Christians - what is your source of morality?

Question

What motivates you to be "good"? Is it just the avoidance of hell? Would you do whatever you liked (murder, rape, steal) if you weren't worried about the eternal consequences? Or is it possible to be "good" without that threat hanging over you?

I don't ask tongue-in-cheek, I'm asking as a follow up to an earlier question:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AgN_tMPpkFwmOzT5JwueJIjzy6IX?qid=20061121155212AAyMO1v

If you think my assumptions about your morality are unfair, and that moral conduct is quite probable for its own sake and not merely from risk of damnation, why do you need to enquire of atheists' capacity for unselfish, moral behaviour?

I am, like the other questioner, looking forward to well thought-out answers. Thanks.

Answer 1

My source of morality growing up (and up until Pangel helped me to see things differently) has been what was drilled into my head by very conservative Christianity, as it relates to the Bible. I'd probably consider it my church teachings first, ego second, Bible third, and fear of damnation fourth.

Now, however, I still consider myself a Christian, but I would call human decency first, and the Bible second (interpretted very differently than before). They practically go hand in hand. I now interpret the Bible based on the world I see around me. How do the teachings of the Bible fit with the observations I see in my day-to-day life?

God bless!

Answer 2

If you want to read a good book get the Book of Jubilee it is considerd the Bible before the Bible. I first had heard about it when the History Channel did a 2 hour documentary on it. It was written sometime around 800-1000 years before Jesus and about 400-500 before the Old Testiment. Some of it agrees with the Old Testiment (the begining of mankind) and some of it totally destroys it. By the time you get done reading it you wont know what to believe. Alot of it is the same stuff that is in the Da Vinci Code.
ZEus

Answer 3

What is good or what is bad? It is based on a knowledge coming from somplace. In most cases it is parental, but can be from sports affilitations, religious training or any number of resources. What motivates you to heed to what you have learned is the influence of people, places, and things, that you are around most of the time. Even God does not violate your free will, so being good is a choice even for born again, Spirit filled, believers in Jesus Christ as Lord. It always boils down to your own choices. The difference with a believer, is that they do have the tools to avoid the bad if they want to. The unbeliever must deal with the influences on their own and it is easier for the forces of darkness to attack a vessel with out God, then it is with God. The attack goes on either way, but if Christ is setting on the throne of your heart, then they may come in the hotel but they will not be able to check in. Without anybody at the desk then any spirit may check in, and move into a room in your heart and then only God can rid you of this darkness. You may throw out evil on your own but what keeps the demonic forces from coming back and bringing more powerful spirits with them?
Is it about eternal consequences or is it about the condition of the soul in the here and now. I think it is the immediate condition that drives a person most. Sure we are concerned, as Christian that we do not somehow blow it, but the reality is, that it is nearly impossible to go to the point that you loose, after you have been instructed in righteousness.

Answer 4

I follow the Bible, mostly the New Testament.
It isn't a fear of hell, because for me, I'm not even tempted really to do the horrible things I used to do. Of all my bad habits, I only still have one: Smoking cigarettes. I'm giving that up in about a month. My husband and I are debating whether we're going to quit on Christmas, or New Year's.
I believe that we all have sinned, regardless of whether we're "good people" or not.
What keeps ME going is knowing that people are always watching me, especially once they know I'm a Christian. If I falter, it makes ALL Christians look bad, not just me.
When atheists do wrong, it's almost expected, and no one judges you guys for it (unless they're too busy complaining about everyone else's sins and not acknowledging their own.)
I'm not saying this to be mean. It's just true. I'm judged more by non-Christians than I am by Christians.
Who judges atheists? All we'll tell you guys is that we think you're making the wrong choice.

Answer 5

It comes from inside me. I have always had a strong sense of not wanting to hurt people. I have jumped around different Christian denominations and even spent several years rejecting anything religious but my sense of good and bad has always been present.
I will have to admit that I have done better when I do believe in a divine spirit. Maybe it's the feeling of being under surveillance. I don't know, but I'm no worse a person for it.

