Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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DIVINE DECREE

the theory that morality finally depends on God's will and not on the divine essence. In its extreme form, it holds that good and evil are decided by God's arbitrary will. What is considered morally evil could have been morally good, and vice versa. also God could decree that the present code of morality is not permanently binding. the modern form of this theory is some variant of process morality, which postulates an evolving and therefore changing Deity.