Is an action right because God commands it, or does God command it because it is right, and can morality depend on the will of God?
Component 3 divine command theory: the claim that morality depends on God's commands, the Euthyphro dilemma, and the strengths and weaknesses of grounding ethics in the will of God.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to divine command theory. Covers the claim that morality is grounded in God's commands, the Euthyphro dilemma (is an act good because God commands it, or commanded because it is good), modified divine command theory, and the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this dot point is asking
Eduqas Component 3 (Theme 1, Ethical Thought) studies divine command theory: the claim that morality depends on the commands of God. You learn the theory itself (an act is right because God commands it), the Euthyphro dilemma (is an act good because God commands it, or commanded because it is good?), the modified version that grounds commands in God's nature, and the strengths and weaknesses. The exam rewards explaining the theory and the dilemma precisely (AO1) and evaluating whether morality can depend on God's commands (AO2).
The answer
The theory
The Euthyphro dilemma
Modified divine command theory
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths: an objective, authoritative basis for morality; a clear motive to be moral; and it fits the intuition that a moral law needs a lawgiver. Weaknesses: the arbitrariness horn (bare-will versions); apparently abhorrent commands (the binding of Isaac, holy war, Old Testament commands); the autonomy objection (morality should be something we can reason about, not just obey); and the fact that atheists are plainly capable of moral lives without grounding them in God.
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. Explain modified divine command theory. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]
- What the marker wants. Accurate account of grounding commands in God's necessarily good nature, how this blocks each horn of Euthyphro, and Adams's version, organised and using specialist terms. AO1 band.
Q2. "If God is the source of morality, then morality is arbitrary." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, 30 marks]
- Cue. Weigh the arbitrariness horn against modified divine command theory's appeal to God's nature, and the abhorrent-commands problem against the believer's trust, then judge. AO2 band, the larger 30-mark tariff.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC Eduqas exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Eduqas A120 2019 (style)20 marksExplain divine command theory and the Euthyphro dilemma. [part (a), AO1, 20 marks]Show worked answer →
A part (a) AO1 question on the five-band scheme. Explain the theory and the dilemma accurately.
Divine command theory holds that morality is grounded in the will of God: an action is right because God commands it and wrong because God forbids it, so moral obligations are divine commands (associated with a strong reading of Calvin and, in modern form, Robert Adams). The Euthyphro dilemma (Plato): is an act good (a) because God commands it, or (b) does God command it because it is good? Horn (a) makes morality arbitrary (if God commanded cruelty it would be good) and empties "God is good" of content (it just means God does what God wills). Horn (b) makes goodness independent of God, so God is not the source of morality but recognises a standard above himself. A top band answer explains the theory and both horns precisely.
Eduqas A120 2021 (style)20 marks"Morality cannot depend on the commands of God." Evaluate this view. [part (b), AO2, the full Eduqas tariff is 30 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.]Show worked answer →
A part (b) AO2 question; the top band rewards balanced argument and a justified conclusion.
For the view: the Euthyphro dilemma shows that if morality depends on God's bare will it is arbitrary (cruelty could be good), and if it does not, God is not its source; abhorrent commands (the binding of Isaac, holy war) seem to follow; and atheists are clearly capable of morality. Against: modified divine command theory grounds commands in God's necessarily good and loving nature (God cannot command cruelty), so morality is neither arbitrary nor independent; for the believer, a moral law needs a lawgiver. Weigh whether modified divine command theory escapes the dilemma, and conclude. Links to the relationship between religion and morality.
Related dot points
- Component 3 virtue theory: Aristotle's account of eudaimonia, the doctrine of the mean, moral and intellectual virtues, and the role of practical wisdom, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to Aristotle's virtue theory. Covers eudaimonia as the final end, the function argument, the doctrine of the mean, moral and intellectual virtues, practical wisdom (phronesis) and habituation, and the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
- Component 3 conscience: Aquinas's rational account (synderesis and conscientia) against the psychological accounts of Freud (the super-ego) and Fromm (authoritarian and humanistic conscience), with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to conscience. Covers Aquinas's rational account (synderesis and conscientia, and the mistaken conscience), Freud's psychological account (the super-ego and guilt), and Fromm's authoritarian and humanistic conscience, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
- Component 3 Aquinas's natural law: the four tiers of law, the primary and secondary precepts, real and apparent goods, the doctrine of double effect, and its application to issues of life and death, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to Aquinas's natural law. Covers the four tiers of law (eternal, divine, natural, human), the primary and secondary precepts, real and apparent goods, the four cardinal and three theological virtues, the doctrine of double effect, and its application to abortion and euthanasia, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
- Component 3 the relationship between religion and morality: the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality needs God, and the views of Kant, Aquinas and secular critics, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to the relationship between religion and morality. Covers the autonomy, heteronomy and theonomy of ethics, whether morality depends on God, the Euthyphro problem, Kant's postulate of God, and secular accounts of morality, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
- Component 3 Fletcher's situation ethics: agape as the one absolute, the four working principles and six fundamental principles, conscience as a verb, and its application to life and death, with strengths and weaknesses.
An Eduqas Component 3 (Religion and Ethics) guide to Fletcher's situation ethics. Covers agape as the sole absolute, the four working principles, the six fundamental principles, conscience as a verb, the legalism/antinomianism contrast, and its application to issues of life and death, with the strengths and weaknesses the exam asks you to evaluate.
Sources & how we know this
- Eduqas A Level Religious Studies specification (A120QS) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)
- Plato, Euthyphro — Project Gutenberg