Friday, March 04, 2005
Ethics and Theology
Eternal Perspectives put up a brief post yesterday, a parable on righteousness. Here is how the parable ends:
But I think we do ourselves a disservice if we use that important theological idea as a basis for forming Christian ethics. Do we really want to be in a position of saying that a burglar's crime is just as heinous ethically as a murderer's? I don't. A distinction between offenses is necessary in operating a society. It's even necessary in operating a church. An elder that steals paperclips from the church office may be forgiven, but an elder that embezzles tens of thousands of dollars should not have the opportunity to serve as an elder again.
We run a grave risk when we equate all ethical transactions. I believe that one of the reasons we are so laid back about true evil in the world today is because this idea has crept so deeply into our collective consciousness. Most people don't get worked up about genocide because they don't distinguish it from the gang shooting that happens in town on a weekly basis.
I did a little more checking into the whole Terri Schiavo thing yesterday (that post is forthcoming) and I am amazed at how overwhelmingly the commenters on it are Catholic. Catholics, because of their teachings on ethics have a much deeper sense of how truly evil what is happening to that woman is. Protestants, as a group, though there are certainly exceptions, seem to just be lumping it in as "another sad consequence of sin."
Christians have to be about GOOD. It is after all one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.) And that means ethics.
If we are going to be about good in the world we have to have a deep understanding of ethics. There are a number of classic problems to illustrate the point. Is it ok to lie to a rapist about the location of an intended victim when he is pursuing her? Is war justified to prevent genocide? The list goes on ad infinitum.
We would do well to learn some ethics from our Catholic brethren, and even our Jewish cousins. Our preaching needs to emphasize the difference between our theological theories and our ethical behaviors.
The king at once ordered his warriors to seize the man and take him away. As the man was led off to be executed, the king declared, "You fool! Is the death of but one child any less heinous than the death of all? You diminish the value of the one by making her death less of a crime than the deaths of the many.This parable makes a good theological point. Rom 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,In the eyes of God we are all equally depraved and most importantly equally in need of the salvation of the Cross.
But I think we do ourselves a disservice if we use that important theological idea as a basis for forming Christian ethics. Do we really want to be in a position of saying that a burglar's crime is just as heinous ethically as a murderer's? I don't. A distinction between offenses is necessary in operating a society. It's even necessary in operating a church. An elder that steals paperclips from the church office may be forgiven, but an elder that embezzles tens of thousands of dollars should not have the opportunity to serve as an elder again.
We run a grave risk when we equate all ethical transactions. I believe that one of the reasons we are so laid back about true evil in the world today is because this idea has crept so deeply into our collective consciousness. Most people don't get worked up about genocide because they don't distinguish it from the gang shooting that happens in town on a weekly basis.
I did a little more checking into the whole Terri Schiavo thing yesterday (that post is forthcoming) and I am amazed at how overwhelmingly the commenters on it are Catholic. Catholics, because of their teachings on ethics have a much deeper sense of how truly evil what is happening to that woman is. Protestants, as a group, though there are certainly exceptions, seem to just be lumping it in as "another sad consequence of sin."
Christians have to be about GOOD. It is after all one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.) And that means ethics.
If we are going to be about good in the world we have to have a deep understanding of ethics. There are a number of classic problems to illustrate the point. Is it ok to lie to a rapist about the location of an intended victim when he is pursuing her? Is war justified to prevent genocide? The list goes on ad infinitum.
We would do well to learn some ethics from our Catholic brethren, and even our Jewish cousins. Our preaching needs to emphasize the difference between our theological theories and our ethical behaviors.
