Compare Utilitarianism with the religion that you have studiedUtilitarianism VS Christianity

UTILITARIANISM IN THE BIBLE

Although the Bible stresses that personal morality is largely dependent on obedience to God, there are many instances where the Utilitarianism principle of increasing positive outcomes for either the individual or the community is a key feature of obeying God.

Although many Christians would claim that one's Conscience is the foundation of knowing what one ought to do in so far as obeying God, in the end, the decision to act in certain ways is clearly based on the belief that in doing so positive outcomes, leading to increased pleasure, will result.

- For example, in Deuteronomy 28:1-68 God issues to the Israelites, via Moses, commandments which had positive consequences if they were obeyed (pleasure) and negative consequences if people disobeyed (pain).

- The Bible is very clear that pursuit of pleasure for its own sake can lead one into sin.

- One of the best examples of the principle of utility in the Bible is Jesus willingly giving up his life and going to death on the cross where he would endure extreme torture and suffering. So despite his immediate suffering, obedience to God and the positive benefits that his death would bring to the world were considered far greater by him than disobedience (or, obedience would bring both himself and the world greater happiness than disobedience).

- The Bible seems to be saying that obedience to God is the means by which people attain a real sense of satisfaction (or pleasure) in their life.

- Devotion to God based on Utilitarian principles can also be seen in the lives of many Christians who were put to death by Roman Emperors. If they had not held the belief that seeking spiritual satisfaction/happiness would bring greater reward than seeking worldly satisfaction/happiness then these Christians might not have done such things.

- In the story of Noah and the Ark we read that the reason God brought such destruction on the world was because human sin made God suffer ('The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.' (Genesis 6:5-6). The destruction of the world would not only deal with the problem of sin but, despite the immediate displeasure associated with it would in the long-term make God happy, and the world a better place.

- John 3:16 is probably the most well-known verse in the Bible and is clearly based on the principle of utility: 'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life'. God sent Jesus to die for the sins of the world so that human beings would have the opportunity to join him in eternal life (in order to avoid the pain of no human being able to have eternal life).

- The implications of the belief that Utilitarianism underwrites the biblical view of God and morality are quite important for any discussion relating to the divine command theory of ethics. One of the main concerns about the belief that God alone is the source of morality is whether we can know that what God commands is good. This debate was classically expressed in the Euthyphro Dilemma. However, if what God commands is based on what leads to the greatest happiness for God, then as we have seen, such happiness is also grounded in making us happy. In other words, as far as the Bible is concerned, God's commands are not arbitrary but are intended to bring about a better world