Schwartz’s 10 Basic Values

Thoughts on Schwartz’s 10 basic values

There is an inherent conflict between the values represented in the study. My question about this study, in relation to my theory about God, is: Does God embody all the values of a society? Or only the ones a society could identify as “good” values? We know the Christian God identifies as good. We could even say Good with a capital G. The concept of goodness itself revolves around this God. So what values do we see in that God that represent goodness?

Naturally, I would assume they do not include the “selfish” values (hedonism, achievement, power). Instead, we would expect only the “universal” values, or those representing the collective and not individuals (universalism, benevolence, traditionalism), to be reflected in a culture’s God. In this case, referring to the Christian God. Although, as I mentioned when talking about the North and South both using the same religious texts to argue for and against slavery, we cannot automatically assume we understand the God a people believe in just because of the religious texts or the historical context of that religion. Regardless of religion, a God’s values are tied to a specific time and place. Those in the South used their God to justify the enslavement of man, while those in the North used their God to justify the freedom of man. Were those the same God? Technically, yes, but not in terms of what that God valued.

When it comes to God, we must understand God in terms of His characteristics. As the Christian God is defined, he is the summation of his characteristics. Those characteristics are a value structure for God. So we must research a specific people at a specific time. Look closely at the values they hold on a scale such as Schwartz’s SVS. Then gain a deep understanding of the religious beliefs of that people. In particular, what characteristics do they assign to their God? Then compare the characteristics of their God with the values they live out, according to an accepted values survey. If the values align only with the universal values, then we can assume God selects for universality.

We can use that to begin to put together a working definition of goodness. The concept of goodness is critical to Genesis in describing who God is. To understand the concept of goodness, we need to understand God’s characteristics. To understand the characteristics of God, we need to know exactly what a people believe those characteristics are.