Moral Reasoning Cannot Be Separated From God

26 January 2026  2 Timothy 1:1-8

Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, Bishops

“Do not be ashamed, then, of testifying to our Lord….” (2 Timothy 1:8)

The charge that was most frequently made against Christians in the very early Church was that Christians were atheists and misanthropes – atheists because Christians said the gods of the Roman pantheon didn’t exist, misanthropes because Christian morality seemed to separate Christians from their nonbelieving friends and neighbors.

The Romans, contrary to what many think they know about them, were actually very religious people, and religious observances of various kinds were liberally sprinkled into everyday events, even food shopping. In those days most people bought meat already cooked.

Some people may think they have hit a moral home run, imagining that they have used their native logic and reason to live morally without God. In fact, however, they were born on third base, in a society permeated with Judeo-Christian influence, using a framework of moral reasoning centuries old that is inexplicable apart from the worldview of Christianity.

 A great deal of the meat was obtained from temples where every day there were animal sacrifices. The priests would keep some of the meat, but the rest was sold, proceeds usually going to the upkeep of the temple. That meant that most of the meat people ate had already been through a pagan sacrifice, and many Christians believed eating it would involve them in idolatry. So they didn’t eat it, and that kept them from feasts, holiday celebrations, and generally any kind of socializing that involved eating. It isn’t hard to see how nonbelieving Romans might have regarded Christians as pious killjoys and insufferable snobs who regarded their friends and neighbors as idol-worshipping inferiors.

Of course that was a complete misunderstanding of the gospel, but those were the headwinds that the early Church faced daily. It is not surprising, then, that at times even bishops like Timothy and Titus needed some encouragement from time to time: “Don’t be ashamed, then, of testifying to our Lord…. Take your share of suffering for the gospel in the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:8).

A charge often made against Christians and Christianity today similarly involves confusion about morality: “You don’t need to be a Christian to live a moral life.” In one sense this is completely true – you don’t need Christian faith in order to recognize goodness as good. People of all faiths, and none, do that every day. This is not the same, however, as saying, “You can be good without God.” Almost everyone recognizes the existence of objective moral values and duties – some things are always right, and other things are always wrong, no matter what any individual or society thinks. How do we explain their objectivity? If it is not based on God, then it can only be based on decisions made by individuals or societies, but that would mean they are no longer objective. So if there are objective moral values and duties, that is a very strong argument that God exists. Societies near and far, especially societies of the west, have accepted this for centuries. Some people may think they have hit a moral home run, imagining that they have used their native logic and reason to live morally without God. In fact, however, they were born on third base, in a society permeated with Judeo-Christian influence, using a framework of moral reasoning centuries old that is inexplicable, apart from the worldview of Christianity.

If objective moral values and duties exist, then God exists. That is a tight, immensely strong argument, and yet it is still under attack by people who reject it even while they are using it. Those are the headwinds that we face, and so we too need encouragement from time to time. “Do not be ashamed, then, of testifying to our Lord.” We have won these arguments before, and we will win them again, but only if we keep making them. “Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (I Peter 3:15).