The Story of God

So here we are, subject to suffering and trial, and finally death--which is categorical helplessness. Belief in God gives us confidence of victory, fortitude in suffering, and peace of mind--which for many are all that is needed to finally succeed in the trial of life, whether God exists or not. But let us just for a moment consider what is belief in God, and what it is precisely that we believe when we are religious. Our forebears have believed in a story, and handed down the story to us, the story of God.

We are told that there is a Creator, an all good, loving, perfect deity, without whose leave nothing can disturb us or inflict harm on us, and who has our best interests in mind. He will care for us at the moment of that total helplessness--death--as well as through our lives. Furthermore, having faith in this God is the type of good that only gets enjoyed by others the more it is enjoyed by us; and enjoying God’s blessing doesn’t come out of the enjoyment of anyone else, but only adds to it. This God will forgive us our errors if we repent, and enjoins on us the virtues of loving our fellow humans and forgiving them, and leading a humane and generous life; and so long as we do good, he will protect us from any disaster and care for us when we die.

This is the story of God. When we look at it in this way, it has the character of some fairy tale, something only the credulous would believe. But imagine what life would be like for us if there were not any such story? Or worse--imagine how our existence would be if we’d been handed a different story, one not nearly so rosy? What if the story we’d been handed by our forebears was one of a wicked deity, who is all powerful, and would torment us till we allied ourselves with evil? What if the story were one that told us to treat our fellows with murder and cruelty or suffer the pains of hell at death? What if the story meant that unless we submitted to a wicked demon we could expect only pain and anguish; that instead of enjoining on us mercy and forgiveness, the story were one where the deity demanded crimes of us and were able to punish us with hell should we refuse?

Obviously this story--the one we have--is the best of all possible stories we could have been handed. Obviously it is the easiest to assent to, and its God is the most comfortable there could be for a man to ally himself with in total submission.

The story we are handed, whether it be true or not, is the best possible story we could ask for. There is nothing given up in bowing to God; for he is worthy of our bows. There is no downside to obeying God in all things and worshiping him; it merely means greater good for all the rest, and for us as well. There is no crime demanded of us: all that God asks is that we do good and only good, which would be best for the whole human race whether God really exists or not. This is the best story that we could have been handed--no reasonable man would consider it wrong to ally himself with such a God as we have in the story; no reasonable man could consider it a bad thing if the story were all true.

Pascal’s Wager is true and valid here, only more valid than Pascal argued for. We saw that belief in God gave man the confidence that in many cases means victory due to trust in God--whether God exists or not. We saw too that we are all ultimately reduced to a total dependence, categorical helplessness at the moment of death. Natural action can only help us so much; in the end we are simple recipients, and take what comes at the end of life, no action anymore possible. Faith in God helps man succeed in the trial of life--and if God doesn’t exist man is not worse off for believing in him.

If God does exist, man’s benefit for faith is immense; if he does not exist, the belief in him can give a man confidence, fortitude and courage--and in many cases victory in the trial of life. God may not exist, but millions of alcoholics have found sobriety simply by belief that God could aid them in doing so. Alcoholics Anonymous is probably one of the most convincing examples of how--whether God exists or not--belief in God can be incredibly powerful in giving us the confidence of victory that is half--or more than half--the battle.

And so faith is a win-win proposition. We have been given the best of all possible stories by our forebears--the story of God. We have seen how faith in God--whether rightly or wrongly--gives us the confidence we need to go forth and live in a dangerous and chaotic world. We have seen that faith in God redounds to the good of all humankind, instead of decreasing for each man who enjoys it. Now are we to withhold our assent to faith because this story of God is not proved to be true? It is not proved to be untrue either; and belief in the story of God is from every angle a benefit, whether God exists or not. Are we to refrain from a bet that costs us nothing, and gives us reward--only the question being between a smaller reward or a greater--but offering only benefit either one way or the other? And this simply because we lack a string of logic to prove to us God’s existence?

I hope to have convinced the reader otherwise, and provided a rational foundation for faith.