There is no fixed or inflexible code of Christian morality, no single path to discovering God's will for any particular decision. It is hoped that the reader whose main interest is one or the other of these two approaches will agree with the necessity of the other.
Christian ethics and the ethics of Christendom
It includes the latter as one element, which is illustrated by the wide penetration of social and. But it may be noted in passing that there is little danger of identifying Christian ethics with humanism, racism, fascism, or communism when these are recognized for what they are, since their foundations are so clearly opposed to those of Christianity. faith.
Christian ethics and the churches
Therefore, the churches are always in danger of becoming secularized themselves and conforming to the norms of the world, rather than being instruments of Christian transformation. We therefore owe an inestimable debt to the Church of the past and to our fathers in the faith.
Christian ethics and the Bible
If this is so, the Bible is not all we need as the basis of Christian ethics. This is not to say that literalism does not discern any moral truth in the Bible.
Christian ethics and the New Testament
There is a wide margin of discretion among scholars of the New Testament with regard to the historicity of the Gospels. It is the systematic study of the lifestyle presented by Jesus Christ, applied to the daily demands and decisions.
Christian Ethics by Georgia Harkness Part 1 Foundations of Christian Ethics
The Covenant, the Law, and the Prophets
- The covenant
- The law
- The prophets
- Jesus and the Old Testament
But in their acceptance of the covenant, the people made a bargain with their Deity. But at no point in the writings of the eighth-century prophets is the law of the covenant abrogated or universalized.
The Ethics of Jesus
- What did Jesus teach?
- Eschatology and ethics
- The ethics of compromise
We see it in Jesus himself; we find it on every side of the record; it is the epitome of the Beatitudes. And if it is both, the full consummation of the kingdom in the immediate future or at an indefinite time is known only to God.
Ethical Perspectives of the Early Church
- The law and the gospel
- The Kingdom and the Christian community
- The gospel and social institutions
This is the foundation of the Christian's faith and hope and the source of his duty to love his neighbor. Both perversions stem from a common source that has haunted the history of the Church. For this we need to look for a while at the whole setting of the New Testament kerygma or testimony of faith.
The implicit eschatology of the Kingdom in the New Testament centers on the transformation of the old covenant into the new; in fact, a lot. There is an important difference between Old Testament and New Testament eschatology. In the first place, we who are Christians today, like those of the early Church, must live in two worlds at once.
One of the most beautiful passages in the New Testament is the one where Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon - not freed in the legal sense, but.
God, Sin, and Christian Character
- God and Christian character
- The Christian virtues
- The nature of sin
- Some illustrations
- Victory over sin
The universe is self-existent and self-contained, within which man has evolved to the position of the highest form of animal life. First, these virtues are not simply the product of human cultivation; they are the “fruit of the Spirit.” This procedure takes place all the time, from the most trivial to the greatest matters, and is a major source of the perversion of Christian ethics.
Luther, in the Pauline tradition, but with more realism regarding sin after conversion, speaks of the Christian as being simul justus et peccator (at the same time justified and a sinner). In this view of sin, as in the corresponding picture that Jesus gives us of the good life, the relationship with God and one's fellow man is in. It is significant that the first five are dispositional sins, while only the last two are sins. of the meat.
Love and the performance of acts of love then become both the evidence and the obligation of a life centered on God.
Duties to Self and Society
- Duty to self
- Duties in interpersonal relations
- The larger society
It is a Christian duty to try to find release, and in this process is both repentance and respect for one's own personality. Although these are not limited to the relations of individual persons to each other, their most frequent expression (with the possible exception of avarice) is on this point.11 It is in. Nevertheless, it means that it is not Christian to neglect or harm one's own family in the service of others who have no such direct obligation.
Furthermore, it is not in direct conflict with known Christian principles that the most serious consequences occur. Any decision made by an individual responsibly and in the light of the full knowledge it is possible to obtain is not sinful if it turns out badly, and the same can be said of group decisions. This is the difficulty of combining coercion with love, especially in the conflicting relations of nation with nation and of.
