We live in a world which wants the gentleness of Christian character. We want love. We want kindness, we want joy. We want purpose. We want peace. We want exercise of patience. We want justice.

We want all the benefits of Christian character and conduct. But we do not want Christ. We want it without being confronted with Christianity and the Bible in the school place, in the work place, and in the government place. “And surely don’t bring it into my home!” so it is said.

You can take a sponge and doctor it up with strawberries and whipped cream. Oh yes, the sponge is even yellow and looks like a yellow sponge cake. With all the flavoring, with all the toppings, it may look nice. It may look Christian. But without the core being real, the dessert is spoiled. Christianity without the reality of God is empty.

G. Eliot observed concerning those who try to cling to Christian morality, “They are rid of the Christian God and now believe all the more firmly that they must cling to Christian morality.”  It is foolishness.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche rightly states,  “When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality out from under one’s feet.”

What are issues of “Christian” or Biblical morality? Honesty, truth, justice, kindness, compassion, charity, marriage, personal responsibility, government, family, the right to life, the keeping of promises, graciousness, patience, liberty, the right to pursuit of happiness,  respect of persons, respect for diversity of ethnicity, the right to property, the foundations for truth and logic, the foundations for law itself, the ability to differentiate good and bad, to distinguish right from wrong, peace and warfare, etc.

When one departs from respect of the Creator God of the universe as described in the Bible, all of the above attributes become non issues. One has no cause to expect such rights or privileges.

What is lost when these are lost? A college can no longer argue for honesty from the student. Cheating has no restraint. The right for expectation of a valid diploma ceases.  Just scoring of quizzes, exams, projects, and papers cannot be expected. The school can change requirements for graduation with impunity. No promises should be expected. The changing of fees and failure to keep accurate records of payments can become random. Professors and instructors no longer have to teach truth or be consistent.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche further said, “Christianity is a system, a whole view of things thought out together. By breaking one main concept out of it, the faith in God, one breaks the whole: nothing necessary remains in one’s hands. Christianity presupposes that man does not know, cannot know, what is good for him, what evil: he believes in God, who alone knows it. Christian morality is a command; its origin is transcendent; it is beyond all criticism, all right to criticism; it has truth only if God is the truth — it stands and falls with faith in God.” (Twilight of the Idols: Skirmishes Of An Untimely Man)

Once one removes God out of the equation, then all discussion of morals leaves the picture. In an amoral situation we no longer have cause for complaint whether it involves situations of murder, theft, rape, cruelty, etc. for now there is no right or wrong. Fatalism rules. Get used to it, for that is the way it is. Is this really the way you want it to be?

I suppose one might think that this is the end of the story, except God, our Creator, does exist and intervenes in the affairs of men even today.  He is a God who has properly expressed Himself both in nature and by special revelation. He blesses and judges actively. Because He is almighty, ever present and all knowing, our actions are ever being monitored. In His providence He brings circumstances to bear on us according to our obedience. He also will deal with each one in the coming judgment according to His appointed pleasure.

I could have as easily stated that even if you do know from where your ethical system comes, your ethical system is still likely to be defective.

In reality, ethical systems which come from man’s estimation are in fact defective. Ethics cannot logically come from man.

Ethics is
“the science of human duty;
the science of right and of right character and conduct;
moral science;…” F&W Dictionary 1896

Science is “knowledge gained and verified by exact observation and correct thinking, especially as methodically formulated and arranged in a rational system;…” F&W Dictionary 1896

The Bible tells us that knowledge is inherent and intrinsic in the nature and character of God. God is eternal, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. God is and so knowledge is and flows from Him. Apart from Him is no knowledge. (example: Psalm 139, Psalm 19)

God is also God of creation. Through design God manifest His knowledge in His creation and made man capable of searching out the deep things of God and to interact with knowledge and to use it. This is where observation and correct thinking come into play. One must take what he learns and correctly apply what he gains.

Therefore as man by knowledge searches out human duty, he ascertains right and wrong. As he discerns the nature and character of God, he then learns about “right and of right character and conduct.” In particular, specific information applying to this effort is provided by God through divinely inspired and preserved Scriptures. Of course this makes man accountable, for his manipulation of facts must be true.

If man fails in this required manipulation of facts and truth he denies knowledge, that which is right and true. He therefore corrupts knowledge and the corrupts the image of his Creator. Here we see rationality set aside and a form of living which is irrational. Man denies the source and by extension even the existance of exact knowledge. This is viewed in the system of the atheist.

The naturalist takes knowledge of creation. By investigation he comes up with principles of life. Yet because he does not acknowledge the Creator and the Creator’s express written will but only the creation, his perspective is distorted because he is defective in exact observation and thinking. He assigns to portions of creation perspective and characteristics which belong to the Creator only. In this he denies the source of knowledge and its applications which should be related to correct perspective. By this he perverts knowledge and comes to false conclusions. Such perversion applies to his understanding of right. Therefore his ethics is perverted.

Natural selection is useless as determiner of right. Everything falls to random probability. If guidance is inferred in any way, it is no more natural. It then defers to some form of design which is preplanned. The suggestion of design or guidance in any way argues that God exists. Then the knowledge of a Creator demonstrating omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence becomes the obvious.

When knowledge is either denied or perverted, then issues of right become undiscernible. Often the issue of relativity arises. What is true for you and what is true for me are both true. Should they be contradictory, they are still viable to be true. When it comes to ethics and the application of right in the lives of such relativistic individuals is capable of great harm. Conflict can readily develop.

Except there be the cognizance of the Creator and conformity to His wisdom there can be no unity in thought or practice. Right cannot be determined.

The only possible straight forward ethical concept possible to man is when man turns to God his Creator and correctly draws from Him that by which he should order his life. For only in God our Creator is knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. All other considerations are void of logic.