2.1.1.3. Christianity and Normative Ethics
Christian 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 the teleological dimension and the necessary will expresses the deontological dimensions of Christian ethics. Since this Will is of Divine nature, it must be revealed by the illumination of the Spirit in man. Since man, as the Revelation (Scripture) tells us, is created in the image and likeness of God, he is able to know and choose this will for his life. However, the fallennes of man has alienated him from the divine will. Therefore, for the unsaved, the ethical code is terrestrially oriented or teleological. Thus, the five general laws: one for honor of parents, and four against falsehood, murder, theft, and adultery.
The above laws are not absolutes: they are externals of an intrinsic Law that is an attribute of the Creator Himself. The Biblical word used is agape. This view of Biblical ethics is also known as the Ethics of Love, or Judeo-Christian Agapistic Ethics.[1]
The basis of Biblical ethics is Matthew 22: 37 – 40.
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the great commandment. And the second is like unto it. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
Hunnex outlines four lines of interpretations of Biblical agapistic ethics within Christianity: Traditional, Evangelical, nontraditional, and Pure agapism.
2.1.1.3.1. Traditional Agapistic Ethics
Based on the rule “Love the Lord thy God with all your being” (it implies obedience to His commands) and “Love your neighbor as yourself,”it is also known as deontological agapism , or act deontology because of its emphasis on the ought, which originates in the divine command.
2.1.1.3.2. Evangelical Agapistic Ethics
According to Evangelical agapistic ethics, the indwelling Christ is the source of that supernatural love that produces acts in conformity to Biblical imperatives. This is also known as authoritarian agapism. Those without the indwelling Christ have the moral law “written in their hearts” that distinguishes right from wrong (Rom. 2. 14 – 15).
2.1.1.3.3. Nontraditional Agapistic Ethics
The focus on the present human reality or situations gives rise to a form of act deontology or situation ethics (e.g., in Fletcher, Gustafson, Tillich, or Lehmann) or utilitarianism, wherein man becomes the measure of all things and loving one’s neighbor is equal to loving God. The law of love, here, becomes or approximates the principle of benevolence.
2.1.1.3.4. Pure Agapism
Pure agapism frees love from any objects such as God or neighbor and considers love by itself alone as the only moral absolute; thus, pure. However, love can not be understood by itself alone. Love must either be understood as love-acts or love-rules; therefore, Act agapism and Rule agapism.
2.1.1.3.4.1. Act Agapism
Love rather than rules becomes the determiner of right or wrong acts in any given situation (situationism, religious existentialism, antinomianism).
2.1.1.3.4.2. Rule Agapism
One should only follow love-producing or love-embodying rules.
[1] Hunnex, Charts, p. 26.
The Absolute Law of God and Christian Ethics
The desire of man for the good is often clouded by his immediate responses to things and experiences immediate, which he thinks and feels are good. Impatience and lack of self-restraint together with ignorance and lack of discretion are the main reasons for such deviations. Theistic absolutism offers the solution to this problem by stating that the God of this creation has given us His moral laws which are absolute; adherence to His laws is the solution to life’s problems.
That is a wonderful solution; for here man is no longer called to drag on his autonomous reason, but confidently walk according to the revealed laws of God. But, as we have already seen in Chapter two, theistic absolutism raises two problems:
(1) Knowledge of the law is not enough. Wisdom and the ability and strength to perform must accompany it.
(2) That the moral laws of God (especially the Ten Commandments) are absolutes and yet conflict at times.
Let us deal with problem #2 first, and then proceed on to the first. Are the moral laws of God [all of them] absolutes? The answer is “No”. [Some] are relative to people, circumstances, places, and times; so that “Do not kill” is relative to the true Israelite brotherhood, and “Kill the Amalekites” is relative to the people circumstances of Amalekites. There is only one law that is absolute, unchanging, unconditional, and commanding the strictest obedience: “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him alone shall you serve.” (Deuteronomy 6:13; Matthew 4:10). It is unconditional and absolute without exceptions (Romans 1:18-24; 25-32). This is the standard whereby all other laws gain their position. This is the King of the laws, the others are servants and subjects. That doesn’t disvalue them. They serve their purpose in their own limitations. They “ought” to be followed without exceptions, but in their own limitations, as the law of gravity functions within its own limitations; the law of aerodynamics within its own area and position. We need to understand which of these laws are to be followed in a given situation.
The second problem (the first one, actually for it’s the prime) is the insufficiency to fulfill the command. Christians call it “the fallen nature of man” that cannot fulfill the law of God. This time the Christian denies his autonomous reasoning and clings to the God-given solution – the Cross of Christ. The laws of God have found their perfection in Jesus Christ. Those who believe in Him and walk in His footsteps (in His manner, as He would do it if He were here) obey the Father and do His will. On the Cross, the old man (sin-nature) has died – the penalty of sin removed [God’s law makes man responsible to His Court of Justice]. Today the power of sin is being removed. The Holy Spirit’s power is available for our strength and sufficiency, His guidance to direct us to do what is “right”, what is “good” in the sight of the Lord; for what is good is what is approved as good by God: HE IS GOOD HIMSELF and the creator of all good things.
Christian ethics is Christo-centric ethics, not man-dependent ethics. Reason and experience are directed by the Holy Spirit as you give Him freedom to do so. “What must I do in this situation?” then finds its answer in the love of Christ, and so of His children, the willingness to do as He would do, and the guidance and strength from the Holy Spirit. To deny this is to deny Christianity. To deny this is to deny Christ and His Cross. To deny this is to deny God and His Holy Spirit.
“What I ought to do” is “what God decides”, not “what I decide” in Christian ethics – the ethics of Faith, Love, and Loyalty. “Not by sight, do we walk, but by faith”, “We make it our aim to please Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, 9).
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