1.3 - Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance and Sin

Question 1

Selfishness: give Christian views, secular views, and how it leads to suffering.

Answer 1

Christians see selfishness as bad, going against Jesus’ teaching of agape
Parable of the Good Samaritan
“As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13)
Jesus death on the cross - supreme act of selflessness as he died on the cross to repair humanity’s relationship with God and he cleansed our sins
We all are naturally selfish - natural result of evolution as we will do what we have to in order to survive
Generally seen as a bad thing by atheists
Leads to suffering, e.g. bullying, stealing, exploitation of poorer countries (e.g. Nike sweatshops in Bangladesh), not giving to charity

Question 2

Greed: give Christian views, secular views, and how it leads to suffering.

Answer 2

Christians see greed as bad because material wealth isn’t important
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (1 Timothy 6)
“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (1 Corinthians 10)
Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus
Agape - taking care of others is more important than being wealthy (see selfishness)
Motivates people so it is good - driving force behind capitalism
Leads to suffering, e.g. greed for land and power leads to war (e.g. WWII), greed for money (consumerism) leads to child exploitation and environmental problems
Material possessions can be a barrier to a relationship with God “A man cannot serve two masters” (Matthew)
Christians are taught to store up treasure in heaven through good deeds. “A man cannot live on bread alone” Matthew)

Question 3

Ignorance: give Christian views, secular views, and how it leads to suffering.

Answer 3

Christianity gives mixed messages
Good excuse: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23)
Aquinas: we sin, mistaking apparent good for real good, and it’s our duty to educate our conscience to not sin
Bad excuse: “If anyone sins … even though they do not know it, they are guilty” (Leviticus 5)
“you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2) - morality isn’t innate, needs to be taught
Good excuse: morality isn’t innate, needs to be taught (under 10s aren’t punished)
Leads to suffering, e.g. Edlington brothers case (morality not taught), unforeseen consequences (e.g. environmental issues), prejudice / discrimination

Question 4

Sin: give Christian views, and how it leads to suffering.

Answer 4

Christians see sin as going against God’s laws, so people should pray to God to help them to avoid sin
Liberal: everyone sins - “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1), God is forgiving if you are truly sorry - Jesus forgave adulterous woman
Fundamentalist: avoid sin - “If your right eye causes you to sin, gauge it out and throw it away.” (Matthew 5)
Adam & Eve’s Original Sin brought suffering into the world
Leads to suffering, e.g. murder, theft, adultery, etc.

Question 5

Will hatred / violence / injustice / war always exist? Give arguments for and against.

Answer 5

+Humans are naturally selfish
+Natural disasters can’t be prevented
+Population growth = more competition for resources
-Organisation: Christian Aid (do fundraisers and other events to raise money or get resources to help those who are suffering)
-Individual: Desmond Tutu (anti-apartheid)
-Follow Jesus’ agape
-Humans are good as we were created by God
-Society becoming more multicultural - less racism / sexism
-Many measures taking place to reduce violence
-Technology & science to make world a more efficient place so there will be less competition for resources - humans will gain control over natural injustice
-Human concepts, humans not forever (either end of Sun or inevitable heat death of universe)