The God Who Commands: A Study in Divine Command Ethics

by Richard J. Mouw

In this book Richard J. Mouw, one of the foremost thinkers in the field of Christian ethics, develops a constructive theological ethic, employing primarily Calvinist themes. Exploring issues that are at the intersection of philosophical and theological discussions, he sets forth an ethical perspective in which obedience to divine commands occupies a central place. After responding to some secularist objections to divine command theory, Mouw looks at the ways in which treatments of divine authority relate to contemporary philosophical discussions of moral justification. He then discusses the divine command perspective, turning to a specific examination of the Reformation emphasis on “naked selfhood.” He defends Reformational selfhood against critiques of Protestantism and explores the differences and similarities between the conceptions of moral selfhood portrayed in classical Calvinism and recent existentialism. Examining Protestant, and especially Calvinist, emphases on divine command, Mouw argues that a divine command perspective need not be viewed as antithetical to the claims made by recent defenders of “narrativist” ethics. He explores the ways in which differing intratrinitarian emphases influence Christian moral experience, and he argues that a strong God-the-Father emphasis needs to be supplemented by perspectives that attend more to divine “nearness,” as in contemporary feminism and Pentecostalism. He concludes with some reflections on the way in which a divine command ethical perspective speaks in positive ways to the contemporary moral quest.

Genres: Theology

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Richard John Mouw is a theologian and philosopher. He held the position of President at Fuller Theological Seminary for 20 years (1993-2013), and continues to hold the post of Professor of Faith and Public Life.

Reviews

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was somewhat disappointing. On the positive side, Mouw works to bring Divine Command Theory into conversation with other ethical approaches. This is done chapter by chapter, as he highlights the positive aspects of other ethical approaches and demonstrates how they can be incorporated into DCT. He interacts with natural law, ethical individualism, emotivism, narrative ethics, and modern liberation/feminist ethics. These discussions are fruitful in some ways, but Mouw seems to fail in offering a critique of alternative views. There is a kind of big tent, “let’s bring all this under the rubric of divine commands” mentality which makes it difficult to see why we should adopt DCT rather than any of these alternatives.
The main problem with the book is that it leaves the reader with no framework or agenda for what the divine commands actually are. Do we look to the Ten Commandments? The Sermon on the Mount? Natural Law? Mouw doesn’t explore or address this whatsoever, leaving us with a book of questionable philosophical value and no practical value.

[Charles Puskas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Calvinist perspective on making divine commands the foundation of morality and integral part of understanding and participating in God’s moral will. In order for God’s commands to be ascertained, they must be communicated to humans in ways that are understandable: through e.g., divine revelation, natural law, human conscience. Human responsibility is important because divine commands bind God to humans, humans to God, and humans to one another. God issues commands out of love and grace as a way to guide humans into right living. For those students who chose to do a report on this book, some chapters were a challenge to read for some of them. I found that the following essay to be a more succinct and helpful review of the matter: W. C. Reuschling, “Divine Command Theories of Ethics,” in The Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics (2011), p. 242;