Morality Proves God Exists

Sometimes bad men teach us good lessons. Their actions force us to confront a question we might have otherwise avoided. Jeffery Dahmer, a serial killer who committed horrible acts, said, "If a person doesn't think that there is a God to be accountable to then what's the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That's how I thought anyway." 

Morality is proof that God exists. Kerry Decker, pastor of Compass Christian Church, life coach, author, and apologist created the video "Bad Men, God Lessons." He shares that conviction is one reason he is a Christian. It is not a claim that Christians always behave better. It is a claim about the foundation of right and wrong.

Distinguish Good Behavior From Goodness

Can people be good without believing in God? Absolutely. Sometimes people who do not believe in God behave better than people who do. We should acknowledge that plainly.

But that is different from asking whether goodness has an objective foundation without God. Objective morality means that some things are right or wrong regardless of personal preferences or social approval.

"When I say, 'Morality is proof that God exists.' I am talking about that foundation, not claiming that unbelievers lack compassion or conscience." (Decker) The question is not simply why people behave well. It is what makes goodness truly good and moral duties genuinely binding.

Accountability For Individual Desire

Consider the contrast between Mother Teresa and Jeffrey Dahmer. One devoted herself to serving others. The other murdered people and committed horrifying acts against them. Individual desires cannot make both ways of living equally right.

In an interview with Stone Phillips, Dahmer connected his thinking about accountability to his lack of belief in God. He questioned why he should restrain his behavior if there were no God to answer to.

That does not describe every atheist. It does expose a serious question: What standard stands above what any individual wants?

“Morality is proof that God exists.” The argument begins by recognizing that personal inclination is not enough. Wanting to do something does not establish that we ought to do it.

Beyond Society’s Approval

Perhaps society determines morality. But what happens when society approves of evil?

If Hitler had won World War II, murdering Jewish people would not cease to be wrong. The Allies were right to hold Nazi leaders accountable, not merely because they possessed superior power, but because those crimes violated a standard above national approval.

The same issue appears in moral reform. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged racism rather than accepting the surrounding society’s judgment. A reformer can call society to become better only if “better” means more than conforming to its existing preferences.

Morality is proof that God exists. This claim points toward a standard that can judge societies, rather than allowing societies to define themselves as righteous.

Scientific Knowledge vs Moral Obligation

Science is valuable, but we should not ask it to answer every kind of question. Science can explain how to build a bomb. That knowledge does not, by itself, establish whether we should use it. That decision requires moral judgment. Knowing what can be done is different from knowing what ought to be done.

Richard Dawkins described a universe without underlying design or purpose as indifferent to good and evil. That is a philosophical interpretation, not simply a scientific measurement.

The point is not to reject science. It is to recognize the difference between explaining nature and grounding an obligation to do good.

What Makes Human Flourishing Authoritative

Sam Harris proposes grounding morality in psychological and social well-being. Human flourishing sounds like an appealing goal. But an important question remains: Who determines what flourishing requires?

People disagree about what promotes society’s welfare. Even destructive leaders have claimed their actions served a greater social good. Invoking human welfare does not settle whether their judgments were right.

We need to ask:

• What makes a particular definition of flourishing morally authoritative?
• How do we judge competing claims about society’s good?
• What standard corrects someone whose idea of progress harms others?

“Morality is proof that God exists.” Defending that claim requires more than rejecting an attractive slogan. It requires asking whether the proposed alternative actually grounds objective duties or simply assumes them.

Piece the Moral Argument Together

Here is the argument in its simplest form:

1. If God does not exist, objective moral values and duties do not exist.
2. Objective moral values and duties do exist.
3. Therefore, God exists.

C. S. Lewis highlighted how difficult it is to deny that reality consistently. Someone may reject real moral standards, then protest when another person breaks a promise to them. The complaint assumes that fairness is more than a personal preference.

Morality is proof that God exists. 

If God Commanded Murder Would It Be Good

A familiar objection asks whether something is good because God commands it, or whether God commands it because it is good.

The first option seems to make morality arbitrary. Could cruelty become good merely because God commanded it? The second seems to place an independent moral standard above God.

There is a third answer: Morality is grounded in God’s unchanging nature. God’s commands express his character. They are neither arbitrary decrees nor obedience to a higher authority.

“Morality is proof that God exists.” The Christian understanding behind that statement is not that sheer power creates goodness. It is that God himself provides its foundation.

Take Moral Accountability Personally

If God grounds moral duties, then our choices matter before him. 2 Corinthians 5:10 teaches that we must all appear before Christ’s judgment seat and answer for what we have done, whether good or bad. That includes me. Accountability is not something Christians reserve for other people.

“Morality is proof that God exists.” If we take that seriously, it should lead to humility and careful examination of our own lives.

It should also make us cautious about moral relativism. As philosopher Peter Kreeft warns, a philosophy presented as compassionate can become useful to tyrants when it removes standards above those in power. I am similarly concerned when contemporary movements reject absolutes while introducing their own unquestionable demands.

The moral argument is one part of my case for Christianity. Morality is proof that God exists. For me, the reality of good and evil points beyond individual preference and social power to God’s consistent character.

Understanding morality should move us beyond explaining goodness toward practicing it.