Philosophy, Part 1: Where do right and wrong come from?
The arguments for God · Lesson 1 of 2 · About 30 minutes · Grades 1–5
The Evidence for Jesus · A lesson for grades 1–5The arguments for God
Big questionWhere do right and wrong come from?
By the end, kids can
- Notice that when people quarrel, they point to a standard everyone is expected to know.
- Name the four answers people give for right and wrong (instinct, culture, opinion, or a real moral law), and say why the first three fall short.
- Think it through: a real moral law points to a good lawgiver, and even the atheist J. L. Mackie agreed it would point to God.
- Know that we all break the law on our hearts, and that the one who wrote it came to rescue us. Start learning the memory verse: Matthew 22:37 (grades 3–4: Romans 2:15; grade 5+: 1 John 1:9).
You'll need
- This part's one-page worksheet for each child's level (grades 1–2, 3–4, or 5), handed out at the start
- Bibles for the look-ups (grades 3–4)
- Pencils
- A few playing cards for the warm-up
- A screen with sound and internet: the clips come from the video “Where Do Right and Wrong Come From?”
Before you teach
This lesson plays one of Philosophy's video lessons in clips. Its page makes the same case for teens and adults, with every source written out: watch it to prepare, or use it with older kids and youth groups. Click a part to go to its slide:
- Where do right and wrong come from? The moral law · In class: Listen to a quarrel, Four answers, Four answers, A law needs a lawgiver, A fair question, Going deeper · Grades 3–5, Good news
The lesson
- 2 min Warm-up: that's not fair!
- 2 min Memory verse
- 3 min Listen to a quarrel: watch (¾ minute), then a crooked line
- 4 min Instinct? Culture?: watch (1¾ minutes), then a law above the state
- 3 min Just my opinion?: watch (½ minute), then the four answers
- 4 min A law needs a lawgiver: watch (1¼ minutes), then think it through
- 2 min Can atheists be good?: watch (½ minute), then talk
- 2 min Going deeper (grades 3–5): good because God says so? (under a minute)
- 1 min A quick check
- 4 min Good news: watch (1¾ minutes), then the one who wrote it came
- 3 min Memory verse again, talk, and pray
Worksheets
Print this lesson's one-page sheet for each child, at their level. They fill it in as you go: the ✎ Worksheet sticker on a slide says which part goes with it.
Send it home
After class, share the one-minute Short with families, to watch together and talk about this week:
Answer key
The worksheets don't print their answers. Here they all are, and on the slide before the credits.
Grades 1–2
- True or false? 1. T 2. F 3. T 4. T
Grades 3–4
- Look it up! 1. on their hearts · 2. because God is holy · 3. God is love · 4. all
Grade 5+
- Think it through: Answers will vary. Look for: 1. Only feelings and customs. · 2. Every time you say, “That isn't fair.” · 3. There is a lawgiver, and he's good because the law he wrote on our hearts is good. · 4. Good comes from God's own character: “God is love.”
Presenting
Each part opens with a ▶ Watch slide that plays a clip of the 9-minute video “Where Do Right and Wrong Come From? The Moral Argument for God” right on the slide: read the two questions, then click (or press →, or use a clicker) to play the clip. The slides wait while it plays and stops by itself; click twice to stop it early. Then click to show the answers. The clips need an internet connection.
Click the slide, or press → or Space (a clicker works too), to show the next thing; ← goes back, even while a clip plays. F presents full screen (Esc leaves it). P opens the presenter view, a second window with your notes, the next slide, and a timer, that moves with the slides: put it on your laptop and the slides on the projector. N shows the notes under the slides.
Your script
The arguments for God
Say: In the chapters we followed clues that someone is there: a universe that began, dials set just right, a code in every cell. Now we come to Philosophy, where we think hard about what those clues mean. This is Part 1 of two.
Say: Today's clue isn't out in space or inside a cell. You carry it everywhere you go. Is anything really wrong? And where does a “wrong” like that come from?
That's not fair!
Do: Play a quick card game with a helper. Halfway through, pull a card out of your sleeve and slap it down. Let the kids react.
Ask: What did you want to shout? (That's cheating! That's not fair!)
Ask: Did you just mean you don't like it, the way you might not like broccoli? Or did you mean I broke a rule I should have kept? (A rule!)
Say: Keep that rule in mind. Today we'll ask where it came from.
Clicks: 1. the line “Not “I don't like that.” You say, “That isn't fair!””
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2
Memory verse
Do: Read it together three times. Then add motions: “all your heart” (hand on your heart), “all your soul” (wrap your arms around yourself), “all your mind” (tap your head).
