Divine Command Theory Practice Quiz (14 questions)

Question 1

1. Which claim captures the central meta-ethical position of Divine Command Theory?

Moral truths depend on God’s will or commands

Moral truths exist independently of God’s will

Moral truths depend on each person’s preferences

Moral truths depend on society’s shared agreements

Explanation

Divine Command Theory explains morality as depending on God’s will or commands. Personal preference, independence from God, and social agreement each replace this divine basis with a different one.

Answer

Moral truths depend on God’s will or commands

Question 2

2. A person asks why an action counts as right within Divine Command Theory. Which reason fits the theory?

The person approves of the action

God commands the action

God forbids the action

The action produces the best consequences

Explanation

In Divine Command Theory, an action is right because God commands it, while an action God forbids is wrong. Beneficial consequences and personal approval are not the theory’s basis for rightness, and forbidding makes an action wrong rather than right.

Answer

God commands the action

Question 3

3. Maya follows a divine command despite her feelings pointing the other way. Under Divine Command Theory, what grounds her moral goodness?

Her feelings about the action

The personal benefit she receives

Her logical reasoning about the action

Her obedience to God’s command

Explanation

Divine Command Theory grounds moral goodness in obeying God’s commands rather than relying only on feelings or logic. Feelings, reasoning alone, and personal benefit each substitute another basis for obedience.

Answer

Her obedience to God’s command

Question 4

4. A believer wants to identify God’s commands to guide moral choices. What source might the believer consult?

Scripture, such as the Bible or the Qur’an

A community’s customary practices

Personal opinion about what seems right

A philosophical argument about morality

Explanation

Religious believers may consult scripture, including the Bible or the Qur’an, to identify God’s commands. Personal opinion, philosophical arguments, and community customs are different sources.

Answer

Scripture, such as the Bible or the Qur’an

Question 5

5. In an Islamic example of Divine Command Theory, why is giving to the poor through Zakat considered right?

Giving produces practical benefits

The community approves of giving

God commands generosity

Exodus 20:13 commands giving

Explanation

Within Divine Command Theory, Zakat is considered right because God commands generosity. Social approval and practical benefits give different grounds, while Exodus 20:13 is associated with the command “Do not kill.”

Answer

God commands generosity

Question 6

6. In Divine Command Theory, what grounds moral rules such as prohibitions against stealing?

A society’s shared conventions

God’s nature and will

Human reasoning and opinion

Individuals’ changing preferences

Explanation

Divine Command Theory grounds moral truth in God’s nature and will, rather than in human inventions. Social conventions, personal preferences, and human opinion are the alternative foundations the theory rejects.

Answer

God’s nature and will

Question 7

7. A community’s attitudes toward an action change over time, but a DCT proponent says its moral status does not change with those attitudes. What feature of moral truth does this illustrate?

Variation with the culture’s changing attitudes

Dependence on each person’s emotional response

Dependence on the community’s current agreement

Independence from emotions and changing cultures

Explanation

DCT treats moral truth as absolute and independent of human emotions and changing cultures. Social agreement, individual feeling, and cultural variation each make moral status depend on factors that can change.

Answer

Independence from emotions and changing cultures

Question 8

8. What is the central claim of Robert Adams’s Modified Divine Command Theory about the source of moral goodness?

Moral goodness depends on commands from God’s perfectly loving nature

Moral goodness depends on God’s nature without reference to commands

Moral goodness depends on approval from human communities

Moral goodness depends on standards that shift with culture

Explanation

Adams’s modified theory grounds moral goodness in God’s commands, which come from God’s perfectly loving nature. The account does not remove commands, and it does not make human approval or cultural change the foundation.

Answer

Moral goodness depends on commands from God’s perfectly loving nature

Question 9

9. A person considers an action that goes against the commands of a loving God in Adams’s modified theory. How is the action classified?

Morally wrong

Morally right

Morally relative

Morally neutral

Explanation

In Adams’s modified theory, an action is wrong when it goes against the commands of a loving God. Calling it right reverses the rule; dropping the loving-God qualification or substituting human approval misses the theory’s stated basis.

Answer

Morally wrong

Question 10

10. A philosopher asks whether an act is good because God commands it or whether God commands it because it is good. What distinction does this dilemma present?

