‘Meditation is less effective than prayer’

their God expects from them. In 1973, Kai Neilson argued that religion and morality are logically independent from each other. In his book ‘Ethics without good’ Neilson states that for God’s word to be relevant to humans, God has to be good. And while religion maintains that belief, there is no basis for it. He goes on to give an example of this. He says, “A believer might say they know God is good because the bible teaches this, or because Jesus embodied and displayed goodness. However, these responses show that the believer themselves has some logically prior criterion based on something apart from the mere fact that God exists.”

Philosophers that support Divine Command Theory are Robert Adams, Duns Scotus and John Calvin. In 1987 Robert Adams proposed a ‘Modified Divine Command Theory’ and stated that the two statements were equivalent: It is wrong to do X. It is against God’s commands to do X. This implies that God’s commands are humans’ source of moral authority. He also states that “an action is only wrong if it defies the word of a loving God. If cruelty was commanded, God would not be loving therefore his actions would not have to be obeyed and his theory of ethical wrongness would break down”. Adams’s theory tries to counter Kai Nielson’s as God’s commands are based on his omnibenevolence (unlimited goodness). Duns Scotus is another promoter of Divine Command Theory. He argued the only fixed command in life that God cannot change is that “humans are to love one another and God”. He said that any other moral action is decided by God and his word.

In conclusion, there is no firm answer to the question because different people have contrasting opinions based on their religions and other beliefs about God and morality in the world. Many philosophers have debated the validity of Divine Command Theory, yet most people are convinced their opinion is the right one.

The Tories and Rishi Sunak’s Autumn Budget

Liliana Benoliel, Year 10

Back in October, Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered his budget speech for the UK. This budget outlined plans that point towards what he and his party, the Conservatives, were planning to do in regard to the UK's economy and budget. So, what did he say? And how did he try and maintain support for the Tories throughout his speech?

He began his speech by mentioning inflation. Sunak said that he wanted to keep rates of inflation low, having written to the Bank of England to say so, as well as keeping rates of interest lower too.

He also mentioned that he aimed to help lower income families through the winter, though did not give any formal numbers or plans to do so. Later though, in his address, he mentioned how fuel duty was going to be cancelled. That would mean saving £8bn over five years for motorists, which will be helpful for struggling families.

He said that he expected the UK’s economy to grow by 6.5% and be back to its pre-pandemic size by early 2022. As we are now in early 2022, this will be interesting as we will be able to watch and see if our economy goes back to its prepandemic size. Though this may be difficult given, the somewhat, short time frame and our new supply chain issues due to Brexit. Sunak went on to say that he aimed to bring UK

Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer