Challenges to Divine Command Theory

The challenges from the Euthyphro dilemma

• Is morality arbitrary if it depends on the command of a divine being?
• If God decides something is good, is that thing good because God has commanded it to be, or is it good external to God?

Robert Adams' Modified Divine Command Theory - how does it address these challenges?

• Adams argues that both the arbitrariness and external objectivity issues are redundant if one considers the Divine Command as an expression of God's omnibenevolence
• Some philosophers have argued that this just extends the problem, as Julian Baggini observes, 'This doesn't seem to work however, because the dilemma can just be restated: is God's nature good because it is good, or good because it is God's?

Problems with DCT regarding the relationship between religion and morality

• There are different ethical systems and principles found both…