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Christian Ethics
Session 2
How should we use the Bible in ethics?
The Revd Phil Edwards
2008
Introduction
Some Christians would say that our authority – and some, our only authority – in deciding what is
right and what is wrong comes from the Bible. So, we need to ask
• What kind of authority does the Bible have for us in our ethical decision-making?
This will then lead on to
• How do we use the Bible in our ethical decision-making?
What kind of authority does the Bible have?
Possibilities include
• Original words of the Bible are the words of God which human authors wrote down. These
words cannot be wrong and therefore the Bible has total authority.
• The Bible is like a great work of literature. It gives “profound … insights into the human
condition” (Messer: 20). It may bring us close to the person of Jesus but does not give us an
infallible guide to life.
• In the Bible there is a coming together of the divine Word and human words (compare with
the Incarnation). We tease out what God is saying to us today through the human words.
Are there ethical codes in the Bible?
The Old Testament
The ‘Ten Commandments’ is an obvious ethical code but as an entity is rarely referred to in the OT
or NT [possible exceptions: Jeremiah 7.9, Mark 10.19 and correspondingly in Matthew & Luke].
Conclusion: the Ten Commandments are not the major teaching about ethical conduct in the Bible.
The OT assumption: ‘What is good’ is what is willed by God. If God’s Will is communicated in the
OT, how do we know what God is saying?
The Law or Torah (Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy) includes laws about ritual, worship, being
holy and commitment to the poor. Much is now irrelevant (boiling a kid in its mother’s milk),
superseded by Jesus’ teaching (an eye for an eye) or is ignored (not wearing mixed fibres).
The Prophets emphasised the covenant relationship between God and his people. What is good is
what is consistent with God’s character. The nature of God includes: holiness, righteousness, justice
and steadfast mercy or loving kindness. Doing good is about reflecting God’s nature (eg Micah 6.8).
Note the tension between the priests who emphasised keeping the Law and the prophets who
emphasised conduct springing from the covenant relationship with God.
The Wisdom Literature or Writings (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes etc) contains little ethical teaching.
However, some scholars today are emphasising the concept of wisdom in ethical decision-making.
The Pharisees tried to keep every detail of the Law (613 commandments). The potential problems of
an emphasis on law-keeping include:
• self-righteousness: we become good by our own efforts;
• religiosity: we can meet God’s moral demands by lots of religious acts;
• selfishness: we may be keeping the law for the wrong motives.
The New Testament
Jesus’ Teaching
Biblical criticism has shown that (a) we cannot be sure what Jesus actually said, but (b) we can
resolve some of the contradictions – the gospel writers chose different material and presented it in
different ways for the people they were writing for.
The character of Jesus’ teaching:
a) First priority is to live in response to God’s love which means living within God’s kingdom
or rule and loving our neighbours as ourselves.
b) Jesus asserts an authority to interpret the Law and to go far beyond it, or in drawing out its
inner essence.
c) Jesus lived out his own demand for total obedience to God and total trust in God. We can’t
separate Jesus’ ethics from the whole of his life and ministry.
Three points follow:
a) Humans long for uncomplicated rules (the popularity of the Ten Commandments) but Jesus
answered most questions with further questions or parables in order to challenge the
hearer to be alert, be trusting, be forgiving, be adventurous, be decisive.
b) Jesus implied that we should model our character on God’s character.
c) Question whether Jesus’ teaching binding and practical today. For example, should we give
away everything to beggars and not worry about insurance (Matthew 6.25-34).
Jesus was like a Rabbi except that he did not give any rules. He was more like the Old Testament
prophets: he was critical about those who tried to keep details of the law.
The Teaching of Paul and the Early Church
Paul’s ethics can be summed up as “the working out in love of the faith whereby you are now living
in the new age of Christ.” (Jones: 36). Paul does not give systematic teaching but responds to
situations. In the early church the Gospel turned into ‘law’ again; which both Jesus and Paul opposed.
Use of the Bible in Christian Ethics
1)
There is considerable diversity of principles and ethical codes: different strands in the Old
Testament; different approaches in the New Testament.
2)
Biblical writers were living in a very different culture and thought-world. God’s Will may be
constant but it is difficult to transfer teaching of 2 or 3,000 years ago to today.
3)
Often no clear basis for today’s ethical problems.
4)
Jesus repudiated some Old Testament teachings: “You have heard it said … but I say to you
…”. Can we do the same with the whole Bible? Can the bible be inspired yet not infallible?
5)
The Bible is the witness to the central events of our faith. “It was never intended to be a short
cut to the problems of Christian living, or an encyclopaedia of moral instruction, or a
compendium of moral rules.” (Jones: 50)
6)
We need to note in the Bible (Messer: 21):
• Rules such as the Ten Commandments.
• Principles or general guidelines, such as the command to love God and neighbour.
• Paradigms or stories that give examples of conduct to imitate or avoid.
• A symbolic world giving the big picture of God, the world and ourselves.
7)
The Bible cannot be a sufficient authority for Christian ethics. Christians have always used other
authorities and sources.
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