Against Divine Command Theory (2)

Trivialization of the Binding of Isaac

I have been thinking a long time about what God is trying to say in the Binding of Isaac. 

The story goes as follows: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. My immediate reaction is one of headache. One might try to avoid the dilemma by claiming that it was not God’s command, but a demon’s. Or that Abraham was hallucinating and hearing voices. But the narrative says none of these things: it is clear that the dilemma is placed in Abraham’s hands with the clear intention of challenging his faith. 

God’s command raises all sorts of concerns. It is clear that murdering another is wrong. Is God’s nature not good? Does the ultimate contradict what is good? Do we have an absolute duty towards God? 

Abraham is now faced with a choice. Either comply, and act unethically, or refuse, and deny God’s command. He can protest God, refusing to move. He can try to negotiate with God, with futility, as he did in Sodom and Gomorrah. He can reject the order completely, cursing God. But the one thing he cannot do is to escape the demand of the command that is placed upon him. 

Abraham decides to obey God. As the “father of faith”, he prepares the sacrifice, and it is at the very moment before the knife’s fall that an angel rescues Isaac and prevents the sacrifice. Abraham’s faith is dignified. He is the sage of the religious life, the one that pursues God in totality. 

I think Kierkegaard is correct to regard Abraham's choice as one between the ethical life and the religious life. They are distinct from one another. Abraham goes beyond the ethical life. If divine command theory is true, then the choice is simple: the religious life is simply correct. If so, saving Isaac would be the consequence of Abraham's immediate desires, and he would just be a frivolous parent who could not see the plan that God has laid out for him. But this is too simple. It would be an easy choice -- anyone could make it. Abraham could not be so worthy of respect to be given the title of "father of faith".  This trivializes Abraham's decision and reduces it to a strawman. What makes Abraham's choice special and worthy of reflection over? It is dilemma. It is a truly difficult choice. It is not just the weighing of a parent's love for his child. It is also one of moral duty. Murder is never justified. There is wrong that Isaac committed that demands holy judgment or retribution, nor does God say that Isaac's sacrifice is that of justice. There is no reasonable reason. It is just a simple command. Sacrifice your son. Only by pitting ethics against God, we might truly draw out and contemplate the highest good -- whether it is moral goodness or religious goodness. 

Now, where I differ with Kierkegaard is the way he evaluates the religious life as above the ethical. Although interesting, I think ultimately, the ethical life is correct. 

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