It appears that Christians get rewarded for the good things that they do.

It appears that Christians get rewarded for the good things that they do. This reward can be getting into Heaven or simply pleasing God, or it could mean avoiding Purgatory.

An artist's impression of Purgatory.

John McKenzie says in his book 'The Moral Of It All' that these Christians don't have morals and they don't understand how morals work. John McKenzie should know what he is talking about because he has done an awful lot of study and has lots of degrees. He can also win arguments against Catholic Apologists.

McKenzie says that morals develop through what is best for everybody. By definition a moral shouldn't offer a personal reward. 

"A moral serves the greatest number of people that it can by looking at what is best for the greatest number of people." says McKenzie in Chapter Two (page 52).

He explains that Christians are often driven by a personal reward, such a salvation. 

"This totally removes their intention of 'doing it for the team to make the situation better'."  he reasons.

He also says (page 73) that a kind act done for another loses its shine when one strives to please a god.

"Why can't one person help another solely because that person is suffering and needs help? Why does it have to be reported?" (page 75)

In Chapter 7 he talks about stupid beliefs. He talks a lot about Hell and Purgatory.

"These places are often depicted, in paintings, showing people with fire all around them. There are no photos, just paintings. This immediately tells us that the scene was imagined by the artist. That smells of artistic licence." (page 278)

McKenzie tells us that a god who likes to burn people would have trouble explaining himself as a loving god.

"Maybe the artists of the time are responsible for the fire thing, but does this god prefer another way of torturing people? Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt the need to create Hell or Purgatory and, by definition, he wouldn't need a Heaven. He could just call it something like Welcome Land or All In Inn." (page 401)

This book is well worth a read.

Ciao Tutti.