#819 Christianity as Fire Insurance
January 22, 2023Dr. Craig,
I enjoy reading your works; you present a rational case for theism, and it's the best I've heard. Despite being a theist from a Jewish-Christian interfaith family background, I have difficulty believing the case of salvation offered by the Christian faith. I wanted to ask you if Christianity has a "market failure" problem. Let me quickly explain. In economics (I'm an economics major), there is a concept called "moral hazard," in which someone insured against a risk (such as a bank that has deposits protected by deposit insurance) might engage in more risky behavior because they are covered. For example, a bank with deposit insurance might loan to riskier individuals or businesses, but this is not optimal.
Christians argue that they are "saved" by accepting Jesus, and their sins are removed because Jesus died on the cross. However, if Christians are "insured" against eternal damnation by just "accepting" Jesus, could this not lead to a moral hazard problem where immoral behavior increases after an acceptance of Christ because the "insurance" policy of Christ lowers the cost of committing the behaviors? If this is the case, does Christianity have a "market failure" problem where its belief system, rather than leading to a better world, leads to more immoral behavior, unlike a religion such as Judaism that incentivizes moral behavior through a "contract" of commandments that helps solve the moral hazard problem?
Thank you
Gabriel
United States
Dr. craig’s response
A
Although you have framed your question in rather charming economic terms, Gabriel, I think it assumes the old, mistaken notion that Christian belief is intended as a fire insurance policy to save us from hell.
Such a construal is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding. Christian belief is more like a love relationship, in which one willingly desires to do all one can for one’s beloved. This is especially so, since we should be filled with gratitude to God for His saving grace. When you think of what the Lord Jesus suffered and bore for you, your heart will naturally respond with a desire to please him. And, of course, one is conscious that loving God, the locus of absolute goodness, is our moral duty, regardless of the consequences of disobedience.
So a truly regenerate Christian will not pursue a life of immoral behavior, which would disgrace his beloved Lord, but will be zealous to live a life worthy of the Lord. John writes, “He who says ‘I know him’ but disobeys his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps his word, in him truly love for God is perfected. By this we may be sure that we are in him: he who says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (I John 2.4-6). Fortunately, as we walk with the Lord, we are inwardly transformed by His sanctifying grace, so that we become more Christ-like in our character and behavior. So Paul prays for the Colossians that they might “lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1.10).
In any case, from my Arminian-Wesleyan theological perspective, it is perfectly possible for a regenerate Christian to apostatize and so forfeit salvation. Although I don’t think that one can “backslide” out of salvation by minor sins, nonetheless sinning has a hardening effect upon one’s heart and disrupts one’s relationship with God, which can lead in the long run to a falling away from grace. Therefore we are well advised to be zealous in shunning sin and avoiding immoral behavior.
As for your final conjecture about “market failure,” it is empirically demonstrable that Christianity has, despite the sometimes spectacular failures (like the Crusades and Inquisition) of its nominal adherents, been the greatest force for good in the history of mankind, being responsible for the preservation of literacy and learning, the founding of the universities, incalculable contributions to music and the arts, the rise of modern science, the institution of nursing and founding of hospitals, the abolition of slavery, the elevation of the status of women wherever it has gone, relief from poverty and famine, etc., etc.
- William Lane Craig