What makes Christian ethics Christian? There was a very extensive discussion here on my bog in October on the ethics of war and abortion. Dispite the differences, all participants were practicing Christians. How do you account for that? Besides that, how do you account for the unChristian behaviour of non-Christians? Is it unethical … or just reflective of different ethics? Is it reasonable to expect non-Christians to conform with Christian ethics? Interested in your thoughts.
Curious Christian
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Christian Ethics
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10 responses to “Christian Ethics”
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I’m in two minds about it.
On the one hand, I don’t condemn non-Christians for every breach of Christian ethical standards.
On the other, I’m glad that the majority of them have inhibitions against murdering me to steal my stuff.LikeLike
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If “right conduct and good life” are the philisophical ends of “understanding the difference between right and wrong”, then I would think that “Christian” ethics would be those “right” actions that lead to good “kingdom life” — and these are identified at their most basic as loving God and loving others.
I have defined it further as Christian hesed, or covenant-keeping, where the attitudes of love/agape and grace/charis and mercy/eleos (for God and others) result in actions that submit to the needs of the “others”, that serve others before self, and that initiate that which is in the best interest of the others, rather than self.
The challenge, of course, comes in in the interpretation of what each of those means and what they look like, doesn’t it! And I believe this is where we run into challenges concerning just what “Christian” ethics looks like.
I mean, just look at the variation of Christian expressions or denominations! Part of the current call for moving away from these internal (and sometimes very surface) devisions is so that there can be some greater sense of unity in the Body of Christ in these foundational areas.
But there must be much more conversation that is truly open and learning to listen and full of respect — well, hesed — for each other!
Thanks fow what you do to facilitate that end, Matt!LikeLike
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…and underlying all this is an assumption that all world views value and acknowledge that there is an inherent understanding of basic right and wrong — conscience — that is hard-wired into humans. As well as the understanding that culture can seriously impact conscience to the extent that self (individualism/independence) eclipses obligations to society (interdependence), or is even warped by unhealthy simbiosis (dependence) that stunts maturity.
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A great book on Christian ethics and in general is C.S. Lewis’ “The Abolition of Man”
It’s a masterpiece
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“Besides that, how do you account for the unChristian behaviour of non-Christians?”
I think that moral relativism has a lot to do with it. There is an initiative in Washington D.C. by atheist similar like the one in London, putting up a Slogan “Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’ sake”
What is the basis of goodness would be my first question. Goodness defined by moral relativism can be anything and nothing. You decide what’s good.
Peggy wrote:
If “right conduct and good life” are the philisophical ends of “understanding the difference between right and wrong”, then I would think that “Christian” ethics would be those “right” actions that lead to good “kingdom life” — and these are identified at their most basic as loving God and loving others.
Peggy I think you forgot a very important point, learn to “LOVE AND ACCEPT YOURSELF”. For me that lays the basis for loving anyone else, be it my other or God.
If you don’t care about yourself why should you care about anyone else.LikeLike
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,450445,00.html D.C. story
“Evolutionary biologists believe that morality is a natural phenomenon that evolved by natural selection acting at the individual level, and through group selection. Consequently they view morality as being relative, constituting any set of social behaviors that promoted the survival and successful reproduction of humans.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_relativism
I on the contrary believe in a universal moral law and that every human has some hunch, glimpse, knowledge about what is right and what is wrong. C.S. Lewis (“proves”) lays that out very nicely in the aforementioned book across any major culture throughout history. There are values and virtues that can be found in all major cultures.
Is it reasonable to expect non-Christians to conform with Christian ethics?
I think you have to define Christian ethics here since it is a very broad term, and I guess you cannot expect non-Christians to conform with “Loving God” or other religious attributed ethics, but you can expect them not to, murder, steal, lie, respect others, be honorable, etc.
All that said from a moral objectivist perspective, on which we base our basic human rights, which can be derived only from the divine.LikeLike
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This is like a never-ending story… I don’t know if all the angles can ever be covered…
So am just adding a few of points for consideration: 1. Jesus said the law hangs of these two commandments: Love God (with our entirety) and Love our neighbour (as we love ourselves). Sometimes the loving thing to do can be to allow somebody to experience the consequences of their actions (and yet vengeance is the Lord’s territory, as Paul of the Epistles reminds us, so we are not to dish out consequences according to our own standards) 2. Mercy is something shown after judgement. According to Micah, we should do justice and love mercy and walk humbly before God. Jesus incarnated a perfect example of this, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can follow in His Way. 3. Paul of the Epistles also points out that all people have a sense of right and wrong but that over time life-practise has moved away from God’s original design and intentions. Christian ethics, therefore assumes life-practise constantly being renewed by following Christ’s example in the sense of daily transformation through relationship with Him (working out our salvation/wholeness) and each person is on their journey in their experience of Love and Grace and their ability to pass it on, again with the enabling of the Holy Spirit. 4. The balance of healthy individualism within healthy community is a lifetime quest, which methinks is way out of sync in the West. I went to a Forge Missions intensive last weekend and one of the main messages was NOT to pursue “balance” but to ACTIVELY pursue the KINGDOM and the rest would come into alignment… I agree and it appears that some of the previous posts in this thread advocate similarly. I’m all for more dialogue by disparate factions, but there’s a lot to be said for walking the talk, not just talking the walk! 🙂LikeLike
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Okay, I’ll lay some of my cards on the table. I am not in favour of assuming anything. Echoing mono, I too must ask, “What is the basis of goodness?” My own experience is that my conscience is not hard wired, that my sense of right and wrong is quite capable of shifting quite drastically, that it all depends on what I am grounding my ethics in. Shift the foundation – rock my world. Conversion for me included a conversion of conscience, and that shapes my understanding of conscience.
