Something that has weighed heavily upon me in my personal reflections is the idea of theistic spirituality without reward. I realised that much of my personal piety is based upon the hope of heaven and I would like to ask this hypothetical question to the people here,
"Would you be prepared to believe in G-d and serve G-d if you knew there was no heaven?"
nota bona: I believe in both G-d and in heaven, so please treat this as an academic enquiry.
2006-09-21 15:53:58 · 8 answers · asked by Rabbi Yohanneh 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm an atheist so the answer to your question is obvious. However, with you question in mind, can a believer of God truly be altruistic? It seems that these sorts of people (most notably Christians) do kind things or help others, at least partly, to gain favor with God and be sent to heaven. This is similar to sucking up to a boss in order to get a promotion, or kissing a teacher's *** to get a better grade.
2006-09-21 16:05:44 · answer #1 · answered by Andy 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The best works are anonymous the greatest feeling is doing a good deed and then not telling anyone. Im sure you know. It feels great. Im not very good at it and my Big mouth is spitting out how wondefull I am. its a great question. Im not going to heaven I dont expect too this time. my mother is. I know that. I am coming back again. I dont beleive in Hell. My father doesnt burn his children. I do beleive in DO overs and I am probably going to have alot of them till my big mouth gets smaller.
Honestly I hope I would. I dont know. The idea of heaven is just hard wired in my brain I cant realy know. I have never had doubts about it even though I might not get there for a million more years.
The kingdom of the father is here. I think Jesus said, men do not see it. So we can make heaven here if we all could be a little more humble.
2006-09-21 23:10:06 · answer #2 · answered by Rich 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Academically, there is no god. Academically, the desire to serve God has no bearing unless there is some relationship, i.e., servant & master. A master must have control, and if there is no reward or punishment, then there is no control. Self-denial to follow some dictates of some powerless divinity makes even less sense than self-denial with the idea that eventually you reach the eschatological pay-day.
In humanistic atheism, however, the ethical imperative is to do no harm. Period. The effort is placed toward the minimization of our negative impact on others and on ourselves, and we therefore avoid creating punishment for those same others and ourselves. We then also can pursue our individual interests, creating our own rewards in this life.
2006-09-21 23:04:51 · answer #3 · answered by NHBaritone 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My faith has less to do with heaven than a present cognitive predisposition. I can't deny belief, even if I tried. Thinking about heaven is sort of abstract for me, like being retired or living in another country.
2006-09-21 23:00:57 · answer #4 · answered by Easy B 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why would you want to believe in big G merely because of a hypothetical promise in the afterlife? Practise becoming a humanist, and let go of this big G rubbish.
2006-09-21 22:56:25 · answer #5 · answered by noitall 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Religion would die off without the carrot and the whip.
2006-09-21 22:55:30 · answer #6 · answered by Rob 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Isn't the name or your god YHWY?
Why do you spell the noun "god": "g-d"?
2006-09-21 23:01:47 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why do you spell god g-d?
2006-09-21 22:56:22 · answer #8 · answered by jedi1josh 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