Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 40:160 (Oct 1883)
Article: Theism And Ethics
Author: Thomas Hill

BSac 40:160 (Oct 1883) p. 643

Theism And Ethics

Rev. Thomas Hill

The question has been recently debated with much interest whether any form of ethics is possible under an atheistic philosophy. Of course it is granted that atheistic philosophy does not immediately destroy ethical instincts in the man who adopts it; the question in debate is, whether his philosophy can justify and explain those instincts so as to build a science upon them. By an atheistic philosophy is meant that view of the universe which makes it consist wholly of matter in motion, so that our thought is but a vibration of the brain, and consciousness is simply the highest result of the movement of matter; while theism declares that conscious thought antedates the very existence of matter and motion.

The great difficulty in discussing the relation between theism and ethics arise from the difficulty of defining the terms. Under whatever aspect we look toward God we must acknowledge his infinite greatness, and it is impossible to comprehend his attributes; but it is impossible to define sharply our apprehension of that which we cannot comprehend. Ethics also is a broad science, covering many of the relations of personal beings to each other; but we cannot define sharply what a personal being is, nor what relations of personal beings are included in the sphere of ethics. The difficulty is therefore apparent, it amounts to an impossibility of arriving at conclusions which will be universally admitted in regard to the connection between ethics and theism.

It is also not to be forgotten that theology and ethics may

BSac 40:160 (Oct 1883) p. 644

be, at least in imagination, connected in a variety of ways; so that their mutual independence in one way may not be inconsistent with their interdependence in another. It was, forty years ago, the fashion to speak frequently of the distinction between logical and chronological dependence; and that distinction is important here. We may inquire whether the sense of obligation and the existence of duty logically imply the existence of God, or of a belief in God; and we may inquire whether the sense of obligation, the acknowledgment of duty, have historically been actually produced by a belief in God. The two inquiries are very distinct. It is generally admitted, in regard to the second inquiry, that there is a historical connection between theology and ethics; that among all nations moral duties have been enforced, to a greater or less extent, by religious sanctions. In the corrupt state of the Roman empire, it is true, the connection between religion and morality was exceedingly slight, as is strikingly set forth by Huidecoper, so that monotheism was practically necessary to give vigor and efficiency to conscience. Yet both Grecian and Roman litera...