{"id":95415,"date":"2026-05-05T12:11:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=95415"},"modified":"2026-05-05T12:11:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T17:11:20","slug":"atheists-ask-about-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/atheists-ask-about-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Atheists Ask About Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

by Perry Hall<\/p>\n

Atheists pose this supposed conundrum:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. “Did God condemn murder because it is wrong?” Or<\/li>\n
  2. “Is murder wrong because God condemns it?”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is the horns of the dilemma atheists are hoping Christians will be gored upon by selecting either choice.<\/p>\n

    A philosophy of mine is, when offered two inadequate choices, don’t let others put you into a corner. Find a third way.<\/p>\n

    There is a flaw in their queries. The purpose of asking this question is to separate morality from God and make God either unnecessary or even monstrous. If God is monstrous, God is not ethical. If ethics are separate from God, God is not the source of ethics.<\/p>\n

    Let’s examine each one:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. “Did God condemn murder because it is wrong?” The implication is that God is condemning something based upon an ethic that exists outside of himself.<\/li>\n
    2. “Is murder wrong because God condemns it?” Murder itself then is not unethical, but only becomes so because God condemns it. The implication is that God is not truly ethical but only makes things unethical by decree.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      What’s the third choice? Murder is wrong because God is.<\/p>\n

      The first command against murder isn’t until Genesis 9, long after the first murder is condemned in Genesis 4. How could God condemn murder before the command against it was given? How could murder be wrong before there is a law condemning it?<\/p>\n

      God is.<\/p>\n

      In the beginning, God said, “Let us make man in our own image<\/em>” (Genesis 1). Murder is wrong because humans – not animals – are made in God’s image. Because God is, man is, and therefore murder is wrong. Murder is a type of deicide (II Peter 1:4).<\/p>\n

      God not only “is”, as in who <\/b>God is; God is, as in what <\/b>God is. God is love.<\/p>\n

      Let’s look at the first two choices again:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. “Did God condemn murder because it is wrong?” Or<\/li>\n
      2. “Is murder wrong because God condemns it?”\nThe third choice is:<\/li>\n
      3. God condemned murder because God is and man is God’s image, plus God is love and murder is hatred or indifference. And murder is wrong because God condemns what is contrary to Himself, which is love.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        There is no separation of ethics from God because God is.<\/p>\n

        Now the question for atheists is:<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Is murder wrong because man condemns it? Or,<\/li>\n
        2. Does man condemn murder because it is wrong?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          by Perry Hall Atheists pose this supposed conundrum: “Did God condemn murder because it is wrong?” Or “Is murder wrong because God condemns it?” This is the horns of the dilemma atheists are hoping Christians will be gored upon by selecting either choice. A philosophy of mine is, when offered two inadequate choices, don’t let…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[37,184,38,406],"class_list":["post-95415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apologetics","tag-atheism","tag-morality","tag-murder"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-anything-done-in-moderation-not-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":0},"title":"Is Anything Done in Moderation Not a Sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 6:8-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was asked recently what I thought about the argument that gambling once in a while (two or three times a week) wasn\u2019t sinful because \u201canything done in moderation is not a sin.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We could address the issue of gambling from a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":74139,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morality-from-molecules\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":1},"title":"Morality from Molecules?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Atheists have a sense of right and wrong; as skewed as it is, it is an issue they cannot explain. Where did this sense of ought, moral right and wrong, come from? Do men get to make it up from within their own molecules? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/molecule-300x240.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":67263,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/morality-without-godliness\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":2},"title":"Morality Without Godliness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 6:24-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some people have a pretty good sense of morality and yet are not interested in following God \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0For example, not all atheists are immoral people \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But there is a problem with the consistency of their moral standards. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jehoram \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jehoram was not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-god-command-us-not-to-murder-when-god-murdered-people-in-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":3},"title":"How can God command us not to murder when God murdered people in the Old Testament?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian and I was wondering how we deal with the question: \"How can God command us not to murder when God murdered sometimes mass amounts of people in the Old Testament?\" Thanks. Answer: You're having difficulty understanding this because of your imprecise usage of words. God,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14223,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-allow-slavery-or-commit-genocide\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":4},"title":"Why did God allow slavery or commit genocide?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did God allow the Israelites to commit actions which are clearly wrong, by His command, such as allowing daughters to be sold into slavery (Exodus 21:7) or committing genocide upon the peoples of Canaan (Joshua)? If the Bible is infallible, is this the kind of moral code that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47099,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/depending-on-the-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":95415,"position":5},"title":"Depending on the Situation","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 28, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Romans 5:18-6:2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Dinner time conversation was lively the other night. A few caught Dennis Prager\u2019s Ultimate Issues Hour. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now I like Mr. Prager\u2019s show for the most part. You don\u2019t usually find commentators willing to address moral issues from a biblical viewpoint. And generally\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}