How can we be good without God?

As part of her critique of the film the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the writer Polly Toynbee said:

“No one is watching, no one is guiding, no one is judging and there is no other place yet to come…. There is no one here but ourselves to suffer for our sins, no one to redeem us but ourselves… We need no holy guide books, only a very human compass”

The author John Blanchard uses this direct statement to set the scene for the content of this useful booklet. He says: “Polly Toynbee’s main point is that in the absence of God we are perfectly capable not only of redeeming ourselves from the harmful effects of evil, but of drawing a clear distinction between evil and good in the first place…. All we need is ‘a very human compass’ “.

He goes on to ask two questions. These are – unless God exists, can we even discuss whether anything is good or evil. (Unless we have something to judge by, how can we know?) and – do these words have any real meaning unless God is central to our world view?

That, in a nutshell is the theme for the well-written booklet. It is only 40 pages long, and it is only marginally heavier than the last booklet I reviewed but at £1.50 it’s a bargain. If you want to be prepared to contend for our faith – or understand the opposition’s, then read it.

Polly Toynbee’s agenda is quite clear. Her world view is that of an atheist. The “concept” of God is to be denied quite strongly. This obviously influences how she thinks and acts. This is true of anyone of us. Our actions and thoughts are influenced by our world view. Our sense of ethics and morality is affected by our world view.

John Blanchard sets out to look at the implications of this. He does this by outlining the three broad categories that the various world views can be allocated to:

There are those who assume a world without God

There are those tied to one of the countless religious systems that man has invented

There is the one which sees the God who reveals Himself in the Bible – who calls us into a living relationship with himself.

Mr. Blanchard then starts to review and comment on the statements of various philosophers’s who have totally different views to our own. He sets out to explain what they are saying and highlights the weaknesses in their arguments – on many occasions he does this by reference to other philosopher’s who come from the same school of thought.

The trouble with several of theories that are promoted is that the more deeply the philosopher thinks the more it is recognized that there is a consideration that they are trying to overlook. But ultimately they have to recognize that mankind and morality go together and how do they explain that?

There is one alternative to the many “ism’s” that are spoken about today – one basis on which moral judgments can be made and several things must be true about it. It must be transcendent, perfect, unchanging and personal. The God revealed in the Bible meets all four of these requirements. As the atheist Richard Taylor freely admits “The concept of moral obligations (is) unintelligible apart from the idea of God.”

Accepting the involvement of God, Mr. Blanchard poses the question: Can we be good without God? He uses two cases studies from scripture to provide an answer to this question.

The first is from Luke 18:10 to 14. Here he contrasts the thoughts of the two men who to come to the temple to pray – one was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Who was confident in his own righteousness and who was not? Their respective prayers were different and illustrate the truth in Matthew 23:12 – “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbled himself will be exalted.”

The second case study comes from the story of the highly educated and zealous Saul. He looked on when Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was executed (Acts 8:1). He later became known as Paul – the missionary Apostle. Amongst his subsequent writings: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. So no one can be good enough for God in and of themselves.

After analyzing the case studies with more detail than I have, Mr. Blanchard turns his discussion towards the question as to how God can punish sin (as He must) yet also declare a sinner free from guilt and its consequences? The answer lies in the work and ministry God the Son – Jesus. Mr. Blanchard highlights the blessings that can be ours if we recognize what Jesus has done and seek to have a living relationship with Him – where we can “draw upon his wisdom, grace and power day by day.”

Do we trust in the worthless idols (ideas) promoted by the likes of Polly Toynbee? Or do we turn from this barren world view to trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour and take him as Lord?