pursuing moral faithfulness by gary tyra - excerpt
TRANSCRIPT
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Pursuing
Moral FaithFulness
Ethics and Christian Discipleship
G A RY T Y R A
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Ethics and Christian Discipleship
PURSUINGMORALFAITHFULNESS
GARY TYRA
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Gary yra
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken rom HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIVreg Copyright copy 1048625983097983095983091 1048625983097983095983096 1048625983097983096983092 1048626104862410486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
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the privacy o individuals
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Printed in the United States o America
As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 1048626 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 9830911048626 9830911048625 9830911048624 1048626983097 1048626983096 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
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W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Ethics and Christian Discipleship
PURSUINGMORALFAITHFULNESS
GARY TYRA
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Gary yra
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken rom HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIVreg Copyright copy 1048625983097983095983091 1048625983097983095983096 1048625983097983096983092 1048626104862410486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy KipleInterior design Beth McGill
Images double ork road sign copy zageriStockphoto
orked road sign copy sigurcampiStockphoto
U-turn sign copy P_WeiiStockphoto
ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-1048626983092983094983093-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-983097983095983095983094-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America
As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 1048626 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 9830911048626 9830911048625 9830911048624 1048626983097 1048626983096 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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10486251048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Ethics and Christian Discipleship
PURSUINGMORALFAITHFULNESS
GARY TYRA
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Gary yra
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken rom HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIVreg Copyright copy 1048625983097983095983091 1048625983097983095983096 1048625983097983096983092 1048626104862410486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy KipleInterior design Beth McGill
Images double ork road sign copy zageriStockphoto
orked road sign copy sigurcampiStockphoto
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ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-1048626983092983094983093-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-983097983095983095983094-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America
As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit
greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 1048626 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 9830911048626 9830911048625 9830911048624 1048626983097 1048626983096 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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InterVarsity Press
PO Box 104862598309210486241048624 Downers Grove IL 98309410486249830931048625983093-10486259830921048626983094
ivpresscom
emailivpresscom
copy104862610486241048625983093 by Gary yra
All rights reserved No part o this book may be reproduced in any orm without written permission rom
InterVarsity Press
InterVarsity Pressreg is the book-publishing division o InterVarsity Christian FellowshipUSAreg a movement o
students and aculty active on campus at hundreds o universities colleges and schools o nursing in the United
States o America and a member movement o the International Fellowship o Evangelical Students For
inormation about local and regional activities visit intervarsityorg
All Scripture quotations unless otherwise indicated are taken rom HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL
VERSION reg NIVreg Copyright copy 1048625983097983095983091 1048625983097983095983096 1048625983097983096983092 1048626104862410486251048625 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All rights reserved
worldwide
While any stories in this book are true some names and identiying inormation may have been changed to protect
the privacy o individuals
Cover design Cindy KipleInterior design Beth McGill
Images double ork road sign copy zageriStockphoto
orked road sign copy sigurcampiStockphoto
U-turn sign copy P_WeiiStockphoto
ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-1048626983092983094983093-983094 (print)
ISBN 983097983095983096-1048624-9830969830911048624983096-983097983095983095983094-983094 (digital)
Printed in the United States o America
As a member o the Green Press Initiative InterVarsity Press is committed to protectingthe environment and to the responsible use o natural resources o learn more visit
greenpressinitiativeorg
