Ways of St. Thomas Aquinas

Okay, interesting.

Why does it have to be Truth and Goodness? Why not Lies and Badness?

Because truth is the state of mind in accordance with being or reality while lies are the opposite. And because everything that must be truly good, must be true, and everything that is true must be real, and badness is always in contrary with being. Hence Truth and Goodness instead of Lies and Badness.

(my emphasis) Such a way of thinking means you wouldn't be able to save someone from a murderer looking for that person. If they asked you where they are, and you know the answer, you wouldn't be able to lie to save their lives.

How does all of this fare with the Old Testament? Is God really all that you say if he once upon a time commanded to kill and rape?

The Old Testament must be understood in light of Christ. It teaches about justice and can be used in spirituality like fighting one's sins like how God's people must eradicate not some, but all of the opponent and so all and not some sins may be eradicated. Without Christ and the teaching of the Church, one cannot conclude rightly from the Old Testament. That is not an old problem. A heretic named Marcion in times of first Christians had denied the Old Testament by understanding it incorrectly, by, like the modern atheists, conclude God of the Old Testament is evil, which is again incorrect, for it didn't consider Christ and His Church which is the completion of God's revelation.

Hmm, well, I don't feel compelled to argue against a strawman of Jewish belief. There isn't just YHWH, there's a whole pantheon of gods:

When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.

When Elyon gave the nations as an inheritance, when he separated the sons of man, he set the boundaries of the peoples accoring to the number of the sons of God. For Yahweh's portion was his people; Jacob was the lot of his inheritance."

When monotheism became mainstream, there was the need to correct such passages, and obscure monotheistic tones.