Can we be good without God?

Bill Craig has a video of a lecture on this subject, but not quite. His lecture is on the notion of being good without God providing a standard of 'good'. Fair enough, but it's not about the question.

It get's the mealy-mouthed answer of 'yes' of course an atheist can be a good person. But this is 'good' without belief in God. Good without God is a different kettle of fish.

The answer?

No!

And why?

Firstly, people broadly have a moral sense because God is. His nature defines what is 'good' (or God-like) and in the default, what is not good, or evil (or not-God-like). Without this, there is no definition outside personal convenience, accidental convention, and power. It comes down to taste or power. This is the 'earthworm reality'. Earthworms live on the basis of convenience and power and that's it.

So for a person to hold that they can be good, or that the concept of 'good' has any real meaning, without God they have to prove that there is no God and material, or impersonal force is all there is.

Craig does go into this, but for the ordinary conversation, the implication is that a person who doesn't believe in God can be good.

Of course they can, and that is only because God is (i.e. he exists). Otherwise good has no meaning. See above. We can do good and often aspire to be good (or delude ourselves that we are: that 'good' has some intrinsic value and non-material significant meaning) because we are made in the image of God. That is, we are morally meaningful and in the context of the reality that is God.

Naturally, the question that flows from this is how then is 'evil'. Or the antithesis of good? Evil is the absence of good. It is of 'not-God'. It is from the exercise of will in contradiction of God-like-ness. That is, of not-love. We can only do this because we are in God's image and are morally meaningful.

Why did God make us so...that we could act ungodly? Because having this capacity is the only way we could truly enjoy fellowship with God.