Is it possible to be moral without religion? And if so, then why do we need religion at all?
Of course, it is possible to be a moral person outside of religion. But the goals and objectives of morality and religion are completely different. The fact is that morality regulates relations between people in society, and religion leads a person to God. Although the commandments of the Gospel, for example, may well regulate social relations (as evidenced by the entire history of Christian civilization). But still, the establishment of moral standards is not the main goal in religion, but only a condition under which the union of the human spirit with the Spirit of God becomes possible.
We talk about morality within and without religion in the following materials:
• Batteries are running low, or Do non-believers have morality ? • What is the exclusivity of Orthodoxy? Vladimir Legoyda on the mixing of religions, contractual morality and what sin is • Is there a single moral law and how is it connected with God?
Science has definitely proven that there is no God. Why are there still so many believers in the modern world?
Science has never set itself such a task, since it is engaged in the study of facts and phenomena observed in this world. Everything transcendental (i.e., going beyond its limits) is not an object of scientific research. Therefore, the basic religious truth - the existence of God - in principle cannot be the subject of scientific refutation.
Continuing the topic, read Sergei Khudiev’s material “Hasn’t science proven that there is no God?” from our project “Dialogue with Atheists: Orthodox Arguments.”
Why do believers have fear of God if, as they claim, God is Love?
The concept of fear of God is directly related to the concept of Love. The fear of God is the fear of offending God, of doing something against the love of God and neighbor. In the Christian tradition, it is generally accepted that the fear of God manifests itself in different ways in three conditional groups of believers who are at different levels of spiritual life. The first group is people with a “slave” consciousness. This is the lowest level of religious worldview, when the only motive for living according to the commandments for a person is the fear of punishment in the afterlife. The next level is the consciousness of a “mercenary”; a person does not break the commandments for fear of losing the reward for a virtuous life. And finally, the level to which we are all called is “filial” consciousness. Christians, who see God as a loving Father, are afraid to respond to this Love with cold indifference. All these three states of the soul are fear of God. But the first two are only intermediate steps, after passing which a Christian must finally realize that he is a son of God. And the son is afraid of only one thing - to fall away from the Father and from His Love through sins.
Read about love and fear here:
• Love and rage: can the All-Merciful God be angry? • Fear of God and love of God - what is it and why? • How is it that Heavenly Father terrifies some of us? God's children are on the verge of a nervous breakdown
Is it true that an abundance of knowledge interferes with pure faith?
Gnoseomachy (denial of human cognitive efforts) in the Church is considered a false teaching, a heresy: “They reject the necessity for Christianity of all knowledge. They say that those who seek any knowledge in the Divine Scriptures do it in vain, for God does not require anything else from a Christian except good deeds. So, it is better to live rather more simply and not be curious about any dogma related to knowledge,” this is how St. John of Damascus conveys the teaching of the heresy of the Gnoseomachus.
Priest Roman Posypkin talks in more detail about gnoseomachy, as well as about the difference between simplicity and ignorance:
• What is Gnoseomachy?
Why is there no single position in the Church on each of the socially important issues?
Important issues in society arise constantly, replace each other, lose their importance or acquire new meanings in accordance with the life and needs of this society. But most of them relate entirely to this earthly life. Christ clearly said - My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). And the task of the Church is to prepare a person to enter this Kingdom. Therefore, the Church voices its position only on those socially important issues of our time that can affect the fate of man in Eternity.
Read our materials from the “ Church and Society ” section:
• Does the Church participate in public life? • Is the church behind the times? — Vladimir Legoida responds to Tina Kandelaki and Ekaterina Vinokurova • The church and each specific parish should be open to people of various political views, - Archpriest Maxim Kozlov
If a person lives righteously, but is an unbeliever, is he by definition worse than any believer for God?
God is Love, therefore He loves all people absolutely equally, without giving preference to believers. But only those who believe in God are able to accept this divine love and respond to it. For non-believers, all the actions of God’s love seem to be just a coincidence of circumstances and a blind play of chance.
Similar questions regularly come to our “Question to a Priest” :
• Will non-Christians be saved? • Will only the Orthodox be saved? • Will the natives be saved?
If man is the image of God, does this mean that he can treat animals with disdain?
This means exactly the opposite. Man was created by God as the ruler of the created world, therefore he bears full responsibility for it. Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets directly said that for animals, man is God. Just as people ask for help from God, so animals ask for help from humans. Therefore, if we want to become like God, we should treat with love and compassion not only people, but also our smaller brothers. Neglect hardens the soul. Having started with it, a person, unbeknownst to himself, can reach the point of anger towards animals, and this is a real sin. The holy righteous John of Kronstadt wrote: “...Do not breathe malice, vengeance, murder even on animals, so that your own soul is not put to death by a spiritual enemy who breathes malice in you even against dumb creatures, and so that you do not get used to breathing malice and vengeance on people. . Remember that animals are also called to life by the goodness of the Lord so that they can taste as much as they can, in a short period of life, of the joys of existence. The Lord is good to everyone. Do not hit them if they, being unreasonable, do anything wrong or if any of your property suffers from them. Blessed is he who also has mercy on cattle.”
Continuing the topic, read:
• One priest said that a dog is an unclean animal and cannot be allowed into the temple, but a cat is allowed. Why is that? The priest answers a teenager's question • Does a dog have a soul? • Will animals go to the Kingdom of Heaven?
Is it true that psychology and Christianity are incompatible?
Psychology is one of the youngest sciences and is still in its formation stage. Therefore, it is very difficult to talk about it as some kind of single, integral phenomenon, compatible or incompatible with Christianity. It’s just that psychology studies the life of the human soul using scientific methods—that’s why it’s a science. And Christianity speaks about the soul on the basis of Divine revelation given to us in the Holy Scriptures and in the experience of holy people who made fulfilling the commandments of the Gospel the meaning of their lives. But this does not mean at all that psychology and Christianity must necessarily contradict each other. Thus, one of the classics of psychological science, William James, after reading the works of St. Isaac the Syrian, exclaimed: “So this is the greatest psychologist!”
Articles by Orthodox psychologists on Thomas:
• Confession or seeing a psychologist: which is more effective? Answer to an incorrectly posed question • I can stand you. How we use anger to hide from pain and why it doesn’t help • 7 ways to avoid becoming a stranger to a child: advice from psychologists about children and time
