This is still Ima. I need another section to tell you how we can know God’s will. I’m sorry, but my view is more complicated than just doing what is socially approved or doing what you like.
So how can we know God’s will? Supernaturalists differ on this. Four popular views say we can know God’s will through (1) the Bible, (2) the church, (3) prayer, or (4) reason. Another view says we can’t know God’s will.
First, there’s the Bible. I was brought up to believe that the Bible teaches clear-cut answers on all moral issues. But I’ve learned that there are many gray areas where people interpret the Bible differently.
My grandfather had been a pacifist during the Vietnam War. He believed that it was wrong to kill a human for any reason, even self-defense. He took “Thou shalt not kill” and “Turn the other cheek” literally. But many of his friends thought it their duty to fight the “godless Communists.” They quoted Biblical passages urging the Israelites to conquer their enemies. So which side is right? Should a follower of the Bible be a pacifist or a militarist? And how do we decide this? I believe that we need to understand individual passages in the light of the Bible’s general message. People who try to do this may end up interpreting things differently. So the Bible leaves us with gray areas. And of course the Bible doesn’t directly address many issues.
There’s also the problem of which religion and bible to follow. My Jewish, Islamic, and Mormon friends recognize different books as part of their scrip- tures. But all religions have the same general message about God’s will, that God wants us to have concern and love for each other, and to treat others as we want to be treated. The details vary, but the general message is the same. Second, there’s the church. Many see their church as a moral authority. Some think that their church teaches an unchanging and infallibly true moral system, and that we must accept everything that it says. But history shows that church teaching has evolved over the years and sometimes has blind spots that need correction. My church mostly recognizes this. And so I don’t take my church as an infallible guide on right and wrong. Instead, I look at my church as I look at a wise teacher: I listen and try to learn—but in the end I may disagree on some details.
Third, there’s prayer. Many pray to God for guidance, and then take their feelings as a sign of God’s will. I do this myself. But there’s a danger of confusing my likes and dislikes with God’s will. We’ve all seen religious fanatics who think God wants things that in fact are crazy and hateful. So we need input from the Bible and the church to help us to form our conscience.
Fourth, there’s reason. Some follow their moral intuitions, which they see as implanted by God to help us to know his will. Others follow an ideal-observer method, where we try to become as God-like as possible (striving for know- ledge and love) and then see what we desire; this gives us an idea of what God would desire. These approaches can be helpful, particularly if we add input from the Bible and the church.
A final view is that we can’t know God’s will at all, since God is mysterious- ly above our little minds. As Romans 11:34 asks, “Who has known the mind of the Lord?” I think there’s some truth here, but it’s horribly overstated. Surely we know some things about God’s will, even though we can’t be sure about all the details. I get angry with people who think they know all the details and won’t listen to anyone else.
So how can we know God’s will? We need to combine all four sources: the Bible, the church, prayer, and reason. Where the sources speak clearly and in unison, our belief is very solid. So it’s clear that God wants us to have concern and love for each other, and to treat others as we want to be treated. It’s also
clear that God opposes killing, stealing, and lying—and racism (which violates “Love thy neighbor”). But there are gray areas, like pacifism. Here we have to follow our prayer and reason as best we can, while we gain insight from the Bible and the church. In these gray areas, we should be less confident of our beliefs and more tolerant of opposing views.
Let me highlight SN’s attractions. SN is popular among ordinary people; so it’s not a view that only a philosopher could love. It explains morality in a clear way. It makes morality objective; human values have to conform to a higher law. It can appeal to higher motives (unselfish love and gratitude to God) or to lower ones (punishments and rewards). And it makes morality part of our personal relationship with God.
Reflect on how you react to this view. Do you have objections?