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record or this book is available rom the Library o Congress
P 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093 1048625983092 1048625983091 10486251048626 10486251048625 10486251048624 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 1048626 1048625
Y 983091983092 983091983091 9830911048626 9830911048625 9830911048624 1048626983097 1048626983096 1048626983095 1048626983094 1048626983093 1048626983092 1048626983091 10486261048626 10486261048625 10486261048624 1048625983097 1048625983096 1048625983095 1048625983094 1048625983093
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 3450
10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4050
1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Acknowledgments
Te publication o a book is usually a team effort o cite a amiliar
phrase ldquoIt takes a villagerdquo While this has always been my experience as
an author it was especially so with respect to Pursuing Moral Faithulness
Tus in the next page or two I want to express my deep gratitude to some
olks critical to this workrsquos realization
o begin I want to express my heartelt appreciation to the usual sus-
pects the library staff at Vanguard University (especially Jack Morgan) the
editorial production and marketing teams at IVP Academic (in particular
the bookrsquos editor David Congdon) my ormer editor Gary Deddo who
not only secured the project or IVP but also provided some invaluable
eedback on an early draf o the work my son Brandon and philosopher
riend R Scott Smith both o whom read portions o the bookrsquos manu-
script and afforded me some helpul counsel the numerous authors (too
many to mention by name Irsquom araid) whose excellent works I interact
with in this volume my riend and Vanguard University colleague RichIsrael who unctioned as a sounding board and offered many words o
encouragement along the way and finally my dear wie Patti whose pa-
tience love wisdom and prooreading skills have played such a huge role
in all the books I (we) have produced Tough the acknowledgments in-
cluded in this paragraph might appear to be pro orma such is not the case
I deeply appreciate the way in which each o these proessionals personal
riends and amily members contributed to this publishing projectIn addition I want to express special thanks to those many students
who have over the years indicated their appreciation or the ethical
teaching presented in these pages It was this enthusiastic response to the
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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moral training I was attempting to provide along with a growing awareness
that too many proessing Christians are making important moral choices
the way their non-Christian peers do that eventually convinced me Ishould pen this work While Irsquove been careul in all my books to write with
my students and not merely other scholars in view this literary endeavor
was special in this regard With my mindrsquos eye I kept seeing the aces o my
students and remembering my interactions with them Tese mental
images and recollections pleasant and poignant at the same time greatly
influenced this book in terms o both its message and method Tough any
ailings inherent in it are my responsibility alone itrsquos my hope that Pursuing Moral Faithulness does justice to what those who have studied Christian
ethics with me say theyrsquove taken away rom the experience and that they
will appreciate the new material presented here
Ten again while itrsquos true that the needs o my students (past present
and uture) have influenced this work in some significant ways I obvi-
ously didnrsquot produce it only or them Itrsquos also my hope that many stu-
dents and church members who will never study with me in person willbenefit rom the book and that not a ew proessors church leaders and
student-lie proessionals will choose to use it as a valued tool in their
own disciple-making and moral-ormation endeavors
Tat said I suspect itrsquos not uncommon or an author o a newly released
book to be a bit anxious about how it will be received especially i the work
breaks new ground or takes a unique approach In its introduction I make
clear how and why Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not your typical Christian
ethics text Tus I also want to communicate here a word o appreciation
to the many university and ministry colleagues who once they heard
about what I was up to in this book immediately responded with what
seemed to be sincere expressions o interest appreciation and support
While these reactions are certainly no guarantee o success they did
succeed in providing this author with a bit o hope that his newest work
might be warmly received by members o its intended audiencesmdashnot in
spite o its distinctive eatures but precisely because o them
Finally at the risk o sounding super-spiritual I want to ldquoacknowledgerdquo
our rinitarian GodmdashFather Son and Holy Spiritmdashwhose prior aith-
ulness toward me keeps inspiring a deep desire to render to him a moral
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Acknowledgments 10486251048625
(and missional) aithulness in return Itrsquos my sincere hope that in at least
