No Secular Atheists in the Bible

When Paulus spoke, he did not address those who doubted the possibility of divinity; he addressed those who already believed in various gods, so very few if any doubted higher power but rather the mechanisms which Paulus taught of God’s. They doubted God’s GOODNESS and Greatness without really realising it at all. What a person believes about greatness follows into what they believe about the divine; materialists have no choice but to believe in a materialist god who answers prayers materially and thinks like they do. This is a critical distinction, a distinction that separates the spiritual journey from mere mortal intellectual inquiry. You see, the deeper faith in Christ is not about proving the existence of God, which is actually quite plain and obvious, but about trusting in His Goodness. Submission to the Goodness of God was something very novel and meant enacting goodness within, which was most aligned to Christ’s example. Empowerment outside of this is of the material and always false.

Consider this with clarity: the question “Does God exist?” is not the same as “Is God good?” and also not half as important, simple to miss, or critical. The first is an act of reasoning, while the second is an act of surrender, and while many have tried to tie this surrender to something subjective, the faith in His goodness is not a one time, one and done, but rather a constant internal practice in ceaseless prayer as seeking the greatest good. Paulus did not argue for the existence of a deity in the abstract since he spoke to those with the right heart condition, who had already encountered the Goodness that transcends all things but does not demand proof but calls for trust, which can only be strengthened with the internal experience, but can only lead to more resolve in goodness. This is where the virtue of Magnanimity becomes essential: it is the recognition that faith is not about overcoming doubt, but about embracing the mystery of divine love in the face of human imperfection: fitting our imperfect goodness to God’s perfect and ultimate Greatness.

So faith is not a product of logic but of the soul’s willingness to surrender to what is often difficult to see through all the badness in our mortal existence. To believe in God’s Goodness is to accept that even in the darkest moments, there is Light greater than ourselves, a light that does not force itself upon us but invites us to see with new eyes, and refresh ourselves in divine glory. Paulus did not argue for faith as a solution to doubt; he invited those already on some path to correct and deepen their journey with the divine through prayer, humility, and a mind focused upon the Good. What does it mean to love God above all things? It means the one who thinks they love anything else above God and God’s Goodness loves it less than they could through a deeper appreciation and faith for God’s Greatness and, ultimately, the good that can be done in this life for all those other things we love. We don’t just love better through faith, we have the opportunity to love purely in this, and for our love to be more valuable therefore.

The only way to truly understand God’s Goodness is to first surrender our need for control. You have very little control, and what little you have is to be used towards goodness and God’s greater plans, not your own imperfectly conceived wants and desires outside of God and goodness. Without this, we risk reducing faith to mere intellectual exercises in existence, devoid of meaning or purpose. Faith teaches us to value this one trust in this Goodness of God and His plan over any other faith or certainty. Our faith is not about proving God’s existence, which is manifest and apparent, but trusting in His Goodness, and through this we can begin to understand the deeper meaning in our existence, our God-gifted life. He has the greatest of plans for you, if only you have faith and build that faith in His ultimate benevolence. This isn’t ceasing your own plans, but ceasing the placement of the imperfect above God and letting go of those plans outside of Christ’s example.