Say: Jesus said this is the greatest commandment. We'll say this verse in both parts of Philosophy.
Older kids: Grades 3–4 learn Romans 2:15 and grade 5+ learns 1 John 1:9. They're on their worksheets, and both are in today's video.
Listen to a quarrel · Watch: Listen to a quarrel
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click (or press →) to play the clip. It's about ¾ of a minute and stops by itself.
Ask after: What do people say when they quarrel? When do you call a line crooked? Click once for each answer.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: Things like “That's my seat, I was there first” and “Come on, you promised.” · 3. the answer to 2: Only when you have some idea of a straight line.
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2, and Book 2, chapter 1
A crooked line
Say: C. S. Lewis taught at Oxford, and he had once been a convinced atheist. He noticed that when people quarrel, nobody says, “I just don't happen to like what you did.” They point to a standard, and they expect the other person to know it too.
Say: Lewis used to argue against God because the universe seemed cruel and unjust. Then he asked himself, “But how had I got this idea of just and unjust?” You can only call a line crooked if you know what a straight one is.
Ask: Where did we all get the straight line?
Clicks: 1. the line ““A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.” C. S. Lewis”
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2, and Book 2, chapter 1
Four answers · Watch: Instinct? Culture?
Say: So where does the standard come from? People usually give one of four answers. Here are the first two.
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's about 1¾ minutes.
Ask after: What two pulls do you feel? What has never been admired? Click once for each answer.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: One to help, and one to stay safe. · 3. the answer to 2: Selfishness.
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2 · Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963)
A law above the state
Say: First answer: “It's just instinct.” But when someone calls for help in the water, you feel a pull to help and a pull to stay safe. Then a third thing tells you to follow the weaker pull, the one to help. That third thing can't be one of the instincts. As Lewis put it, “The Moral Law tells us the tune we have to play: our instincts are merely the keys.”
Say: Second answer: “It's just culture.” But if culture is all there is, nobody could ever tell their own country it was wrong. Martin Luther King Jr. did exactly that. The laws of his state backed segregation. Writing from a jail cell in Birmingham, he said, “An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.” He appealed to a law above the state, and he was right.
Ask: If a whole country said picking on someone small was fine, would it be fine? (No. It would still be wrong.)
Clicks: 1. the line “In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. told his own state its laws were wrong. He appealed to “the moral law or the law of God.””
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2 · Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail” (1963) · Letter from Birmingham Jail
Four answers · Watch: Just my opinion?
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's about half a minute.
Ask after: What would “cruelty is wrong” be like? What's the fourth answer? Click once for each answer.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: “I don't like broccoli.” · 3. the answer to 2: There's a real moral law, for everyone, whether they agree or not.
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2 · The moral argument
Where does it come from?
Say: 1. Instinct? Instinct can explain a feeling. It can't make the feeling true, and it can't tell you which instinct to follow.
Say: 2. Culture? Then nobody could tell their own country it was wrong. But Martin Luther King Jr. did, and he was right.
Say: 3. Opinion? Then “cruelty is wrong” would mean no more than “I don't like broccoli.” But when someone cheats you, you say it isn't fair. And watch how hard we work at excuses when we break the rule. Nobody makes excuses for not liking broccoli.
Say: 4. Or there's a real moral law. Then “wrong” means what it says, for everyone, whether they agree or not.
Worksheet: Grades 1–2 circle true or false now.
Worksheet answers: Grades 1–2, True or false?: 1. T 2. F 3. T 4. T
Clicks: 1. step 1 · 2. step 2 · 3. step 3 · 4. step 4 · 5. the line at the bottom
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2 · The moral argument
A law needs a lawgiver · Watch: A law needs a lawgiver
Say: Even one of the best-known atheist philosophers of the last century saw where a real moral law leads.
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's about 1¼ minutes.
Ask after: What did Mackie say it would need? When do you show you know the law? Click once for each answer.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: “An all-powerful god to create them.” · 3. the answer to 2: Every time you say, “That isn't fair.”
Sources: J. L. Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (1977), p. 15 · J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism (1982), pp. 115–116 · The moral argument
Think it through
Say: J. L. Mackie taught philosophy at Oxford, and he was an atheist. He wrote, “There are no objective values.” But he granted that if they were real, they would need “an all-powerful god to create them.” He agreed with Christians on the hard part. He just denied the law was real.
Say: Click: if there's no God, there's no real moral law, only feelings and customs. Mackie saw that.
Say: Click: but there is a real moral law. You know it every time you say, “That isn't fair.”
Say: Click: so there is a lawgiver. And he's good, because the law he wrote on our hearts is good.