some small manner this book will succeed at encouraging others to want
to do the same While Irsquod like to think that each o my books is sayingsomething important itrsquos the thought that Pursuing Moral Faithulness
might actually have the effect o enabling Christian disciples to like Jesus
make moral choices by allowing the Spirit to help them hear and honor
the heart o the Father that makes it exceedingly special to me How
could it not be
In summary my sincere thanks goes out to everyone who in one way
or another helped make this book possible and to those who have givenme reason to believe it can make a difference in the world I appreciate
you allmdashthe members o my villagemdashvery much
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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10486251048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction
As a religion proessor at a Christian liberal arts university my re-
sponsibilities call or me to participate in the moral as well as spir-
itual and ministry ormation o students Not long ago an intelligent
culturally savvy student studying Christian ethics with me included
in his inal paper a telling admission o be more precise this young
man in his mid- to late twenties preaced his paper with a twoold
conession First prior to taking this ethics course he had neglected
to give any serious consideration to the process by which he had been
making ethical decisions Second as a result o this lack o ethical
relection he had been guilty o making important moral choices just
like many non-Christians domdashin an unbalanced and essentially ir-
responsible manner
I wish I could say that this twoold conession makes this particular
student unique Actually my experience has been that just the opposite
is truemdashit makes him iconic insteadTe purpose o this book is to address this situation Designed to
unction as a primer on Christian ethics that integrates moral theory
with everyday decision-making practice its grand goal is to enable its
readers to come to terms with three things (1048625) the notion o a moral
aithulnessmdashthe idea that Christians can and should strive to honor the
heart o God in their everyday ethical choices (1048626) the act that such a
moral aithulness requires a liestyle o surrender to the Holy Spiritrsquosendeavors to help Christrsquos ollowers discern and do the will o the Father
and (1048627) the realization that such a moral aithulness lies at the heart o
a genuine Christian discipleship
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W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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10486251048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983161 S983157983139983144 983137 B983151983151983147 I983155 N983141983139983141983155983155983137983154983161
Having taught Christian ethics or much longer than Irsquod like to admit Irsquove
witnessed some interesting shifs among students engaged in this par-ticular topic o study Te most significant shif isnrsquot the change thatrsquos
occurred in how students view social moral issues such as abortion
homosexuality reproductive and genetic technologies physician-assisted
suicide euthanasia and so on Rather the most dramatic development has
to do with an increasing hesitancy among many young adults to engage
in the kind o ethical reflection necessary to perorm the most basic
analysis o moral behavior Indeed every year it seems an increasingnumber o students like the young man reerred to above show up or
the course having given little or no prior thought to the manner in which
theyrsquove been making ethical decisions Even more importantly more and
more students are demonstrating a real difficulty coming to terms with
the idea that itrsquos not only possible but necessary or Christians to learn to
evaluate certain ethical behaviors toward the goal o living their own lives
in a morally aithul manner and encouraging others to do likewise983089
I will offer here two very basic reasons or the developments Irsquove just
described First or those still wondering about the effect the advent o
postmodernism (or late-modernism)983090 is having on all o us especially
the members o the emerging generations I can offer this crucial i trite
observation despite any lingering protestations to the contrary we really
are living in an era earmarked by an escalating embrace o a moral rela-
tivism
983091
According to the recent research reported on at length in chapter
1Ethicist William Frankena speaks o the possibility o our being asked by others or help in sorting
out moral questions Itrsquos with this thought in mind that he writes ldquoWe are not just agents in moral-
ity we are also spectators advisors instructors judges and criticsrdquo (William K Frankena Ethics
983090nd ed [Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091] p 983089983090)2As I am using the term postmodernism reers to the view that since everyonersquos take on reality is cultur-
ally and historically determined no one actually sees reality as it really is We should thereore be
suspicious o any notion o ldquotruthrdquo that purports to be transcendental applicable to everyone Itrsquos
perhaps worth pointing out that the notion o knowledge and reality being culturally and historically
