From Marbaniang, Domenic. Ethics (1998). Published as Philosophical Ethics (2012)2.1.1.3. Christianity and Normative EthicsChristian ethics, as the author believes, is a mean between Teleological and Deontological Ethics. The concept is that of a God who wills a universal law for all humans, at all times, a Will that is in accordance to His own nature and, therefore, a necessary, for all existence contingent on Him. Any being that rebels against this Will rebels against its own well-being or good, that is contingent on the Creator. The good expresses...
Naturalistic Ethics
From Marbaniang, Domenic. Ethics (1998), Published as Philosophical Ethics (2012)3. Applied Ethics in a Naturalistic Autonomous SocietyThis chapter is important before we move into the next chapter where we will be dealing mainly with the importance of God, Scripture, Church, and Evangelical Christianity in relation to ethics.3.1. Naturalistic Autonomous SocietyIt wouldn’t be appropriate to call this society godless; for man at times tends to look to a greater power beyond him in awe or aspiration. But, it is necessary to say that here is no impulsion...
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher and religious thinker, is generally considered one of the founders of existentialism. His philosophy was mainly “an answer to the challenge of theological nihilism – the dead orthodoxy of a dead Church.”1 It was an attack on the rationalist’s desire for proofs as an evasion of the claim of revelation.Kierkegaard has become popular more recently due to the uprise of secular existentialism and Christian...
In the Beginning was the Word (Exposition of John 1:1-5)
AuthorName: John “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, “son of thunder”Father: Zebedee, Matt.4:21Mother: Salome (guess cf. Matt.27:56; Mk.15:40; Jn.19:25, perhaps a sister of Mary, mother of Jesus)[1]Brother: JamesHouse: Jerusalem, Jn.19:27[2]Profession: Fishing business in Capernaum, but after the call, disciple of Christ, apostle of love; had been a disciple of John the Baptist (Jn.1:35,40)Note: Rejection of John as the author of the book and attributing the work to a certain John of Ephesus undermines the book as a testimony to the Deity of Jesus....
True Lovers (Song of Solomon 2:1-6)
THE BOOKThe book often goes under the title “The Song of Solomon”, but is also called “The Song of Songs” or “Canticles”. It is the first of the five Megilloth, the fivescrolls read by the Jews at various feasts: Canticles (Passover), Ruth (Pentecost), Ecclesiastes (Tabernacles), Esther (Purim), and Lamentations (anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem). The title in Hebrew as well as in the LXX is “The Song of Songs”. The Vulgate entitled it Canticum Canticorum, hence the alternative English title Canticles.[1]THE DATEThe greatest objections...
The God Who Guides (Psalm 32:8-10)
TEXTI will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will counsel you and watch over you. Do not be like the horse or the mule,which have no understandingbut must be controlled by bit and bridleor they will not come to you. Many are the woes of the wicked,but the LORD's unfailing lovesurrounds the man who trusts in him.(Psa 32:8-10)INTRODUCTIONThe Book of Psalms is the first book of the Writings in the Hebrew Bible and one of the poetical books in the English Bible. The English designation “psalm” comes from the Latin Psalmi and the...
The Speeches of Acts
© October 1998Many scholars think that Luke is most untrustworthy in the speeches of Acts. They point out that the speeches are all in the same general styple, a style that is found in the narrative portions of Acts. And they claim that the theology of the speeches is distinctively Lukan, rather than Petrine, Pauline, or whatever. It is therefore concluded that Luke has followed the Thucydidean model1 and put on the lips of his speakers the sentiments that he felt were appropriate for the occasion.Several responses to this accusation are necessary....
The Law Against Deliberate Murder (Exodus 21:12-14)
THE BOOKThe passage is taken from the book of Exodus which forms the second book in the Pentateuch. The name “Exodus” comes from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and means “exit” or “departure”. This name was also retained by the Vulgate, the Latin version, by the Jewish author Philo, and by the Syriac version. The name of the book in Hebrew is taken from the first words of the text: “And these are the names of” (We’elleh Shemoth) or simply Shemoth. The Pentateuch (i.e., “the five books) is in the Hebrew known as Torah, which...
