Do you think this is a double standard in the way christians think about morality?

No, there is no objective moral standard independent of God. Nor could He have made it just to forgive without a sacrifice being made. Self-contradictory?

Well, it seems so at first, but it's really not. The Objective Moral Standard (OMS) does not come from God's commands or from some arbitrary decisions He has made. Rather, the OMS comes from God's Divine Nature.

God cannot change His Nature any more than you can flap your arms and fly to the moon. So, no, He could not have decided that torturing children would be moral, but without Him, there would be no standard to say that it was NOT moral. Edit to add: To clarify: OSM comes from directly from God's Nature, not His Commands.

His Commands just inform US about what the OSM is. A D D I T I O N A L. .

. D E T A I L S: No one "decided" what the moral standards of His Divine Nature are. His Nature is what it is, and nothing can change that.

No decisions need be made. His Nature is as it is, and thus the moral standard naturally flows forth from that and cannot be changed. That is in no one contradictory.

HIS NATURE is the source of morality. He cannot change that nature. Thus morality does not exist independently of God, nor can He change it.

Well, it appears from the answers that there IS an objective moral standard independent of god - it's just renamed god's divine nature. And since god cannot change his nature - he's not omnipotent according to the commonsense definition of the word. The only question that remains: are you independent of the limitations of your nature, or not?

I would think I am independent of my "nature" which limits my ability to flap my wings and fly to the moon. Likewise god ought to be independent of the limitations of his nature which, from the answers, appear to predetermine his ability to decide morality. Supposedly he made us in his image, and yet his inability to think freely about morality and make any decision he wants suggest he himself does not have free will.

Apparently he is not a god capable of anything but is one who's commands about morality, at least, are predetermined by his very nature. Which begs the question: why didn't god have a different nature?

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.