Good Without God: A Case for Secular Christianity

By Tessa Schlesinger

The author argues that benevolence is not so much a passport to heaven but a passage to the survival of our species and the preservation of the ecosystem of our world. Using three parables that Jesus told in response to questions about what heaven would look like on earth, Miss Schlesinger argues that benevolence only works when it is collectively applied, and that the occasional kind deed by individuals has little effect in our world.

This short ebook delves into the difference between good and evil, the secular history of the bible, and what existing secular evidence there is for the existence of Christ.

It's purpose is to put forward an idea that we can shape our laws benevolently for the good of all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tessa Schlesinger
• Release date: Oct 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005148584

Tessa Schlesinger

You could say I've been a writer (almost) from birth. In a life of chaos and inconsistency, the one thing that has united all the different threads is my writing.

Book preview

Good Without God

A Case for Secular Christianity

Never in the history of man has benevolence been so necessary for the well-being of our planet.

Tessa Schlesinger

Cover art Pixabay

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or posted online.

Copyright (c) 2020 by Tessa Schlesinger

Dedication

Thanks to the following people for their

continued support and assistance, whether it

is as a Patreon supporter or assisting in

beta reading. You are much appreciated.

Anthony Lawrence

David Taubner

James Karaganis

Kirsten Crippen

Paula Jones,

Sam H Arnold

Tom Curtis

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. Benevolence

3. Christianity

4. The Purpose of Christianity in the Early Church

5. Who is the Secular Christian

6. The Christian Myth – Good is Not Possible Without God

7. Good People and Bad People

8. Christian Good and Secular Good

9. The Problem with Hermeneutics

10. Three Parables – The Foundation of Christian Ethics

11. Does Love Matter?

12. What is Evil?

13. What is Good?

14. Situational Ethics

15. The Spiritual Human

16. Is a Heaven on Earth possible?

17. Economic Justice in the 21st Century

18. Forgiveness

19. Assisting Others – Generosity of Spirit

20. The Secular History of the Bible

21. The Secular Evidence for the Existence of Jesus

22. Different Christian Denominations

23. Leadership in the 21st Century

24. Why do Some People Believe in God?

25. The Meaning of Life – Living a Fulfilling Life

26. Good Without God - Why Only Benevolence Will Save the Human Race.

One: Introduction

This is probably back to front, but I have written this introduction after everything else has been written.

While the book draws from the most important of Jesus’ teachings, the message is that benevolence is not so much a passport to heaven but a passage to the survival of our species and the preservation of the ecosystem of our world. As someone who has long been passionately involved in understanding systems as well as promoting ethical economic and political systems, I finally touched on a topic that I have avoided for more than thirty-five years — religion.

It is ironical that none of the religious texts examine good and evil in any rational way. Nor do they give us an understanding of the difference between a good action and a bad action.

How is it a good action to avoid mixing two different textiles as the Hebrews are instructed to do in Torah? How is it a benevolent undertaking to kill infidels (unbelievers) so that one may attain seventy two virgins? How does the Hindu caste system of classifying people with darker skin color pigment to life-long serving positions demonstrate righteousness? And why would Christianity make women second class citizens by insisting that they submit to their husbands?

None of it is ethical or moral. Certainly, it appears that in the light of today’s increased knowledge, all of these supposedly good behaviors are simply the thoughts of men who had the limited knowledge inherent in more primitive times. Or was it?

Why was Benevolence Considered to be Important?

The old saying is that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. So it is inevitable that there will be clashes between people in communities. When these clashes become intense, they will often impinge on the survival and well-being of the community or village. These disagreements can lead to wars and other destructive actions.

It was, therefore, in the interests of village or tribal leaders to implement rules so that people could live together peacefully. To ensure that these rules had some sort of authority, it would have been easy to insist that they were the commands of some sort of god.

Many of those rules do not make sense today. They seem absolutely crazy. Some of them are downright evil. What military general today would instruct his soldiers to rape the women and put to death the children or give similar instructions? Yet, in those days, it might well have been to ensure the survival of the victors. That way, there were no more enemies that could creep back to them during the night with a counter-attack.

These rules were held to be good at that time. What made them good was that they enabled the tribe to survive. Those same rules today, for the most part, do nothing of the sort. They are completely out of touch with modern civilization, and more to the point, we still haven’t identified what is good, what is evil, and why they matter.