It is not God's will that neither anarchy nor tyranny should reign in the earthly affairs of His sons.
Christian Ethics by Georgia Harkness Part 2. Problems of Social Decision
Marriage and the Family
- The primacy of the family
- Jesus and the family
- Is monogamy essential?
- Foundations of Christian family life
- Divorce
However, sexuality in the human part of God's creation is much more than an instinct for the reproduction of the species; it is a high expression of spiritual devotion, loyalty and love. The primacy of the family finds its main support also in the words and attitudes of Jesus. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church.
It is no accident that in most marriages today the wife does not promise to "obey", but instead there is a mutual one. It is fortunate that the rigid self-righteousness reflected in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is largely a thing of the past. Psychological meaning now seems to be moving in the direction of a reinforcement of the far-reaching moral insight of Christianity.
Selfish disregard of the effect of such a broken home on children is inexcusable.
The Ethics of Economic Life
- The economic ethics of the New Testament
- The Christian view of property
- The Christian view of work
However, Jesus stood in the line of prophets, and there is a danger of overemphasizing the fact that he said nothing about economic systems. However, this does not mean that he thought lightly of the material foundations of life. The purpose at this point is simply to examine the place of work in the general life of the Christian.
It is right to work to express the creative impulse, to contribute as much as we can to the "good of the whole". The whole situation must be judged in the light of the relative importance of attractive occupations or external pressures. This is the expression in economic life of the demand for love of God and neighbor.
There is a need for recognition, not only of possessions, but also of the ability to work as a gift from God to be kept under stewardship.
Christianity and the Race Problem
- Biblical foundations
- The causes of race prejudice
- Effects of race prejudice
In such moments we better understand the meaning of the Gospel and the duty of both the Church and Christians. The second judgment is that there is no law of God against such intermarriages, and there ought to be none of the state. There is no evidence that any of the peoples just mentioned want or will push for world conquest.
The most obvious, by continuing the separation, is to abolish the principle of. This means the welcome presence of Christians of color in church membership, church services, church schools, discussion groups, and social gatherings. As qualified persons can be found or trained, there must be interracial teaching, medical and administrative staff in Church institutions.
Benjamin Mays at the Second Assembly of the World Council of Churches in Evanston, III., August 21, 1954.
The Christian Conscience and the State
- What is a State?
- Our biblical and theological base
- Love and justice
- Love and coercion
- Liberty, equality, and democracy
This double relationship, as we saw in chapter 2, gave a special twist to the importance of the covenant, the Law, and the prophets. It is both an asset and a hindrance as we try to apply the moral insights of the prophets to our time. In the message of the prophets there is a call for personal and social justice that flows from the sovereign rule of a just God.
With this ambiguity about the degree of allegiance owed to the state, embedded in the Bible and in the history of the Church, we cannot expect to completely break away from it. It is the recognition of the supreme and equal worth of all persons before God. It is not true that “the best governed people are the least governed.” The Old Testament reflects a situation in the period of the judges.
Democracy should not be identified with Christianity by any superficial synthesis simply because in the democratic West the majority of citizens profess to be Christians.
War, Peace, and International Order
- Basic Christian foundations
- Points of convergence in Christian opinion
For from Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That mankind has been so slow to do so is partly due to human sin, partly to the immense complexity of the international situation. So this means that the total resources of the earth, our technological capabilities and scientific achievements, our sources of power, including atomic energy, belong to God and must be used in his calling for the growth of man.
Only as such possessions are used for relief and not to create human misery, can we be true stewards of the Creator and Giver of all. And he [God] created every nation of men to dwell upon the whole face of the earth. There are elements of very great importance, not only in terms of the theology of war and peace, but also in terms of analysis of the existing situation and . procedures for acting within it that Christians can agree upon.
Without necessarily reaching unanimity on every point, this consensus has been reached and declared again and again in the statements of the World Council of Churches, the Federal and National Councils, and the various denominational bodies.