Whether moral rules are universal or vary between societies

Whether God knows moral truths or humans discover them

Whether goodness grounds God’s commands or God’s commands ground goodness

Whether God follows human laws or humans follow divine laws

Explanation

The Euthyphro dilemma contrasts goodness as dependent on God’s command with God’s commands as dependent on pre-existing goodness. The “God knows” choice concerns knowledge, “universal or vary” concerns moral scope, and “human laws” changes the dilemma’s subject.

Answer

Whether goodness grounds God’s commands or God’s commands ground goodness

Question 11

11. Under a view that actions become good because God commands them, a critic considers the possibility that God commands torture. What concern follows from this view?

A loving nature would prevent torture from being commanded

Torture would remain wrong because goodness precedes commands

Different religions might disagree about whether torture is commanded

Torture could count as good, making morality seem arbitrary

Explanation

If goodness follows God’s command, even torture could be classified as good if commanded, which is the arbitrariness concern. “Goodness precedes commands” states the alternative dilemma horn, “different religions” raises pluralism, and “loving nature” invokes a modified theory.

Answer

Torture could count as good, making morality seem arbitrary

Question 12

12. A theory says God commands an action because it is already good. Which criticism most directly follows from that claim?

Goodness depends on God’s command, so morality may be arbitrary

Morality exists independently of God, so God is not its source

Disagreement about God’s will makes the correct commands unclear

God could make a cruel action good merely by commanding it

Explanation

If God commands actions because they are already good, goodness is independent of God and God is not morality’s source. “Depends on God’s command” reverses the claim, “cruel action good” expresses the other horn’s arbitrariness concern, and disagreement concerns pluralism.

Answer

Morality exists independently of God, so God is not its source

Question 13

13. Members of several religions, and believers within one religion, disagree about God’s nature and commands. What challenge does this create for divine command theory?

It becomes unclear which divine commands should guide morality

It becomes unclear whether morality requires belief in God

It becomes established that every religious command is correct

It becomes possible for any command to make cruelty good

Explanation

The pluralism objection is that conflicting views of God and divine commands leave it unclear which commands are morally authoritative. “Requires belief” is a separate criticism of Adams’s theory, “any command” is the arbitrariness concern, and disagreement does not establish that every command is right.

Answer

It becomes unclear which divine commands should guide morality

Question 14

14. A non-religious student asks what moral foundation Adams’s theory offers without accepting belief in a loving God. Which criticism addresses this concern?

The theory leaves unclear which religion’s commands are correct

The theory allows cruelty to become good through any command

The theory may offer no moral foundation without belief in God

The theory grounds moral truth in human opinion rather than God

Explanation

A criticism of Adams’s theory is that its foundation depends on belief in a loving God and may not serve those who lack that belief. “Which religion” describes pluralism, “cruelty through any command” describes arbitrariness, and grounding morality in human opinion misstates Adams’s account.

Answer

The theory may offer no moral foundation without belief in God

Divine Command Theory Practice Quiz (14 questions)

All questions and answers

1. Which claim captures the central meta-ethical position of Divine Command Theory?

2. A person asks why an action counts as right within Divine Command Theory. Which reason fits the theory?

3. Maya follows a divine command despite her feelings pointing the other way. Under Divine Command Theory, what grounds her moral goodness?

4. A believer wants to identify God’s commands to guide moral choices. What source might the believer consult?

5. In an Islamic example of Divine Command Theory, why is giving to the poor through Zakat considered right?

6. In Divine Command Theory, what grounds moral rules such as prohibitions against stealing?

7. A community’s attitudes toward an action change over time, but a DCT proponent says its moral status does not change with those attitudes. What feature of moral truth does this illustrate?

8. What is the central claim of Robert Adams’s Modified Divine Command Theory about the source of moral goodness?

9. A person considers an action that goes against the commands of a loving God in Adams’s modified theory. How is the action classified?

10. A philosopher asks whether an act is good because God commands it or whether God commands it because it is good. What distinction does this dilemma present?

11. Under a view that actions become good because God commands them, a critic considers the possibility that God commands torture. What concern follows from this view?

12. A theory says God commands an action because it is already good. Which criticism most directly follows from that claim?

13. Members of several religions, and believers within one religion, disagree about God’s nature and commands. What challenge does this create for divine command theory?

14. A non-religious student asks what moral foundation Adams’s theory offers without accepting belief in a loving God. Which criticism addresses this concern?

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