determined is actually a distinctively modern notion made possible by the philosophical work o David
Hume Immanuel Kant Friedrich Nietzsche and others Tis is why some contemporary philosophers
will ofen reer to postmodernism as hypermodernism ultramodernism or late-modernism For more
on this see Dennis P Hollinger Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World (Grand
Rapids Baker Academic 983090983088983088983090) p 9830899830889830953While Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener are right to point out that postmodernism is not
about the promotion o relativism but about ldquosensitivity to details complexities and close readings
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486251048629
our o this work pervasive among the members o the emerging gen-
erations is the conviction that there are no universally applicable moral
standards that might make it possible to evaluate the moral behavior oourselves and others983092 Te current state o affairs really shouldnrsquot sur-
prise anyone Years ago Lewis Smedes my ethics mentor in seminary
described the contemporary moral climate thusly ldquoIt is a truism today
that we are in a crisis o morals Te crisis is not simply that people are
doing wrong things that has been going on since the Fall in Eden Te
crisis is the loss o a shared understanding o what is right Worse it is a
crisis o doubt as to whether there even is a moral right or wrong at allrdquo983093
Second Irsquom tempted to believe that this transition toward a morally
relativistic cultural milieu has been aided not only by a neglect on the part
o public schools to provide ormal ethical instruction or the members
o the boomer Gen X and emerging generations983094 (not that Irsquom arguing
that have ofen been ignored or suppressedrdquo (see Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian
Ethics Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL
IVP Books 983090983088983089983088] p 9830911048632) itrsquos also true that an epistemological antioundationalism ofen associatedwith postmodernism has had the effect o producing within the younger generations occupying
the industrial West a airly robust embrace o various types o relativism See Stanley J Grenz and
John R Franke Beyond Foundationalism Shaping Teology in a Postmodern Context (Louisville
Westminster John Knox 983090983088983088983089) p 9830899830974See Hollinger Choosing the Good pp 1048625983097-1048626983088 10486259830881048630-10486261048627 Furthermore referring to postmodernism as the
ldquorise of historical consciousnessrdquo Joseph Kotva points out that one o the ways ldquothe growing realization
o historyrsquos relevancerdquo is altering ethical theory is by ldquolimiting the role and status o rulesrdquo (Kotva Te
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics [Washington DC Georgetown University Press 9830899830979830971048630] p 1048632) See also
Christian Smith Kari Christoffersen Hilary Davidson and Patricia Snell Herzog Lost in ransition Te
Dark Side o Emerging Adulthood (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983093 983093983093 1048630983088-1048630983090 983090983097983090-983097983091
Paul G Hiebert ransorming Worldviews An Anthropological Understanding o How People Change(Grand Rapids Baker 9830909830889830881048632) pp 9830909830901048632-983090983097 Walt Mueller Engaging the Soul o Youth Culture Bridging een
Worldviews and Christian ruth (Downers Grove IL IVP Books 9830909830889830881048630) pp 10486301048630-1048630983095 1048632983097-983097983089 Walt Mueller
Youth Culture 983089983088983089 (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983095) pp 983093983089-983093983090 9830891048632983093-104863210486305Lewis Smedes Mere Morality What God Expects rom Ordinary People(Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830899830971048632983091)
pp 983089-983090 For a more thorough discussion o the ldquoethical wildernessrdquo we currently find ourselves in see
David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983090983088983088983088)
pp 983089983089-9830891048630 See also the discussion titled ldquoTe Ethical Challenge and the Contemporary Worldrdquo in Stanley
J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press 983089983097983097983095)
pp 983089983092-9830899830956According to the Center or Generational Studies the term ldquoBaby Boomersrdquo reers to those Americans
born between 9830899830979830921048630 through 9830899830971048630983092 ldquoGeneration Xrdquo (also known by the term ldquoBaby Bustersrdquo) is composed
o those born between 9830899830971048630983093 and 9830899830971048632983088 ldquoMillennialsrdquo are those young adults and teens born between
9830899830971048632983089 and 983089983097983097983097 Alternate labels or Millennials include ldquoGeneration Yrdquo ldquoGeneration Whyrdquo ldquoNextersrdquo
and the ldquoInternet Generationrdquo See ldquoDefining the Generationsrdquo Center or Generational Studies (ac-
cessed September 983095 983090983088983089983090) wwwbobwendovercomdefining-the-generations-how-does-the-center
-define-the-current-generations-in-american-society Te term I will ofen use in this book to reer to
