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Christian
Ethics
ETHICS
RIGHT
WRONG
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ETHICS
• ta etheka, the customary, the approved
• But- Accepted by Whom? On Whose
Authority?
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DEFINITION OF ETHICS
• Ethics is “the process of
determining right and wrong,”
Scott Rae, Moral Choices, 15
• This is a satisfactory definition.
However, it is also a definition
which can be used by an unbeliever
as well as by a Christian
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DEFINITION OF ETHICS
• There is a BETTER definition: Ethics is “theology,
viewed as a means of determining which human
persons, acts, and attitudes receive God’s
blessing and which do not.” John Frame, Doctrine
of the Christian Life, 1
– This definition assumes the covenantal character of
Christian ethics
– Because of God’s grace, the believer has been brought
into relationship with God, relationship that brings
about obligations to love God and to keep his
commandments
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DEFINITION OF MORALITY
• Morality is “the end result of ethical
deliberation, the substance of right and
wrong,” Rae, MC, 15
– This is a satisfactory definition
– But there is nothing distinctively Christian
about it
• A BETTER definition: Morality is the end
result of the process of “determining
which human persons, acts and attitudes
receive God’s blessing and which do not.”
-John Frame, Ethics Syllabus
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DEFINITION OF VIRTUE
• Aristotle, “Virtue is a state of character
concerned with choice, lying in a mean,
i.e., the mean relatively to us.”
Nichomachean Ethics, ix. (Excellence)
• In Scripture, arete, areth, Gk., is not a result
of formation of habits, the mean between
excess and deficiency, but the result of the
presence of the grace of God
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DEFINITION OF VIRTUE
• Phil. 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable--if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy--think about
such things”
• II Peter 1:5, “For this very reason, make
every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge”
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SUMMUM BONUM
• For the non-Christian, the highest good
assumes the current state of affairs to
be normative: What is wrong with this
picture? Is the world as it is representative
of how God intended it?
• For the Christian, the highest good is
otherwise: “Man’s chief end is to glorify
God and to enjoy him forever.” Shorter
Catechism, Q.1
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SUMMUM BONUM
• To express this in other terms, Van Til
says, “the kingdom of God is man’s
summum bonum. By the term
kingdom of God we mean the realized
program of God for man. . . . The
most important aspect of this program
is surely that man should realize
himself as God’s vicegerent in history.”
-Christian Theistic Ethics, 44.
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ETHICS and MORALITY
• Most people want to think of
themselves as “Good”
• Most people would not want to live
in a society in which morality is
unimportant
• Most people face decisions every
day that involve questions of right
and wrong
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CATEGORIES OF ETHICS
• Descriptive Ethics refer to ethics as
done from a sociological or
anthropological perspective.
• This describes Moral Behavior
• For a Christian, such ethics may be a
worthwhile field for empirical study, but
fail to address the imperative of
covenantal obedience
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CATEGORIES OF ETHICS
• Normative Ethics is “the discipline
that produces moral norms or rules as
its end product
• This prescribes Moral Behavior
• This is the “Thus saith the Lord” of
Scripture as it directs the hearer of the
Word to be a doer of the Word as well
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CATEGORIES OF ETHICS
• Metaethics “investigates the meaning
of moral language, or the epistemology
of ethics,” Rae, MC, 15
• This authorizes and legitimizes
Moral Behavior
• For the non-Christian, this is a most
troublesome issue, for apart from God it
is difficult to rationalize a basis for
ethical behavior
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CATEGORIES OF ETHICS
• Aretaic Ethics “is a category of ethics
that focuses on the virtues produced in
people, not the morality of specific acts,”
Rae, MC, 16.
• This links Moral Behavior with Virtue
• For Christians, this is spiritual formation
• Theologically, this can be viewed as the
imperative for relating progressive
sanctification to definitive sanctification
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PROBLEM: SOURCE OF ETHICS
ABOVE?
BELOW?
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ETHICS and METAETHICS
• DEONTOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
• TELEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
• RELATIVISTIC SYSTEMS
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Authoritative or Deontological
• An authoritative moral source to govern
behavior
– deon- duty
– logos- science, discourse
• Transcendent Ethical Norm:
– God
– Natural Law
– Reason
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Authoritative or Deontological
• Definitive standard
– Capable of motivating for self-sacrifice
– Obligation, but not discerned from
sense experience
– Ethical Norm imposes duty
– Universally binding
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Authoritative or Deontological
• Varieties
–Divine Command Theory (“God
says it”)
–Natural Law (General Revelation)
–Ethical Rationalism (a universally
binding norm)
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Authoritative or Deontological
• PROBLEM:
–May deal just with surface
appearances
–Fails to consider mitigating
circumstances
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Consequential or Teleological
• Assumes the End justifies the Means
– telos- end, goal
– logos- science, discourse
• Immanent Ethical Norm
– Mundane
– Practical
– Doing good brings happiness. The moral
life is the good life.
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Consequential or Teleological
• The outcome of actions/behavior makes
that action right
• Moral Task is to determine the means
to the end- happiness
• Moral Goodness is concrete, in the
situation, not abstracted
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ETHICS and METAETHICS
• TELEOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
–Utilitarianism (greatest good for
greatest number of people)
–Ethical Egoism (self-interest
determines morality)
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS:
Consequential or Teleological
• PROBLEM:
–Often elevates one absolute
above all others
–Lacks subtlety and flexibility
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS: Existential
• Assumes there is no objective source
for moral propriety
• Immanent Ethical Norm is INWARD
– True righteousness is never hypocritical
– Ethical norm affirmed from within
– Judging merely on “externals” is wrong
– Moral Law must be MY Law
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS: Existential
• Each is responsible for the
authenticity of his/her actions
• Ethical behavior is self-realization
– An expression of human nature
(Aquinas)
– Or, an expression of human freedom
(Sartre, and others who deny there is
any essential human nature)
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ETHICS and METAETHICS
• RELATIVISTIC SYSTEMS
– Cultural Relativism (different cultures,
different values)
– Personal Relativism (I determine right
and wrong)
– Existentialism (authentic existence
determines right choice)
– Emotivism (morality expresses
feelings about a subject)
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ETHICAL SYSTEMS: Existential
• PROBLEM:
–Fails to provide a basis for
distinguishing moral from
immoral behavior
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ETHICS: THREE PERSPECTIVES
1. The Situation
What is the dilemma?
What is the situation that
requires my response?
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ETHICS: THREE PERSPECTIVES
2. Norm
What is Right?
What does God say?
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ETHICS: THREE PERSPECTIVES
3. Self
What is my attitude
toward the problem?
How do I relate
to the situation
and the norm?
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THREE PERSPECTIVES
SITUATION
NORM
SELF
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THREE PERSPECTIVES
SITUATION
“RIGHT”
SELF
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NORM
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Christian
Ethics