Moral Dilemmas and the God of Christianity: Philosophical-Theological Investigations

Abstract

My central contention is that Christian ethics should rule out the possibility of genuine moral dilemmas, where “moral dilemma” signifies a situation in which all courses of action available to an agent are morally wrong. The reason for the exclusion is that the existence of a genuine moral dilemma would signify a conflict in the divine will that confirms, warrants, or constitutes moral requirement according to Christian ethics. A genuine moral dilemma would indicate that God commands incompatible courses of action and, therefore, commands the impossible. A reasonable, loving, providential God does not command the impossible. Along the way, I criticize standard “phenomenological” arguments employed by both secular moral philosophers and Christian ethicists in support of dilemmas and show where other arguments of dilemmas-affirming Christian ethicists go wrong.