Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Precepts of the Lord and Divine Command Theory

Psalm 19:8 tells us that the precepts of the Lord are "right" (the word in Hebrew is more literally "upright"). Now one might interpret this in two ways. Either one understands this verse to say that the content of the precepts of the Lord is true, or one understands this verse to say that the precepts themselves are morally right (i.e. the Lord acted in a morally upright way to give these precepts). But either interpretation gives rise to problems for Divine command theory. Divine command theory would make the first interpretation an analytic truth, which is simply implausible. And the second interpretation would lead to a regress, for it could only be by conformity to a precept that God's providence of the precepts He actually provides could be morally upright.