So, very broadly, I’m defining benevolence as acting in an other’s interest. And for someone to be genuinely other, he or she must have some measure of a self-determining will, that is, a certain amount of power is wielded outside of the omnipotent being’s control. (I’m not sure, but I think this is where I officially leave Western orthodoxy behind.)
So far I’ve referred to an omnipotent being but not God. This is because the label ‘God’ for many is taken to mean a being with all sorts of characteristics and qualities many of which I am unwilling to attribute to God and nearly all of which I am not convinced are essential or foundational to God. So far all I am claiming about God is omnipotence and benevolence. An omnipotent but non-benevolent ‘God’ is quite conceivable, but such a ‘God’ is choosing not to use any of this unlimited power in a meaningful way.
According to my conception of meaning the only meaningful thing for the omnipotent being to do is create some other willful being(s). Since this other will is not determined by the omnipotent, there is the possibility that this other will not choose to do what the omnipotent being chooses. So not only does the omnipotent being create ‘uncontrolled’ power, it also creates the potential for conflict. Benevolence implies the potential for both harmony and conflict. If and when conflict does occur, the omnipotent being has a choice: continue to allow other power or discontinue that power. In other words, not only is initial benevolence a choice, as the omnipotent being relates to the other, benevolence very possibly must be (repeatedly) renewed or stopped.
Let’s start with omnipotence and benevolence. These are two characteristics of God that describe different categories. Omnipotence is the answer to the question what is God. Benevolence is the answer to the question who is God. I’m going to try to start with just these two assumptions and see if I can make a case for some striking similarities between the ethic taught by Jesus and what we should expect from this starting place.
But first I want to explore the idea that benevolence actually follows from omnipotence. An omnipotent being existing by itself has nothing interesting to do except share power. Any possible creation without the sharing of power is merely an extension of the omnipotent being. It is simply the omnipotent being essentially remaining in isolation. Omnipotence becomes trivial if the omnipotent being does not allow at least provisional power outside of its control. But if provisional power is taken away arbitrarily, omnipotence remains trivial and uninteresting. Only the allowance of at least potentially opposing power creates a meaningful ‘other,’ and only the creation of a meaningful other is anything more than an extension of the omnipotent being. So the omnipotent being is left with two basic choices: no creation (or a controlled creation) with no meaningful others or a creation of an other or others given the ability to act in opposition to the omnipotent being. This is acting in the interest of another rather than oneself. This is benevolence.
We inoculate the world with a mild form of Christianity so that it will be immune from the real thing. -E. Stanley Jones
Christians have never killed as willingly as when they have been asked to do so for “freedom.” I take it, therefore, that one of the most important challenges facing Christians today is to remember that the democratic state is still a state that would ask us to qualify our loyalty to God in the name of some lesser loyalty. -Stanley Hauerwas
When it comes to the point where the majority decides what constitutes truth, it will not be long before they take to deciding it with their fists. -Søren Kierkegaard
Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. -C. S. Lewis
Just think about the context of these passages. Goverment will always say that it is doing good while it takes on authority – even while destoying the people it conquers.
And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.”
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
