Motivation for Doing Good
From time to time, I encounter atheists who argue that atheism is morally superior to Christianity. We will leave aside what they mean as the measure of morality. Their reasoning is that atheists are free to do good because they want to, whereas Christians do good out of fear of hell. Christians seem to need the threat of eternal torment to motivate them to do good.
This is an incredible straw man argument that demonstrates a terrible understanding of Christian theology. First of all, you must realize that Christianity teaches that salvation comes not be doing enough good things (or avoiding enough bad things) but by placing our faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross. Once that happens, Christians do desire to do good things. It is not because they hear the bellows of hell blowing but because it is the right thing to do. I have been involved in church for most of my life (except about five years as an atheist/agnostic). Never in that time have I heard Christians suggest that we feed the hungry or visit the sick because otherwise we could end up in hell. Rather we see the need, understand our resources and do what we can to make a difference. Our motivation is love and not fear.
“First of all, you must realize that Christianity teaches that salvation comes not be doing enough good things (or avoiding enough bad things) but by placing our faith in Jesus Christ and what he did on the cross.”
Is putting your faith in Jesus Christ doing a good thing?
Sure putting faith in Jesus is doing a good thing. However, my statement is in the context of what is the Christian’s motivation to be good people, live moral lives and help people in need. I argue that these things are done not out of fear that we do not do enough good deeds we might go to hell.
Your statement is presented as part of the lead up into your main argument, as indicated by “First of all…” Your statement is internally contradictory by your own admission. It is one of your claims even if it’s not your main claim, and it’s false.
How about this?
1. Some atheists claim Christians try to live moral lives based on fear of hell.
2. Christians believe hell is avoided only by faith in Christ.
3. The Christians attempt to live moral lives is not based on fear of hell.
You conclusion does not follow from your premises.
I confess I do not have a background in philosophy, but we will get through this.
1. Christians believe hell is avoided only by faith in Christ.
2. Faith in Christ is not arrived at by living a moral life.
3. Christians do not live moral lives in order to avoid hell.
That definitely seems closer, but something is still troubling me. We’ve established that having faith in Christ is a morally good thing to do. So, what we’re saying here is that it is moral, but it alone is not sufficient for “living a moral life.” I’m willing to accept that because the aspect of living a moral life seems to imply many more things beyond one action.
So, I would still have worries about some implications about why people are sent to Hell, but it should be suffficient to say that Christians avoid Hell by doing one good deed, rather than living a lifetime of good deeds. Rather, I should say it shows that it is possible that this is the case. Christians could still do good deeds for the purpose of avoiding Hell, whether or not it’s consistent with any particular doctrine.
I want to be careful to stay on topic here. I am happy to talk about hell and the nature of saving faith if you want, but my only purpose was to demonstrate that the motivation for Christians to live moral lives is not fear of hell. I believe I have achieved this goal.
I do want to adress one thing however. You keep bringing faith in as a moral act. I opened that door when I referred to good things rather than moral acts at the beginning. I think we have been too vague with what we mean by morality. Is morality anything that is good? Exercising is good, does that make it good? Also, morality seems to suggest action. One dictionary defines moral as “Pertaining to principles of right and wrong behavior” and moral actions as “Deeds which can be labelled ethically right (or wrong).” Can we say that faith in Jesus is behavior or deeds?
I don’t deny your larger claim. I don’t think the average Christian acts out of a constant fear of Hell, or thinking the Devil will get them, or any such thing. I was simply disagreeing with one claim among others.
Morality is a subset of value. So, exercising has value, yes, but it is not good in the moral sense. What morality is beyond that is a surprisingly difficult question. One can start with a definition of the good and then determine right and wrong actions, or one can begin with right and wrong actions and call doing those good. Deciding to have faith in Jesus is what I would call an intentional action (not necessarily an action like throwing a ball, but still an action). Morality is concerned with intentional action (you aren’t culpable for unintentional consequences most would agree). So, I don’t know if that answers your question, but those are some very brief thoughts on morality and where deciding to have faith in Jesus fits.