Ask: Some people say moral rules just exist, with nobody behind them. Can you have a command with nobody commanding? (That's the very oddness Mackie couldn't accept.)
Worksheet: Grade 5+ thinks it through on their sheet now.
Worksheet answers: Grade 5+, Think it through: Answers will vary. Look for: 1. Only feelings and customs. · 2. Every time you say, “That isn't fair.” · 3. There is a lawgiver, and he's good because the law he wrote on our hearts is good. · 4. Good comes from God's own character: “God is love.”
Clicks: 1. step 1 · 2. step 2 · 3. step 3
Sources: The moral argument · J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism (1982), pp. 115–116
A fair question · Watch: Can atheists be good?
Say: Here's a question people often ask. Are we saying atheists can't be good?
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's half a minute.
Ask after: Can atheists be good? Where is the law written? Click once for each answer.
Say: So everyone can know the law. The question is who wrote it.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: Yes. Plenty of atheists are kind, honest, and brave. · 3. the answer to 2: On their hearts.
Sources: Romans 2:14–15
Going deeper · Grades 3–5 · Watch: Good because God says so?
Say: Here's a fair question that goes all the way back to Plato.
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's under a minute.
Ask after: What did Socrates ask? Where does good come from? Click once for each answer.
Say: If good is whatever God commands, good could be anything. If God commands it because it's good, good is above God. The Christian answer is neither: good comes from who God is. His commands aren't random, and there's nothing above him to measure him by. That's why he says, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: Is something holy because the gods love it, or do they love it because it's holy? · 3. the answer to 2: From God's own character. “God is love.”
Sources: Plato, Euthyphro, tr. Benjamin Jowett (Project Gutenberg) · The Euthyphro dilemma · Leviticus 19:2 · 1 John 4:8
Quick check
Do: Read each one and have kids stand up for true and sit down for false. Click to stamp each answer.
Answers: 1. True. 2. False. 3. True. 4. False.
Clicks: 1. the answer to 1: True. “Come on, you promised.” · 2. the answer to 2: False. “Selfishness has never been admired.” · 3. the answer to 3: True. He just denied it was real. · 4. the answer to 4: False. The law is written on everyone's heart.
Good news · Watch: The law we break
Say: The law on your heart has a harder side. Listen for it, and for the best news in the world.
Do: Read the two questions out loud, then click to play the clip. It's about 1¾ minutes.
Ask after: What two things are true of us? What did the lawgiver come to do? Click once for each answer.
Prepare: Before class, watch the video lesson this clip comes from, with every source written out: “Where do right and wrong come from?”
Clicks: 1. play the clip (it stops by itself) · 2. the answer to 1: We know we ought to behave a certain way, and we don't. · 3. the answer to 2: To rescue the people who broke it.
Sources: C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (1952), Book 1, chapters 1–2 · Romans 3:23 · Mark 10:45 · Colossians 2:13–14 · 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 · 1 John 1:9
The one who wrote it came
Say: The law on your heart points two ways. It points up, to a good God who wrote it. And it points at you, because you've broken it. So have I. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Say: Here's the best news in the world: the one who wrote the law came to rescue the people who broke it. Jesus said he came “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Paul wrote that God “forgave us all our sins,” nailing the charge against us to the cross.
Say: Three days later Jesus rose, beating death itself. The one who wrote the law is alive, and he's calling you. So don't run from the law on your heart. Let it bring you to him: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
Ask: What would you like to say to Jesus?
Worksheet: Grades 3–4 look up the four verses on their sheet now.
Worksheet answers: Grades 3–4, Look it up!: 1. on their hearts · 2. because God is holy · 3. God is love · 4. all
Clicks: 1. the line “The one who wrote the law came to rescue us. Jesus gave “his life as a ransom for many,” and three days later he rose.”
Sources: Romans 3:23 · Mark 10:45 · Colossians 2:13–14 · Hebrews 2:14–15 · 1 John 1:9
Say it again
Do: Say the verse together with the motions, then try it with eyes closed.
Worksheet: Everyone reads their own memory verse on the sheet and colors a star each time they say it. Next time we'll fill in its missing words.
Talk and pray
Do: Talk about one or two of the questions, then pray together. Kids can repeat the prayer one line at a time.
Do: Send the worksheets home, with this part's one-minute Short for families. The link is in your guide, under “Send it home.”
Say: Next time, Part 2: are we just moist robots? If there's no God, can you even trust your own mind?
Clicks: 1. the prayer
Answer key
Do: Show this when kids check their work, or keep it on your laptop in the presenter view. The worksheets don't print their answers, so this is the key.
Pictures and Scripture
Every picture on these slides, with its credit, license, and a link to its source.