Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
Christianity IS a patent medicine

Christianity IS a patent medicine

Last updated on: April 4, 2015 at 12:21 pm by Greg Forster

Christianity IS a patent medicine 2015-04-04T12:21:38-05:00 Greg Forster

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This post is part of a Patheos-wide symposium on the question “What good is religion?” Read other perspectives here.

Few questions are as treacherous as “does religion benefit society?” The true answer is yes, but it’s one of the most dangerous truths you’ll ever come across. And the more socially beneficial a religion is, the more dangerous it is to know that about it.

C.S. Lewis, asked whether the faith would solve people’s problems and make them happy, replied: “Christianity is not a patent medicine.” He would warn his fellow defenders of the faith: don’t let people avoid the question of whether Christianity is true by getting into arguments about whether it’s good for society. His fictional demon Screwtape said this was the reason devils should encourage believers to view the faith a tool for promoting peace and justice.

The problem with this is that religion in general, and especially Christianity, actually is “a patent medicine.” As compared with the alternatives – either militant atheism or mere spiritual indifference – religion will in fact solve problems and make people happier. And real, root-and-branch Christianity will do this in a radical and unique way.

Through religion, we seek the transcendent, and this is the only ultimate source of meaning in life – any meaning, personal or social. Most other things that claim to be sources of meaning turn out to be disguised religion or indirect products of religion. What remains when these are eliminated are various appeals to our will, and mere human will can’t create meaning. If we could choose for ourselves what things really mean, our choices about meaning could not themselves be meaningful, because meaning would be a product of those choices. Our choices about meaning would be arbitrary and . . . well, meaningless.

All attempts to create meaning collapse of their own weight. We must seek meaning. We must seek the transcendent – something larger than human choice, something metaphysical, within which alone human beings are empowered to think meaningful thoughts and make meaningful choices.

Of course, people who don’t believe in a religion do experience meaning. They borrow it indirectly from religious sources, mediated through various social structures and artifacts. Ideas like justice and human rights are always, historically, the product of religion. Unbelievers can find them and embrace them, but cannot make them. They have no source but the transcendent.

So religion is the ultimate support undergirding all truth claims, even including the claim that religion is false – for the human mind could not have meaningful thoughts if it were only matter. Religion is the ultimate support undergirding all moral norms, for Dostoevsky was right – if there is no God, all things are permitted. Religion is the ultimate support undergirding all real appreciation of beauty, for in a materialistic universe what we call our “aesthetic” reactions are merely the firing of our neurons.

It has long been recognized by sociologists that all social orders ultimately have religion, or “the sacred,” at their center. “Culture” and “cult” come from the same root word. Even in societies with religious freedom, the only thing that holds society together is that part of our religious life that is shared across our various religions – such as our belief that murder and stealing are not just foolish indiscretions but transcendently and unconditionally heinous acts.

Beside religion’s being the only support for truth, goodness and beauty and the basis of social order, it seems like an afterthought to mention the enormous expanse of hospitals, adoption agencies, soup kitchens, etc. run by religious organizations. What is the generation of trillions of dollars’ worth of charitable activities next to making life meaningful? But we have bodies as well as souls, and we may not live by bread alone but we still need it, so these things are also worth mentioning.

So far this is merely the benefit of “religion” as contrasted with irreligion. Christianity produces benefits many times greater than generic “religion,” because it does not merely teach us. It transforms us. The Holy Spirit is supernaturally active through the Christian faith and community, working miracles in the hearts of believers and creating a renewed life among the faithful. Christianity does not merely show us truth but makes us truthful; does not merely show us good but makes us better; does not merely show us beauty but makes our lives more beautiful. This supernatural activity has produced countless social benefits that were uniquely generated in Christian cultures and later spread to others, from the abolition of slavery to the advent of constitutional democracy.

Lewis himself knew all this; he described it in many of his books. That’s precisely why he knew that the faith’s power to serve the public was dangerous. Knowing that religion produces these benefits can lead people use religion as a tool for social good.

The one thing you cannot do with religion is use it as a tool for good; if you do use it as a tool, it will not be for good. Religion can do all these good things for the public only so long as it claims to be true – to be an accurate account of transcendent reality – and puts itself forward in a way that people find credible. Once religion becomes a tool, it can no longer do so.

This, by the way, is one of the two key arguments for religious freedom. The close association of a particular religion with the social order is deadly to real belief, because it separates religion from the claim to be true. As John Locke pointed out, if political authority can enforce a religion, it follows that all people have a duty to adopt whatever religion is enforced by their own national rulers. Under such conditions, religion obviously has nothing to do with truth.

But – and here comes the catch – the other key argument for religious freedom has always been that religion does, in fact, serve the public good. I don’t think there has ever been a major figure who argued for religious freedom without appealing to religion’s social benefits, from Socrates and Justin Martyr to Locke and John Stewart Mill. And in fact we cannot sustain religious freedom if it includes freedom for religions that teach people to be enemies of their own societies.

This is one of the most important reasons religious freedom is starting to buckle in our time. Our churches and our life of faith have become too disconnected from the public good. Christianity is a patent medicine. We must find ways of reminding our neighbors of this dangerous fact.

Greg Forster has participated in previous Patheos symposia on religious trends, capitalism, vocation, MLK Day, and best practices for peace.

Previous Post

March 28, 2015

Moving the pastor out of the center: #5 in a series

Next Post

April 1, 2015 "I Don't Have a Job, I Have a Higher Calling:" Responses to the #WSJ article

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Audio posts Bible and Work Book Review Books Budgeting Calling Common Good Community Development Conferences Discipleship Economics Entrepreneurship Ethics Faith and Family Faith and the Marketplace Faith and the Workplace faith and work History of Work and Vocation Leadership Local Church Meaning New Blogger News Prayer Relationships Seminaries Theology of Work Uncategorized Video posts Vocation Worship Resources

Select a Month April 2026 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 April 2025 January 2025 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 May 2024 March 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 August 2023 July 2023 April 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 May 2022 April 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 April 2018 March 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What tree were Adam and Eve told not to eat from?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Olive Tree Fig Tree Tree of Life Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil