a. Ethics is the study of
moral principles and of right and wrong conduct. The term “ethics” comes from
Greek ethos (character,
1Co 15:33), meaning “manner of life and conduct”.
b. Divisions in ethics:
o
general or theoretical ethics (study of
principles and concepts)
o
special or applied ethics (application of
principles to moral issues)
c. The objective of ethics
is to understand how to make morally right decisions. The simple and direct way
is to follow “moral rules” or “norms” (e.g. murder is wrong, honesty is right).
a. For Christians, norms
are founded on the will of God. The objective source of norms is the Bible –
The Word of God. This is the foundation of Christian ethics.
b. The Christian ethic is
vastly different from the ethic of the society which is characterized by:
(1) Ethical relativism. Today’s
society believes that all norms are not absolute but “relative”, changing with
culture and preferences. Christians must not compromise their principles (Ro
12:2; Jas 4:4).
(2) Secular Humanism (the
religion of today’s society). With the motto of “Man is the measure of all
things,” man makes himself God. Christians must insist that God is the sovereign
of the universe.
(3) Culture of death. Secular
humanism preaches a culture of death which supports and glorifies death,
including abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality (which leads to much shorter
lives). The objective of the Bible is eternal life (Jn 20:31). Christians must
emphasize the sanctity (sacredness) of life.
c. “Murder is wrong” is
certainly a universal norm accepted by all cultures. Secular ethicists talk
about 9 ways to determine ethical or moral behaviour. Here are examples.
·
Ethics of Divine Command: I must not murder
because God commands me not to, and because man is created in the image of God
so murder is a violation of God Himself (Gen 1:27; 9:6).
·
Ethics of Conscience: I do not murder because my
conscience tells me not to.
·
Ethics of Virtues: I do not murder because I
want to be a good and virtuous person.
·
Ethics of Utilitarianism: I do not murder
because if everyone murders, human race would be extinct.
d. Except the first one,
all the rest focus on the qualities resident within each person. There is
certain truth in these positions (Ro 2:14-16), but human beings have in them a
sinful nature, which impedes them acting according to their conscience.
a. God demands His
children to obey His Word.
·
To be a Christian involves two components: a
Christian faith and a Christian practice (Jas 2:26; also
2:19,22). God demands obedience (Jn 14:15). Obedience is part of discipleship
(Mt 28:20). Most importantly, one’s salvation is linked to obedience (Mt 19:17;
Eph 5:5-6).
b. When we encounter an
ethical dilemma, how do we decide what to do? We can seek God’s direct guidance
and ask ourselves the question: “What would Jesus do?” (WWJD) (Php 2:5)
c. Then why do we still
need the Bible? Because we may be deceived by: our preconceptions and biases,
our hardheartedness, by ourselves (Jas 1:14), by the world (1Jn 2:16), or by
the Devil (1Jn 5:19). The Bible is the reliable and unchanging foundation for
our ethical decisions.
a. White lies are those
lies with a supposition that the motive of the lie is worthy.
b. Lying is prohibited by
God (Lev 19:11). As a rule, white lies are wrong. Those who habitually
tell whites lies soon become colour blind to all lies.
c. However, not every act
of deception is a lie, e.g. deception in sports such as football.
d. Can we falsify to get a
friend to a surprise birthday party? No; because there is only one norm
involved. You may hide the
fact of the surprise party but when you are specifically asked about whether
there is a party, you should not tell a lie.
a. The example of Rahab
(Jos 2:1-6; 6:25) is a good illustration of ethical decisions when norms
are in conflict (an ethical dilemma).
b. What are the
conflicting norms involved in Rahab’s situation?
(1) “You shall not murder” (6th
Commandment, Ex 20:13).
(2) One should not lie
(Pr 19:9; Mt 5:37; Eph 4:25; Col 3:9).
c. What are the
alternatives before Rahab?
(1) tell a lie to save the spies
(2) tell the truth and hope for
God’s miraculous delivery
d. Rahab told the lie yet
her action seemed to be regarded by God as righteous (Jas 2:25).
a. Three kinds of
relativism (norms are relative, not absolute):
|
Perspective
|
1. Anti-normianism
|
2. Utilitarianism
|
3. Situationism
|
|
Regarding Norms
|
no
absolute norms
|
some
absolute norms but all depend on the end result
|
one
absolute norm: love, all other
norms relative
|
|
Principle Applied
|
Lying
or telling the truth can both be right because there is no good or bad.
|
Lying
is generally wrong but the ‘end’ of good results justifies the ‘means’ used.
|
Lying
is right if it is done out of love.
|
|
Rahab’s Possible Action
|
Rahab
would do whatever she thought was right, telling the truth or telling the lie
to save the spies.
|
Rahab
may tell the lie because she would then get the Israelites to spare her
family later.
|
Rahab
may tell the lie out of love, that is, to save the lives of the spies.
|
b. Three kinds of
absolutism (norms are absolute):
|
Perspective
|
4. Non-conflicting
absolutism
|
5. Ideal or Conflicting
absolutism
|
6. Graded or Hierarchical
absolutism
|
|
Regarding Norms
|
many
absolute norms that should never be broken
|
many
absolute norms, breaking them is wrong but sometimes excusable
|
many
absolute norms, but can be suspended by higher norms
|
|
Principle Applied
|
Lying
is never right and one should not lie in any circumstances.
|
Lying
is not right but is acceptable as the lesser of two evils.
|
Lying
is not right but it is right in order to satisfy a higher norm.
|
|
Rahab’s Possible Action
|
Rahab
would tell the truth or simply not respond and hoped God would use His
miracles to save the spies.
|
Rahab
would tell the lie to save the spies even though she would feel guilty
afterwards.
|
Rahab
would tell the lie to save the spies because it is done to satisfy a higher
norm of avoiding killing.
|
c. Norms in the Bible are absolute
in the sense that they are divine commands from an absolute authority (God) and
that they possess eternal validity (Jas 1:17). This is “ethical
absolutism”. Christian ethics is
founded on absolutism, the last 3 alternatives listed above.