The atheists’ beliefs are leading them to undermine the laws, and as the interlocutors have already established, it is better to persuade the lawless by giving them reasons to keep the law than it is to endlessly attempt to reign in their lawlessness with continual threats.
It does sound like Plato sounds a bit like Fyodor Dostoevsky: “If there is no God, everything is permitted”. Meaning, that any moral law has no foundation once you remove God. Is this an early argument for the existence of God based on moral law?
Another aspect that struck me was the goodness of the law, and therefore the lawmaker. Just the other day was reading this passage in the Bible: “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you are to do these things in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole Law which I am setting before you today?” Deuteronomy 4:5-8 (NASB) The law given to Israel by God was a blessing to them, a good set of instructions on how to be at peace with God and with each other. And these statues then will point back to God.
Leave a Reply to Ben Nitu Cancel reply