The Societal Impact of God

Today is far more of a deep dive into a question instead of exploring theological concepts like we’ve been doing for the past few weeks. My question is why does society need a god? I am using the lowercase letter g because I am not talking about God in the sense that I usually do but rather using this word to express an idea. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves I want to make one thing quite clear. 

I am not asking “does god exist” because that answer is an obvious yes when you consider the complexity of nature and all of the interconnected systems. Evolution is merely a theory and Darwin himself was accepting of the fact that his theory can break down. His theory in simple terms was; if the birds of the Galapagos Islands can adapt and evolve from one kind into several subcategories could it have happened for all creatures? Since then many people have expanded the theory to try and explain why there doesn’t need to be a god but they have only managed to put off the initial question of “what banged the bang?” But let us not get too far from our main point, and that point is the impact god has on society. Now then the question to ask is what type of god am I talking about and will be talking about in this deep dive? 

We are talking about a god who is all knowing, all powerful, and who has an active interest in this world along with the people who live here. These characteristics may seem like “no brainers” to those of you who grew up in church but there is also a deeper element to them. Our qualifiers interconnect as the first two characteristics become useless without the final one when you consider the following. You want this god to be all knowing so that he doesn’t get tricked into helping the wrong people. You want him all powerful for the purpose of being able to truly help in a way that no one else could. But if he has no active interest in the world and its people then it doesn’t matter how much he may know or be able to do. An apathetic god may as well not even exist for how effective they will be. Our three chosen characteristics are more important than you may first think because it causes a ripple effect beyond just how much they impact your ability to “get out of jail free” as they say. It impacts individuals who then go on to form groups and once a group is large enough in influence it causes changes within a society.

A god who knows all things most definitely knows what is right and what is wrong. That means he knows if a person does good or if they do evil since he knows all things that a person has done. Leading us to the conclusion that nothing can be hidden no matter how hard you try to conceal a subject, an instance, or event of suspicion. For a god that knows all things must be one who is unable to be fooled into not seeing something. But most importantly he is also able to properly identify an action being good or bad. This is what allows him to correctly judge people in both their deeds and motives.

Because this god is almighty he can subsequently deal accordingly to what a person has done. Disciplining people and making them have a terror of consequences on either this earth or whatever life comes next. We are not even talking about concepts of heaven or hell and yet if god is almighty then it should not be a big stretch in the imagination that he can in some way keep us from escaping him. And from that previous logic comes a new conclusion. That this god has power greater than that of death itself. 

Just stop and think for a moment about how this impacts people. A god who cannot be escaped through death! I think that would be quite terrifying to die here and then come face to face with unbridled power. Consider how such a paradigm can impact society and how it impacts many societies that believe in that type of god. When someone is of an understanding that we are all beholden to someone far higher than man or any man made institution they are usually more cautious in the way they live. Again, please stop and think about that for a minute. That and the next piece that I have to say here as we continue onwards through this exercise in logical reasoning.

It’s only in the 20th century that the belief of there being no god and that science proves to us why there is no god has become popular. And in that century we’ve seen the most deaths occur than ever before. When you look to find the source you will find that a large part of it came as a result of communist countries. Places which existed on the principle that there is no god at all. These deaths came either because they were killing off their own people who disagreed with their national narrative or the deaths of those who were actively fighting against them. Getting rid of god causes man to be without any real fears aside from death and sometimes not even that is enough to deter them. So those in power do as they wilt and by their personality hold sway over people making them hesitate to stand against the leaders.

Do not misunderstand me here for I am not speaking against commanding people. Throughout history many people have had that heir of leadership surround them and by it do a lot of good. I am talking about those who have rejected the cultural morality that was founded on the belief in such a god that we are talking about. We all know of somebody who doesn’t believe in god but believes very similar things about what is right and wrong as those who do claim that there is a god that will judge a person for their thoughts and actions.

Many Western societies were founded on the idea that such a god exists. But now we  are seeing the results of a movement that began in the 20th century with the rise of communism to remove that idea from existence. 

One of the things that I point to as evidence of this is the way people have lost a sense of decency for each other. Part of the belief in god included the belief that each person was a masterpiece made by god and thus worthy of a certain level of respect. The most basic level that has been lost is the ability to disagree peaceably with others in life. I point to this one because it is the easiest to see in our world. We don’t need to look very hard in order to find something that boils down to not being able to disagree with someone without demonizing them. Or being able to accept criticism of ideas without taking them as a personal attack on the one who said them.