So, I see areas of overlap between different moral systems, but I see no universally accepted standards of morality. I find comparisons between religions yield superficial similarities, but also deep differences. I perfectly understand why some turn to relativism.
So then, what does this mean, do I reject universal morality? Well, no. To say I see no universally accepted standards of morality is not to say I see no universal standard of morality. It is just to say I see a gap between perception and reality.
This is where Christ comes in. Christ reveals Christian ethics. Christ does not bless an ethic that is discernable apart from him. Christian ethics are only discernable through him. Christian ethics is relative to Christ. Christian ethics is only universal because Christ is universal; it is not universal apart from him.
I agree that loving God and loving others is a foundational ethical teaching of Christ, but I have to add, the deeper meaning of this is elusive to those who do not comprehend the identity of Christ.
It is in this manner that I can accept that the actions of a terrorist are ethical in his own mind … for he does not have the mind of Christ.LikeLike
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Very well expressed, Matt!
Over my lifetime, I have noticed that people do actually choose what they are prepared to live for and prepared to die for (sometimes in a figurative sense and sometimes in a literal sense)and often that involves being prepared to make a decision regarding who lives,who dies, and the quality of that figurative/literal living and dying.
Whatever/whomsoever one’s God is, surely influences such decisions. To whatever, whomsoever one gives one’s respect, resolve, time, money, allegience, actions, (entirity, in fact) creates a context in which decisions are made, apart from the influence of circumstances.
If Christ-life is that context, then Christ-life will be revealed. If not, then whatever/whomsoever else becomes manifest eventually if not immediately.
For people in the obviously preferable situation of being comfortable enough to have the time and energy to put into more than mere physical survival and who have the mental clarity to do so, it becomes a matter of what kind of world are they prepared to live or die for and pass on to the next generation.
In my opinion, terrorist/revenge kind of ethics, no matter how seemingly justified, will perpetuate the kind of retaliatory world we are living in now, and quite likely escalate the violent and destructive cycle.
Similar can be said for junkie/addictive behaviour (whether that be substance abuse, or acquisitiveness for material possessions/position/power/whatever… perpetuation of the cycle is inevitable because of the nature of the issue. Many people are unaware of the ubiquity of addictive behaviour masked in the ‘niceties’ of the cultures of the world’s economically prosperous nations.
It doesn’t matter how desperate, justified, or weak one is, there is ALWAYS a choice to be made for which there are due consequences. That goes for everybody whether Christian or not.
I know that I would prefer to follow Christ’s example rather than anybody else I KNOW, because with Christ, there is the assurance of mercy and restoration when due to my human limitations I might make a choice that leads to destruction of some description.
My hope is that over time, through a gracious process, my mind will be renewed and transformed continually to become more Christ-like in my choices, and very importantly that all people can have an opportunity of choice about coming to know and experience the exquisite mind of Christ in their lives!LikeLike
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Thanks Matt, I like the topic.
I agree with you that Christian ethics ought to be Christian. Particularly,
‘Christian ethics is only universal because Christ is universal; it is not universal apart from him.’
One issue with Christian ethics is that most of it is just christians looking for principles from the Bible and then applying them universally. This accounts to some extent for the diversity we see in Christian ethics and also the tendency to ignore a whole host of blind spots.
Christian ethics cannot be treated as a separate field to the whole of Christianity. Ultimately Christian ethics come out of the gospel. Rom 12:1-3 is a good summary; transformed living comes in view of God’s mercy.
The reason that we can say that Christian ethics are for everyone is that Christ died for all (1 Pet 3:18). We can reject our culture’s assertion that the individual will is supreme and acknowledge that God is the one who has set the agenda for this world.
We can say things like everyone ought to live like Christ because of this.
In Christ’s resurrection we see an affirmation of the created order and it is in Christ we see hope for this world.
It is in becoming more and more Christ-like that we live in hope.
Those who do not yet have this hope may sometimes see that Christian ways of doing things are good but if they don’t know Christ yet this may only be a sign that points them to something deeper.
Christians in general would do well to do the hard work of learning the Bible and reflecting on how to live like Christ. In western society it is so often our hopes that divert us from living like Christ. It is when we see the hope that we have in Christ that we can discern how to live in him.LikeLike
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