Answer 6

I had morals prior to becoming a Christian. I'm not "good" to avoid hell, that doesn't motivate my actions or thinking in the least. I wouldn't murder, rape or steal regardless of my religious convictions, those are wrong for any human.

God bless :-)

Answer 7

As a Catholic, my beliefs on morality and its source are similar to my church's position. The primary guide we have to morality is our conscience. We in fact call this the "primacy of the conscience."

"Conscience is a judgement of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right." (CCC 1778)

However, I as a Catholic have an obligation to form my conscience correctly. And in the formation of my conscience, I recognize "the Word of God (as) the light for our path." My conscience may be my quick handy reference for morality. But I do not recognize myself as the source (if you will) of morality. That would be the worst form of relativism imaginable, and be not unlike a house without a foundation.

As to atheists capacity or not for altruism or moral behaviour, I have never written on the topic, so I'm not sure what my alleged "need" in this area is purported to be.

Answer 8

As just one believer, I guess I can only answer for myself rather than make sweeping generalization about what 'every' Christian is doing.

Before God saved me, I was a selfish, prideful, arrogant, conniving liar. Hurt a lot of people around me, most of all the ones who loved me the most. Worst of all, I realized all the damage I was causing to myself and others, and found I was powerless to change...at least to change permanently, significantly - anything more than an occasional, temporary white wash.

When I finally took seriously the warnings of the Bible about the eternal consequences I deserved and that inescapably hung over my head, I knew I was lost without any hope.

It is within that context that understanding what Jesus' work on the cross, substitutionary death and offer of eternal life really took on meaning for me. Here was real forgiveness for all the black things I had done and a promise of a clean slate with God, and a new way of life - a possibility to really change from the heart outwards.

As I grew to understand a little better WHY Jesus provided this salvation for me - that He loved me even when I was still dead set in the midst of my rebellion against Him - wanting to live my life my own way, on my own terms, rather than living in acknowledgement of the God Who created me - the motivation for trying to live a certain way became a lot clearer for me.

Jesus Christ has given me a new life. He suffered and died a suffering and death I deserved, so that I would escape this and live eternally. For that I owe Him my life. So I want to follow after Him for the rest of my earthly days - not because of a threat of hell - I'm completely safe from that now. But this kind of love, the love that Jesus demonstrated for me - makes me want to follow after Him in love and gratitude.

That's what motivates me to want to do what He says pleases Him. I want to please Him because I love Him.

Hope that helps, sorry for the long answer.

Best to you.

Answer 9

I havent always been a Christian but I have always had morals, even when I was in my rebellious stage. I've never felt good hurting people. I dont think the fact I dont want to hurt anyone is a matter of not wanting to go to hell or not. But, there are things I dont do and things I want to stop doing because I don't want to go to hell. Now, if I stop doing something because I feel God doesn't like it and might send me to hell for it, is that a bad thing?

Answer 10

Before I knew Jesus, I was quite motivated to do the things that the church world taught me was sinful. And I did so thumbing my nose at religious Christians every chance I got. I flaunted my blatant disregard for their "thou shalt's" and "thou shalt not's" every time I found the opportunity - with glee! I was extremely motivated by hatred to buck everything I could of their dogmatic, religious system.

When the real Jesus (in other words, not the Jesus that unmerciful, sour-faced religious people had shown me) stepped forward and revealed Himself to me, something happened in my heart that produced an extreme motivation to learn what the Bible said. Once I started learning what the Bible had to say, as I continued seeking the Jesus who'd stepped off the pages of that Bible who was continaully reaching out to reveal even more of Himself to me as the One who loved me and gave Himself for me, I became increasingly more motivated to do what that Bible was telling me was right.

The motivation to do the right things came out of an abundance of a grateful heart for the love of a mighty Savior who would stoop down and reach out to seek and to save even a total disaster like me.

And so it still stands that this is my motivation today - almost 13 years after my first encounter with this beautiful, and mighty, and righteous, and living Savior!