A God Without Rewards

[cardero]

Many religions cling to the faith that God usually delivers promises or that God can give them something that no other entity could. Would if there was nothing to anticipate or expect from God? What if promises of salvation, resurrection, eternal life were not God’s to give? Without these hopes, what aspects of God would keep some people coming back to Him? Would people still adore and worship Him the same or would there be no reason to have any dealings with God at all.

 

[lilithu]

Many religions cling to the faith that God usually delivers promises or that God can give them something that no other entity could. Would if there was nothing to anticipate or expect from God? What if promises of salvation, resurrection, eternal life were not God’s to give? Without these hopes, what aspects of God would keep some people coming back to Him? Would people still adore and worship Him the same or would there be no reason to have any dealings with God at all.

from the Sufi tradition:
O my Lord, if I worship Thee from fear of Hell, burn me in Hell,
and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me thence, but if
I worship Thee for Thine own sake withhold not from me Thine
eternal beauty.

- Rabi’a al-Adawiyya


from the Christian tradition:
I think that one must approach the Logos Savior, not induced by the fear of punishment and not in the expectation of some kind of a reward, but primarily for the sake of the good in itself. Such will stand on the right in the sanctuary.

- Clement of Alexandria

To love Christ -means not to be a hireling, not to look upon a noble life as an enterprise or trade, but to be a true benefactor and to do everything only for the sake of love for God.

- St John Chrysosdom


from the Hindu tradition:
To my Divine Mother I prayed only for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her: `Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy purity, here is Thy impurity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for thee.

- Ramakrishna

 

[Skavau]

Many religions cling to the faith that God usually delivers promises or that God can give them something that no other entity could. Would if there was nothing to anticipate or expect from God? What if promises of salvation, resurrection, eternal life were not God’s to give? Without these hopes, what aspects of God would keep some people coming back to Him? Would people still adore and worship Him the same or would there be no reason to have any dealings with God at all.

I don't think the desire to worship such a God would be indeed existent if there were no promises to be made. Human Nature's desire to worship something or do something for something usually stems for some sort of reward in return. A child will be very good and very charming if he or she knows that he or she will recieve something in return that they lust. Heaven is commonly lusted, and people who believe in a God also usually believe there is some sort of a heaven afterwards - so yes, I believe worship will be stunted.

The only question I ask now in your equation is does this God warn of hell?

 

[Sunstone]

I partly disagree, Skavau. There are many people who worship God because they see God as pure and good, rather than from an expectation of reward or punnishment. But I do agree with you to the extent that I think some people would fall away from worshiping God if they had no notion of reward or punnishment for doing so. It might be a personal prejudice of mine, but I tend to think such people are more or less shallow.

 

[lilithu]

I don't think the desire to worship such a God would be indeed existent if there were no promises to be made. Human Nature's desire to worship something or do something for something usually stems for some sort of reward in return. A child will be very good and very charming if he or she knows that he or she will recieve something in return that they lust. Heaven is commonly lusted, and people who believe in a God also usually believe there is some sort of a heaven afterwards - so yes, I believe worship will be stunted.

For reasons that I can't remember, we discussed this issue in my buddhist sutta class on friday. Someone was talking about a friend who used to bribe her grandson to go to temple with her by offering m&m candies. She knew that he was only going because of the candy. She knew that buddhism motivated by candy was not true buddhism and it's not like that would help her grandson. But she also knew (or had faith) that while he was at the temple with her, he would pick up the knowledge and skills necessary to become devoted to Buddhism in its own right, not just for the candy. And she was right. The grandson is now grown with a family of his own, and goes to temple regularly without getting any candy in return.

We may teach our children ethics with a mixture of rewarding good behavior and punishing bad behavior, but over time, they internalize those ethics on their own. And then it's no longer about reward and punishment but about doing what is right for its own sake, sometimes doing what is right even when one will get "punished" for it.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Fortunately,

Christianity rewards it's disciples immediately: you don't have to wait for heaven to realise the benefits of following God. It's wonderful to experience a taste of heaven right here on earth!

 

[NoName]

Does perfect love and acceptance count as a reward? Because if it doesn't, there really is nothing.

 

[standing_on_one_foot]

Many religions cling to the faith that God usually delivers promises or that God can give them something that no other entity could. Would if there was nothing to anticipate or expect from God? What if promises of salvation, resurrection, eternal life were not God’s to give? Without these hopes, what aspects of God would keep some people coming back to Him? Would people still adore and worship Him the same or would there be no reason to have any dealings with God at all.

Well...my religion does have the rewards aspect, but I'm not especially convinced there is an afterlife, and I'm still a religious person in my own way. The afterlife is'nt a central part of my beliefs (it's a bit of an afterthought, excuse the pun). So there's something there. I mean, existence can be pretty cool, it's nice to think there's something to thank.