I find now that only two groups of people exist: those who claim to believe in god and those who don’t. Of those that claim to believe in a god they can fall into one of two categories. They claim to believe in god but they do not act like it’s one which is defined by our three criteria from the beginning or they are a person who believes in a god who is very clearly defined by our initial descriptors. People who fall into the second category allow that mindset of who god is to impact their actions and even thoughts because if nothing is hidden from this god that includes even thoughts. Thoughts which are often considered to be the most private thing a person can have are not even hidden from this type of god. And so such a person is careful to examine not just their actions but also how they decided on those actions. These people look to understand both motive and action.

If society is to function there must be something that keeps people in order. Something that is beyond any mere man. Many of the thinkers from the enlightenment era and those who considered the events of history came to an idea that the best form would be a society agreeing to a set of terms. Whereby they give up certain behaviors in exchange for other benefits. 

This is great if no one takes advantage of the finer points of the system. Why else do you think many people have systems that include checks and balances to power? But what if the people who are in power have come to an agreement that they will simply not adhere to them? What about that?

Checks and balances only work if they are enforced. And they are only enforced if people think that what is being done is bad. How then do people decide what is bad? There has to be something above them that defines good and bad. Many times that’s going to be the laws that are in place with clear definitions. So then what keeps people from simply changing things? If a society is based on laws then you can simply change the law to define things you don’t like as wrong. Look at history and you will find many societies where rulers simply changed laws. A prominent example is 1930s Germany and in more recent history Communist China said they were getting rid of the “Four Olds” as they came to power. My answer to the question of what keeps a society from simply changing the definitions of right and wrong and how they make laws is three letters, g-o-d or god.

God in the context of our defining characteristics; of knowing all things or being omniscient, of having all power or being omnipotent, and who has an active interest in our world. This god is one who will respond to what happens in this world because they know what good and evil are. This god understands what happens to people when evil is allowed free reign and so he moves to action for the purpose of stopping those who do evil. Sometimes it is done through turning a person away from their evil that they may do good for the purpose of damage control to what they used to be doing and teaching others about the true nature of what they used to do. This is redeeming the evil doer. But sometimes there are those who have no intention to turn from evil no matter what they go through and they are allowed to grow in power just so that god can showcase how weak they are when compared to him. And for those who feel that death is too good for certain individuals, having the knowledge that those individuals now face god allows them to feel satisfied that they receive what they deserve.

Everyone who reads the things I write knows that I am a christian and yet I haven’t broached a single theological concept so far. The exceptions would be stating that god exists and maybe some vague notions that good and evil exist as concrete things with clear definitions. While the three things I used to define god in this context do come from the bible I merely “asked how do they impact people” I didn’t declare them as definitives. All of this is important for you to realize because it shows how important god is for the sake of keeping man as a species and collection of individuals in place. God as an entity which cares about right and wrong levels the playing field establishing universal rules that all are beholden to. We might be able to get away with wrongdoing in this world but not after it for this god has the power to punish us even after we die. It creates a moral cloth which holds society together and like cutting away the seams on a garment it will come apart. The aspect of this that both fascinates and terrorizes me is what will be sewn together from the scraps that we become left with. Will someone come along and restore what was damaged or make something different? Those are the only two options. Either what was damaged is repaired through people coming to an understanding of why it’s important or it is replaced with a new set of ideas.

Isaiah 1:18 Ministries was founded for the purpose of understanding biblical truth and using it as a lens to view society’s changes through. I show people the process of how to analyze and work through things in addition to sharing what I’ve been learning for the purpose of empowering people to grow. And not just grow but to study the bible on their own being able to understand it without someone else needing to teach it to them. I want people to be able to reason, which is a synonym of think and ponder.

I have just written roughly two thousand words describing the impact a knowledge and acceptance of the Biblical God has on society. Just that one small set of truths about God and thinking about how they impact the world caused roughly 2000 words to be put to text. Consider what would happen if everyone took time to ponder each truth of scripture to such a deep level and asked how it applied to themselves. If each Christian made an effort to work out their faith in fear and trembling before God….

Thank you for reading, listening, and sharing the link to today’s thoughts with others.

May God bless you, amen.