Abraham and Sodom: Divine Morality Encounters Human Morality

I claim that God – as described in scripture – can be understood as not originally owing the same duties to human individuals as they do to each other and that His duties to individual human beings are generated through His entering into covenants with them. Human beings, on the other hand, owe each other particular obligations stemming from their common humanity (a condition not shared by God), just as siblings share additional mutual obligations due to their familial bonds. This idea undergirds my new reading of the story of Abraham`s pleading for Sodom and Gomorrah. Usually, God`s interventions in history are depicted by scripture as taking place at the high "macro" level involving the fates of whole nations and communities. Thus, the discussion between Abraham and God regarding Sodom and Gomorrah represents the meeting of two ethical viewpoints, each appropriate to the entity holding it. Neither party is in the wrong. This is not a doctrine of ethical relativism, since, for instance. in an exclusively human case, members of different families can share the same ethical doctrines and recognize the legitimacy of special obligations within each family. However, God must consult with Abraham and take Abraham`s concerns into account because He has created special duties towards Abraham by entering into a covenant with him.