In chapter 11, McQuilkin and Copan mention four problems with
evolutionary ethics: evolutionary ethics does not discount God as the
source of morality, God makes better sense of human dignity, can one
trust their beliefs if they are just products of material, valueless, mindless
processes, and where did “oughts” come from?[1]Of these four problems
with evolutionary ethics, the most compelling reason to reject
evolutionary ethics is the third mentioned. People have a tendency to
trust in what is static and unchangeable. Evolution is all about change. If
ethics are derived from evolution that means that they are not static and
may change with further evolution. Truth becomes relative at this point
and there can be no absolute trust in any belief. Groothius brings to light
this of relativism, “Relativism, both cultural and individual, entails that no
human act is intrinsically and always wrong.”[2]Considering this train of
thought, it could be possible with evolutionary ethics that rape is morally
wrong today and may not be in the future. As McQuilkin and Copan state,
“Why should we trust in beliefs produced by nonrational forces over which
we have no control? How could matter actually hold any beliefs?”[3]It
simply does not make sense trust relative beliefs and if humans are just
“matter,” they should not hold beliefs. Evolution as the source of ethics
makes little to no sense in light of this argument.
A question that might surface when thinking of evolutionary ethics
may be “Why can’t God and evolutionary ethics work hand in hand?” Is it
possible that God could have used evolution as the foundation of ethics?
Is it possible that what is defined as evolution was just the process God
used to create? In short, yes, it is possible. All things are possible with
God. However, it makes more sense that evolution would be compatible
with God’s creation process than it does as His foundation for ethics.
God’s character and morality is absolute. While God’s creation is unique,
changing and evolving, His moral code does not change. Evolutionary
ethics does not seem compatible with the nature of God since
evolutionary ethics is relative rather than absolute. While it may be
possible, it does not seem plausible that Evolutionary ethics is compatible
with belief in God as the foundation for ethics.
Bibliography
Groothuis, Douglas.Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for
Biblical Faith.Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011.
McQuilkin, Robertson, and Paul Copan.An Introduction to Biblical Ethics:
Walking in the Way of Wisdom.Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014.
[1]Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan.An Introduction to Biblical
Ethics: Walking in the Way of Wisdom,(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2014), 181.
[2]Groothuis, Douglas.Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for
Biblical Faith,!(Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011), 340.
[3]Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan, 181.
