The Theory
For this theory to work we must observe it from the perspective that God is not good. Most who read the Bible find that the actions taken by the God of the old testament are not aligned to their own sense of morality. This is explained away by the inferior capacity of man to discern what is truly right and wrong, but for the purposes of this post I ask you to disregard that notion. We all are imbued with a sense of morality; a heart that leads us towards making the right decisions. It seems wiser for us to trust in that sense we were gifted with at birth, than words written down by an unverifiable source that tell us to ignore it.
So if we can consider God to be a perversion of Good, not only in terms of the spelling but in the nature of the entity presented to us, then God's presence in the Bible, becomes an attempt to redefine good. Where the Bible tells us to listen to God's commandments, I would ask you to consider if that should truly be interpreted as, listening to your heart and what your conscience demands of you. When we are told not to take God's name in vain, I would ask you if that should not be understood as doing something for personal gain under the guise of "doing good," as opposed to saying "god damn," which is surely an inconsequential trespass in comparison. Where the Bible tells to be righteous before God, I would ask if that does not sooner mean to make the right choices in accordance with your innate sense of what is good, than to follow commands that your heart disagrees with.
Looking at God and Good in this light, and wondering if it is more appropriate to put Good before God, rather than the way we are taught - to put God's sense of good before our own, many stories within the Bible start to take a different narrative.
One thing that is stressed countless times throughout the Old testament is that if one be righteous, and follow God's commandments, then they will be powerful, able to slay all their enemies, never be sick, and have tons of wealth and servants. But if they betray God's commandments, then they will be weak, afraid, run from enemies that are not even there and be slain by their foes etc etc.
If we look at this through the lens of this theory, then the message constantly being reiterated in the Old Testament becomes, if you follow the commandments of Good - of your conscience and what's in your heart - then Good, will look out for you. But if you do not, if you put yourself before others, then you will not be protected by Good.
Some will say that this cannot be true, because bad things happen to good people. But do we know this to be true? We cannot know what is in someone's heart, only they can. And, perhaps our definition of what is good is not quite as it should be - as it is described by Jesus.
A good man in modern civilisation is someone who takes care of their family and doesn't go out of their way to bring suffering to others. But, how many good men and women, by our definition, take jobs when they know there's not enough to go around, and loans when they know it adds debt to the system and pushes more people out onto the street? I would say that none of us are truly good. We all make choices to protect the ones we love, choices that come at the expense of others in the world or out community. Because doing the right thing has been made extremely difficult in this world, for if we know the system we are currently depending on is causing problems for many, then every choice we make that gives power to and perpetuates that system is not one that Jesus would call "good."
In the story of Abraham, we are presented with text that tells us God demanded that Abraham take his most beloved son to sacrifice. But just as Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, God changes His mind, realising that Abraham is loyal to God. A lamb is offered up instead. Now this story paints God as quite the trickster. It seems cruel to do this to a man, and it is definitely cruel according to my sense of morality to murder a lamb. But let's look at this story through a different light.
If God is attempting to take the place of good. Then let's look at the story of Abraham from a perspective of Goodness, and not Godliness. What if Abraham lived in a world quite like our own, where doing the right thing is hard, because we need to survive and protect our loved ones, and doing the right thing often seems like putting them in danger or leading them to starvation. If it was not God that demanded Abraham sacrifice his most beloved son, but Abraham's own sense of what is right demanding him to put what is good before the safety of his own family, then the moral of the story becomes something entirely different. Put good first and good will look out for you and your loved ones.
It's somewhat paradoxical, as it would suggest that if you want to protect the ones you love the most, the way to do so is to be willing to fail them in order to do the right thing. In recognising that the lives of everyone else are as important as the lives as the ones you hold dearest, and not making decisions that favour your own at a detriment to others, you become good, and good, being a force in itself, chooses to look out for you and your own.
If you're having difficult accepting good as a force, consider that an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God that is morally perfect would never have to change their mind. They would always know the best course of action to take, and they would always take it, make them essentially without free will. Their path would be predetermined, for there would be only one choice with the greatest good to be made at each instance. So I would say that something that makes the good choice always is more of a force than a sentient entity, and perhaps good is a force in this universe, much like an algorithm or protocol on a blockchain. Make the truly good choice as often as possible and you will grow close to this force, and its power will start to be able to operate through you. This may be why Abraham's son was protected, and why the old testament talks of the rewards and power one will receive by "keeping God's commandments." (Following your conscience to the letter, and doing only what you know to be good.)
With that said, let's look at the story of Jesus and see if he is not an example of one who put good first, and consequently was imbued with the power of Good. We are told that Jesus was sacrificed for the sins of others. He gave his life and suffered persecution for the people. What does a life of doing good, true good, look like for someone living in today's world? They too would suffer persecution, and very act of doing good is a sacrifice for the people, for it is putting everyone else before the desires of oneself.
The story of Jesus, who is called in the first chapter of the New Testament, Emanuel(A manual), appears to be telling the same story as the old testament. That if you are courageous enough to truly put what you know is right first, in spite of the inevitable consequences that will befall you for doing so in a world that is shaped around putting yourself first, then you will be rewarded with the power of the Creator.
A further deception of the Bible then, could be that we are led to believe Jesus is our saviour - the one and only. But perhaps in light of the full texts, we can look at Jesus not as a sole saviour, but as an example of how to ignite the saviour within ourselves, and a demonstration of the power one will be rewarded with in order so that they can do more good by following Jesus' example.
But as long as we who believe in a higher power wait patiently for a saviour to come along, we will never find within ourselves the self-belief to become our own saviours, and the saviours of others in need. So perhaps we should listen to the message repeatedly alluded to so many times throughout the old testament - be righteous(choose right), and you will have everything you need, and access to the innate power to shape the world that has always lied within you.
So, invite you to entertain this theory for a moment; take goodness to the next level, and see what rewards it begets you - even if I am currently lacking the courage to walk that path at the moment. Even if I am wrong about the theory, which I very well may be, the world could certainly benefit from many of us trying harder to do good, and being willing to sacrifice what we hold dearest in order to do the right thing. I hope that soon I will be in a position where I feel I can step onto that same path again, and hopefully, I will not be alone when I do.
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I tend to agree in the sense that I don't think anyone is perfect.
However I do think many people are more good than they are "bad" so to speak.
Are you vegan? Just curious.
That's interesting to think about. Reminds me of the whole "super hero" idea as I watched the movie Kick-Ass with my friend recently and it seems like in order to help others sometimes you gotta do some bad things. Sometimes you even gotta be more ruthless in some ways than the bad guys you are fighting or else you'll lose.
Agreed. I think almost anyone.. Maybe not everyone.. But if you wanna do true good in the world and really help move society forward then you're probably going to face a lot of hardship and pain and suffering because of it from the very people you're trying to help.
I like that idea and I tend to resonate with that more than what most people seem to think in regards to the subject.
Well said. I think the world would be much better if we all sacrificed more to help each other. And while I've spent much of my life trying to help, in some ways I've played it safe too.. Not going too far out of my comfort zone so this is a good reminder for me to perhaps step up my game a bit. Definitely gave me something to think about. Thanks for sharing!
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