Benevolence is a Survival Mechanism.

When we put into context the kind of rules that ancient belief systems considered to be good and what they considered to be evil, it becomes more apparent that good was associated with rules that enabled the well-being and survival of the people. Dark deeds did the opposite.

Would it not then be wise for us to begin the process of establishing what might be considered good deeds and what might be considered bad deeds in our own civilization?

Throughout our history, there have been attempts by religions leaders to clarify what is good and what is evil. We haven’t done that for a very long time. We are still dependent on religious texts, and it’s past time we looked at the purpose of benevolence and how to determine which behaviour and which acts are benevolent and which are not.

Secular Christianity

This book is written for secular Christians – those born into a Christian culture, but who do not necessarily believe in a god, or who have never had any interest in pursuing things of a godly nature. So, for the most part, the exact verses are not always referenced. It would detract from easy reading.

The exceptions to this are three parables which are the foundation of the good that Christianity teaches.

There is a brief history of the many different versions of the bible during the past two thousand years as well as references to the few times that Jesus is mentioned in secular sources close to the time of his existence. However, this is not a book to convince anyone that Jesus existed. Nor is it a book to prove this he didn’t exist.

The book would work just as well for people who are spiritual, atheists, or from any other religion.

The list of chapters also allows for easy perusal of what is covered, and readers and pick and chose what they want to read.

The purpose of this book is to allow the reader to look at the good that the Christian culture introduced to the world and to investigate how that good can be used today to fix the many issues and problems that are now part of our world. Most people would agree that these issues are increasingly leading us towards mega-destruction. These issues include pandemics, climate disasters, extreme inequality, wars, civil discord, and other man-made catastrophes.

The book also touches on the differences between personal good and collective good, and it asks if individual good is sufficient to turn our earth from destruction, or if there is such a thing as collective good.

Two: Benevolence

Somewhere in 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa, I ran into a businessman who manufactured leather ties for a living. He was most keen to tell me about his business guru (whose name I have forgotten). According to this guru, if business owners wanted to stay in business, they had to switch their product range to something the public would buy. The public, you see, wasn’t going to buy anything that contributed towards climate change.

Aha! I thought.

Then the business man told me that he was switching to pineapple leather. So I google pineapple leather only to find that it was made of pineapple fiber combined with plastics made from oil. The purpose of pineapple leather was not to switch to a sustainable product or cater to a way of life that would prevent further climate change. Nope. It was to make a profit out of pineapple wastage. To quote from Wikipedia, "Piñatex is a natural leather alternative made from cellulose fibers extracted from pineapple leaves, PLA (polylactic acid), and petroleum-based resin. Piñatex is not biodegradable."

So how benevolent was this business owner that I met? His goal was certainly not to ensure that there would be no further damage to the planet in his production of ties. His goal, as stated, was to ensure the survival of his business and profits, regardless of what else happened.

I pondered then on individual good as opposed to government policies. We all interpret being good as actions in which we feed the hungry, try to help the homeless, or have a sympathetic ear for someone in trouble. We even interpret being good as giving someone money and assistance when they need it, but what happens if benevolence is a lot more than that? Can we consider the collective actions of people to be good or evil? Do collective actions matter at all? Should governments be motivated towards benevolence rather than profit?

There are so many questions.

Every single religion that has ever existed has, in one way or another, tried to promote good – whatever they believed good to be. Good might simply have meant ensuring law and order.

Acts of goodness have never been more vital to the survival and well-being of humanity than it is today. Take, for instance, the pineapple leather business owner. He would have done better if he had simply closed the doors of his particular business and tried something else. However, there was sacrifice involved in that, and that is very definitely the price of benevolence in our world.

Without sacrificing our consumer society, dealing with our multitude of biases and prejudices, being unwilling to share our wealth, and putting away our hatred and intolerance for those who live differently to the way we do, we cannot fix this world. Only benevolence of many billions of people working together can allow us to struggle through pandemics, climate disasters, famines, floods, violence, and more.

The doing of good generally has a positive effect on those who receive the good. When that good is multiplied over and over again, eventually it touches all in society, and that society then benefits all who live in it. Goodness isn’t just a requisite that the invisible Gods demand: it is a