Let’s all be honest with ourselves. Would you really go to church every Sunday, go to confession, not commit adultery, etc. If there were no heaven or hell? No reward or punishment?
Keep everything about Catholicism the same just take out heaven and hell. Even though you know God exists and he has laid down rules for mankind to follow, would you really follow them? We have to admit that religious people, their main motivation is to enter heaven, but most importantly, to avoid hell. I’m not saying its bad that thats how religious people are. I’m just saying that one should recognize that deep down its all about self interest. If God tells me to not drink alcohol, he only tells me not to do it, he doesnt mention any punishments that will occur if i do drink. Would i really abstain from alcohol?We only do things that benefir us. Even if it is helping poor children. We either do it because of religious purposes or because it makes us feel good. If thats how God created us that so be it. But doesnt it sound a little disturbing that thats how we are.
You seem to think that because someone might have some personal interest in doing good then thier acts are automatically imperfect. I disagree; you can’t seperate the subjective and personal from what is objectively good. Why would it be good for one person to die for another if he had no personal interest (either the personal desire to be a good man or some eternal reward or whatever)? You would still end up with a dead man, just a different one. That isn’t good, it is simply self destruction.
Your actions are formative of your character; by choosing to act in a particular way you are choosing to be a particular type of person. If I choose to be faithful to a set of values, then I am formed to those values. By telling the truth, and avoiding lies you become an honest man.
Without this, all morality falls apart. Why do good if it isn’t formative of my character? Because its good? What does that even mean? Why should I avoid lying if I don’t care about my personal integrity? Because someone else told me it is bad to lie?
On the contrary, I think any moral code would become positively evil as soon as you remove the personal and subjective aspect. The first thing a person knows is their own existence, and the first thing they learn is that it is good to preserve it. I do what I need to to preserve my life, and that is good, because my life is good. The fact that I exist is a good thing. If I am forced to choose between preserving my life and acting in a way that is contrary to the preservation of my life there better be a good reason why I should choose to act against my self. Whether it is a question of personal character, or some reward, there has to be something to prevent my sacrifices from being self-destructive. Without the resurrection, Jesus’ death on the cross would not only be pointless, it would be positively evil. You destroy one good man for the sake of a world of sinners. There is nothing good in that.
In other words, without hope everything a man does becomes meaningless. If I have no hope, why avoid lying, gossiping, cheating, and etc.? By avoiding them I only hurt myself. If only I cheated on my tests I would have gotten a 4.0 in highschool and college.
From another perspective, the basis of Christian ethics is that what is prescribed to man by God is prescribed because it is good for man. It is not some arbitrary law that we are forced to follow. We do good because by doing good we become good. There is a distinction between living(existing), living in a good way, and living eternally in a good way. Christian morality says that there is a certain way of life that is good, and those who live a good life will live it eternally.
