So what if there is no God?

Question

What would constitutes as sin? Or what constitutes as the greatest evil? Where would morals and goodness stand if afterwards there is nothing?

Answer 1

You are making a very common and huge mistake here. Whether there is a god or not is a whole other debate, but you have to understand that god is not required for people to have morals. Morals are a set of rules or ideas that help us live together as a society. It's a pretty easy thing to understand. We as people want the right to live as happily as possible. So we try to agree on basic rules that will help that goal. The basic rule is that you shouldn't treat people in a way that you yourself would not want to be treated. There is no need of a god to come to this realization. It's a very easy thing to figure out. When something bad happens to you (someone does something to you like physically hurting you or stealing from you, etc) it's pretty obvious that what happened was undesirable. You can tell be cause it goes against what you're striving for. You can tell because of the undesirable effects. Since you would prefer not to go through the experience again you agree with your neighbors that you will not treat them that way if they agree to not treat you that way. If everyone (or at least most people) all agree that it would be most desirable to live in peace then that agreement turns into our morals. It's very simple stuff. It's how you create a "civil"ization.

Now the idea of "sin" on the other hand is a bit different. This is a concept that early Jews/Christians made up. It's very similar to morals but different because they went a step further with it. What they essentially did was put their very dated archaic fears and preferences into the mouth of god. By doing this they could then make people live in a way that at the time they felt was most right through fear - fear of god more specifically. This is also a very simple idea. If a fellow human tells you that being gay (or anything else) is wrong you would tell them to go stick it, BUT if god says it's wrong then maybe you should listen. They then pile on stories of burning in hell for all of eternity to make it scarier. It's a tricky thing because no one can truly prove the existence or non-existence of god for certain so they wind up getting a lot of people saying to themselves, "Hmm, I'm not sure if god really said that. I'm not sure if there even really is a god, but that burning in hell stuff sounds horrible! So just to be safe I'll try to do as they say anyway". This is one of the big reasons why many theologians want you to believe in the Bible as the literal word of god. With that belief they can influence how people behave.

The funny thing though is that the Catholic church has been becoming more lenient with all the rules (sins) so they can appeal more to modern people. What they seem to be over looking though is that by doing this they are essentially stating that god's word is not written in stone and that it can be changed. But how can this be possible if god is omniscient (all knowing)? If god is all knowing then his ideas of what is right and wrong should hold for eternity. They shouldn't change over time.

Then that brings about a whole new problem. If god’s laws and wishes are to be taken literally then we should be changing a lot of things about the way we live. A list of examples would be; we should keep slaves; be sexist to women and keep them from having rights; beat our children with a rod when they are bad; have incest if there are no other procreation options; kill gay people; kill a man for sleeping with a menstruating woman; go to war and fight for land (oh wait we got that one down still); kill people for having other religious beliefs; kill people for stealing; etc. The list could go on and on but do we really even need to go past just one or two of these examples to know they couldn't possibly come from a god?

So now we're back at the beginning. Some of very rules from this benevolent god that we need so much for morals are actually horrible sins in themselves. So I ask you; why should I believe what the Bible says? Isn't it obvious to anyone with half a brain that it was the work of simple minded, fearful, and scientifically un-evolved humans? Back then a person with epilepsy was possessed by the devil and the entire universe revolved around the earth. Today we know better.

Besides. If there were a god; if there were a being that deserved such a title; then I'd expect something much more. Something beyond us. A being that knows better. The Bible is actually an insult to god. I'd be quite angry if someone made me out to be that type of being - like the one in the Bible. To be a god you'd have to be much better than that. If not then you'd be nothing more than a child with too much power.

Answer 2

So what if there were no God? Well, there is a God, only one, and if there were no God, then there would be no you!

What constitutes as sin? Sin is missing the mark, that is, the standard that God has set. It is not only a transgression of His law, but if you don't hit that mark, then that is sin. The Bible also says, that a person who knows to do good, but doesn't do it, to him it is sin.

The greatest evil? Although sin is sin, the worst possible thing that you can do to yourself is deny the Lord and the salvation He's provided for you. Doing so brings destruction upon your own head.

It seems as though you have a major attitude. Hmmm...get over it!

Answer 3

Well if there was no God there could be no you, nor would your question exist, no thing would. I am not basising thsi on religous doctrine but rather from proof which you must have the desire to have before it be revealed.

regarding your second question re; the afterlife I say this to you; the fterlife is not what you think it is, as you will have no body nad since you have no body you will have no psyche as the two are directly connected, and if you have no psyche you will not have the same if any recognition of the self as you do now. ASk me what the after life is, no man shall have such a knowledge

Answer 4

If you think about it, atheists don't belive in any kind of higher power, right? And are they completely lacking morals and ethics? Of course not. I'm an atheist, but I believe myself to be a good person- I still know the difference between right and wrong.

If the whole world was atheist, a "sin" would still just be something that's morally wrong. Live wouldn't change a whole lot if God was proven to not exist.

Answer 5

Morality and the concept of a God are not necessarily intertwined. Morals are really only rules created by society. So, if a society agrees that a certain behavior is considered a "norm" it becomes a moral.

I am fairly certain that our society would be against murder and rape even if there is no God, because these behaviours disrupt society as a whole.

There are also those who believe that the notion of a God is a social construct and thus he/she is only a means of conveying what the society believes their morals should be.

Answer 6

Why does there have to be 'Sin' or 'The Greatest Evil' ?

Morals and goodness do NOT require religion for definition. Living a moral life means not doing anything to anyone else that you, yourself wouldn't want to have done to yourself...

Yeah, yeah... Do unto others... but that's basic philosophy, and the foundation of almost ALL religions.

Answer 7

Ask your questions as " so what if there is God?"

who proved you that there is God ?
or
Who proved you that there is no GOd?

It will be as it is.. Sins and Evil belong to Humans.. there is nothing to do with God ( If there is one)

and also Morals and Good are also belong to Humans..

We didnt know whether God created us or we created God...

But one thing is sure.. we created Morals and goodness..

and also we are one who also created sins and Evil..

Evil and Sins will be multiplied in the near future.. will be multiplied on every new invention of Science and Technology..

So there is nothing to do with God..

Answer 8

A sin is when you do something bad. And the greatest evil is satin. Their is something after death Heaven if you take the gift that God wants to give you the gift is Him He died on the cross for your sins and He loves you and if you don't want the gift you will go to hell hell.

Answer 9

If there were no god what would be the meaning of life, because I feel that the meaning of life is to find both the truth in religion and science both, because at some point they both collide....

Answer 10

Like any other living organism on this planet, we will eventually die. Humans are just animals with complex brains, and a developed means of communication, language. We are no different than any other living organism.