Core Concepts
1. Teaching: “We are unable to love God fully for who He is; we all have attachment to sin. We partly, in all we do, want something from Him.”
This is a Christian theological teaching, particularly rooted in doctrines like original sin, total depravity, or concupiscence (especially in Augustinian and Reformed traditions).
The idea is that human beings, due to sin, are incapable of purely loving God for His own sake. Our motives are always somewhat mixed or self-referential.
Even acts of worship or obedience may be tainted by self-interest, fear, pride, or desire for reward (e.g., heaven) or fear of punishment (e.g., hell).
2. Psychological Egoism:
This is a philosophical and psychological theory that claims all human actions are at least partly motivated by self-interest, even when they appear fully altruistic.
Example: A person who donates to charity may seem selfless. Part of it could be because makes them feel good or improves their standing before God, etc.
How does the theological idea of our inability to purely love God relate to psychological egoism — particularly in a religious context?
Proposed answers.
1. Theological Sinfulness as a Kind of Psychological Egoism
We can't love God purely - due to sin eg .
We can't know him fully and how great he is - so that limits our affection and service. We don't fully want to know. We don't feel we need to know. That is a form of sin itself.
If sin inclines us to seek our own comfort, safety, or glory over God's, then we are naturally disposed to serve God - to a degree at least - for what we get out of it, not out of pure love.
So, Christian teaching about fallen human nature aligns (at least partially) with psychological egoism.
Example: A believer might pray not out of mere adoration for God, but also because they want peace of mind, blessings, or to avoid judgment — motives that are self-referential.
2. Religious Psychological Egoism
Some theologians and philosophers argue that religious behavior often mirrors psychological egoism — that people follow religious practices for rewards (e.g., heaven, divine approval) or to avoid something undesirable (e.g., divine chastisement, purgatory, religious guilt feelings, hell).
This suggests even faith itself might be motivated by self-interest, not selfless love for God.
Tension: Is Pure Love for God Possible?
Christian View:
Many Christian traditions acknowledge this egoistic tendency but teach that by grace, a person can begin to truly love God.
This love is not natural but supernatural — a gift of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies our motives over time.
"We love because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
So, while fallen human nature aligns with psychological egoism, transformed human nature (through sanctification) is capable of agape — selfless love.
Philosophical View:
Some critics (e.g. Nietzsche, Freud) argue that religious devotion is always egoistic, serving psychological or existential needs (e.g., control, comfort).
In this view, even the hope of becoming more loving is ultimately a self-serving project.
The idea that we are projecting our ideas about good and ourselves - and what we need or want - unto God means that even if we engage in utter devotion - we are really worshipping our power to "create" God. Arrogance and idolatry are concealed deep in our subconscious, in our hearts.
MY THOUGHTS:
If we hold that we do really engage in altruistic deeds for each other and for animals, that is understandable. We are vulnerable creatures with needs and feelings. The more we see the other as a being or person of flesh and blood like ourselves - the more we connect.
With God it is different. He is very like a power rather than a person. He is with us sustaining us more than any human person is. He has no needs - utterly self-sufficient. Augustine said in him we live and move and have our being. This implies that once we rebel, we cannot really get away from him. We can only distort to think we are independent. We deface.
It is considered selfish to refuse to commit to the needs of others and the commands of God. If God wants us to serve them, then by refusing to, we are selfish towards them and also him. If we serve others selflessly and not him - we are selfish but towards him.
Thus while psychological egoism might be false - religious psychological egoism can be true.
If we are selfless towards God, but not in the way he wants, are we really selfless? Refusing to be selfless in the way God asks suggests we are prioritizing our own standards over God's — which can be seen as ego-driven, even in religious terms. We are seeking closeness to God because we want a relationship - it is not about what he wants.
Consider how much pain and suffering this will bring us. We might even be martyred. The sacrifices will be demanding. It shows though we never really know if sacrifice or altruism are really as authentic as they look.
It seems the abuse of selflessness will be more likely directed against God than anybody else for he is more demanding and more searching.
If belief in God leads to that temptation and leads to too many falling into it, then is it a good belief? Not when abusing self-sacrifice before God will soon lead to people being manipulated next.
APPENDIX - RELIGIOUS ALTRUISM, EGOISM AND EGOTISM
Altruism, egoism, and egotism each demand some form of risk or sacrifice. Nobody is an island so you will drag others into this - though they are not directly involved. No sacrifice is individual. Altruism asks you to give up comfort, resources, or personal advantage for God. Egoism, though focused on self-interest, still demands courage to assert your needs—especially when they go against the religious group or God's moral norms. Egotism risks social rejection by placing the self above God, often at the cost of connection or humility.
Because all three carry a cost, it’s possible for someone to fear making the real sacrifice any of them require. Instead, they may adopt the outward behavior of one while secretly serving a different motive. For example, a person who lacks the nerve to act selfishly or violently might help God—not out of virtue—but to receive approval or praise, using the appearance of altruism to safely fulfill self-interested or even selfish desires. In such cases, the person avoids the deeper risk of honesty (in egoism) or vulnerability (in altruism) by performing a safer, more socially acceptable version of themselves.