An Argument for Lightweight Belief in God

Estimated reading time: 19 minute(s)

I recently got the following question: What Would Make You Consider the Abrahamic God As Your Creator?

As I struggled with that question, I ended up constructing an interesting thought experiment. It uses four groups of people of varying faith types and examines their possible responses to proof, for and against, the existence of the Abrahamic God.

The four groups are:

Believers in an Abrahamic God
Believers of other faiths
Atheists
Agnostics

The two scenarios:

Decisive proof is provided that there is no
Decisive proof is provided that there is a God.

The Experiment

Scenario One(No God): In the first situation, atheists and agnostics will breathe a sigh of relief.  Likely there will be gloating and recriminations, but a few generations later everyone will move on. The former are vindicated, because it confirms their position; the latter are content, because they were persuaded.

Both groups of believer’s reactions would be varied. For the devout, I suspect it would be devastating.  Having your world view decimated has to be crushing. Other less devout or casual believers might be less impacted. But no doubt they would struggle with it, as with the loss of a parent or a child.

Scenario Two (God Exists): In the opposite situation, I imagine the agnostics and atheist, after a period of shock, would ultimately accept the proof and get on to the business of worship.  No doubt with a certain degree of urgency and with no certainty on the outcome. Needless to say, atheism and agnosticism would be things of the past.

Ironically, I still see the believers reeling here too. Why? For lots of reasons.

Divine Contradictions

There is no universally accepted understanding of the Abrahamic God. There is Yahweh of the Hebrew Scriptures, wrathful, jealous, and in direct communication with kings, prophets, and saints.  He is the prescriber of a detailed covenant.  There is the Christian Trinity and Allah, who is simply beyond our comprehension.  Theologians have also formulated a definition of God encompassing omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omnibenevolence.   The data is all over the chart.

This interreligious disconnect has led to longstanding tensions between the three faiths. It has spawned the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, and the intractable Middle East situation. Even within faiths there is radical disagreement on doctrine and authority. Sunni and Shia have been killing each other since the death of Mohammed.  Catholics and Protestants battled and tortured each other throughout the middle ages. Jesus scorned the Pharisees.

There is no universally accepted understanding of the Abrahamic God...
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My point here is that with so many contradictory beliefs about the nature and story of God, it’s not hard to imagine that millions of believers would be shocked in the face of actual proof.

Imagine the Muslim world’s surprise if Jews were actually the chosen people?  What if Jesus was just another apocalyptic zealot with no special connection to God, and the Messiah wasn’t due for another millennium? What if Mohammed or Joseph Smith were actually under the influence of ergot? Despite confirmation of a deity, millions of people’s world views and practices would still be out of line with  God. That doesn’t sound like a good place to be.

In the face of this theological problem, might I suggest a new take on Pascal’s wager?

Lightweights

We do find some common ground at the foundations of all three faiths.  Their creeds all affirm one basic tenet.

Judaism:  שמעתי ישראל , ה ‘ , אלוהינו , היאאחד אלוהים (Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is the Lord one)

Christianity: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. (First line of the Apostle’s Creed)

Islam: La ilaha illallah (There is no God but Allah)

All three share belief in the same God of Abraham.  If we leave things there, what happens in our thought experiment?  Believers, in the strictest sense of simply believing in God, are all on the same footing.  Free from extraneous beliefs, they avoid the risk that comes with putting faith in human speculation on the nature of the divine (What could possibly go wrong there?)

I’ll call this Lightweight Belief in God. It is a simple, unencumbered belief in the divine; free from all the baggage entangled in the various creeds. In the case where God definitely exists – a lightweight believer would be just as satisfied as an atheist in the alternate scenario. But, remarkably, proof that God doesn’t exist would have minimal impact.  Why?

Because to the lightweight believer, the preciousness of the world, whether bestowed by the Godhead, or by the laws of nature, would remain unchanged.

Because to the lightweight believer, the preciousness of the world ... would remain unchanged.
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You Gonna Take That With You?

The alternative, what I’ll call Heavyweight Belief in God, implies more.  For example, let’s take in a few more lines of the Apostle’s Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended into hell. On the third day he rose again; …

Here’s where the fighting starts. The very next line expands faith from the indeterminate to beliefs that require bias, exclusion, and suspension of rationality. Further, our thought experiment tells us that heavyweight belief in God risks life shattering disappointment or the peril of being crosswise with the Almighty.

A New Cohort

Let’s go back to the thought experiment, but with two new groups:

Heavyweight believers
Lightweight believers

Scenario One (No God):  

Heavyweight Believers: The impact on heavyweight believers remains the same. For Christians, there will be no Armageddon, no everlasting life, no redemption, and nothing to show for the sacrifices they’ve made.   The church, their community of friends and like-minded people, will have been built on a foundation of sand.  Imagine the suffering.

For Jews, the State of Israel would no longer be legitimate, they would not be chosen or special in any way, a life of conforming to the covenant will have had no purpose.

For Islam, the pillars of the faith would crumble.  A life of surrender to a false deity would leave Muslims empty. It would seem as if there would be no reason for living.

In fact proving God does not exist could hold serious consequences for the entire world. For 53% of the world’s population, God is basis of morality.  Take that away, anarchy might ensue.

Lightweight Believers: As I said above the preciousness of the world, whether bestowed by the Godhead, or by the laws of nature, would remain unchanged.

Scenario Two (God Exists):

Heavyweight Believers:  The impact of course depends on the degree to which the heavyweight believer’s articles of faith are at odds with the true nature of God.  If they’re lucky, all is well, if not, I just can’t say.

Lightweight Believers: At the risk of sounding like a broken record – to the lightweight believer, the preciousness of the world, whether bestowed by the Godhead, or by the laws of nature, would remain unchanged.  It would be worthy of worship regardless.

If it is up to us to adopt a belief that provides salvation in this life and any other, lightweight belief sounds like a decent choice.

Dialectic Two-Step  is an ongoing series of my thoughts on questions that come my way.

Wisdom lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. - Octavio

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