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048625983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Irsquom convinced that we contemporary Christians can do better Itrsquos with
the goal in mind o enabling Christrsquos ollowers to do a better job o con-
necting the dots between ethical theory and practice and in the processrendering to God the moral aithulness hersquos looking or that Irsquove pro-
duced this volumemdasha primer on Christian ethics that puts orward a
balanced Christ-centered biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
approach to ethical decision makingmdashan approach I reer to as the ethic
o responsible Christian discipleship983089983093
N983151983156 Y983151983157983154 T983161983152983145983139983137983148 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155 T983141983160983156Te act that this introduction to Christian ethics has been written by a
biblical and practical theologian rather than a classically trained ethicist
will by itsel set it apart rom most other volumes belonging to this
genre My particular ethical preparation and proessional ministry in-
terests mean that in terms o both style and content Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will not all into the category o your typical Christian ethics text
With respect to the matter o style as Irsquove already stated my aim inthis work is to integrate the theoretical with the practical toward the goal
o inspiring and enabling an ldquoeverydayrdquo sort o moral aithulness on the
part o contemporary Christians living in an era earmarked by an in-
creasing degree o ethical apathy oward this end Irsquove taken pains to
15Later in the book we will discuss an ethical theory known as ldquovirtue ethicsrdquo Tose readers who already
possess some awareness o ethical theory especially the character ethics promoted by Stanley Hauer-
was may be aware that virtue theory tends to ocus attention away rom ldquoexacting procedures orethical decision makingrdquo toward a ocus on moral agents and their contexts See Kotva Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics p 983089983090 See also Stanley Hauerwas Character and the Christian Lie A Study in Teo-
logical Ethics (San Antonio rinity University Press 983089983097983095983093) pp 983095-1048632 and Nullens and Michener Matrix
o Christian Ethics p 983089983090983095 Tus at first glance it might seem that this bookrsquos emphasis on making moral
decisions that honor the heart o God is at odds with virtue theory On the contrary I consider a com-
mitment to maintaining balance in onersquos lie (see Eccles 9830959830891048632 c Prov 983092983090983095) and acting responsibly to
be two virtues at the heart o a moral aithulness In other words striving to be responsible and bal-
anced rather than irresponsible and unbalanced in the way we make ethical decisions requires virtue
and is itsel a virtuous action Surely itrsquos possible and appropriate or a Christian ethic to ocus on both
the character-building context that orms the moral agent and the decision-making act itsel For a
discussion o the reciprocal relationship between actions and character in virtue ethics see Kotva
Christian Case or Virtue Ethics pp 983091983088-983091983089 For an even more precise discussion o the relationship
between virtue ethics and moral deliberation see ibid pp 983091983089-983091983095 For more on the idea that respon-
sibility is a key virtue with respect to moral decision making see Vincent E Rush Te Responsible
Christian A Popular Guide or Moral Decision Making According to Classical radition (Chicago
Loyola University Press 9830899830971048632983092) pp 983097983093-983097983097
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486251048633
make sure that the discussions presented in the main body o Pursuing
Moral Faithulness are not overly theoretical in nature At the same time
the many ootnotes also presented in the book provide some very im-portant theoretical and theological oundation or and elaboration o the
ideas presented Troughout the volume my goal is to both inorm and
inspiremdashto not only acilitate moral ormation but to encourage a lie-
style o moral aithulness as well Itrsquos up to the reader to decide the
degree to which I have accomplished this ambitious objective
As or the issue o content besides the act that this work doesnrsquot at-
tempt to accomplish everything a Christian ethics text might983089983094
itrsquos alsotrue that I bring to it some theological and ethical presuppositions based
on my theological training and three decades o pastoral experience that
will also set it apart rom others o its ilk Given the degree to which these
premises give shape to what ollows it seems appropriate rom the outset
to provide the reader with an overview o those theological and ethical
emphases that make this book on Christian ethics somewhat unique
T983144983141 D983145983155983156983145983150983139983156983145983158983141 T983144983141983149983141983155 W983151983158983141983150 983145983150983156983151 T983144983145983155 W983151983154983147
Over the years many books have been written that treat the topic o
Christian ethics in a helpul manner I would be oolish in the extreme
not to expose my readers to the moral wisdom presented in these texts
At the same time Irsquove been careul to structure this volume around
several distinctive emphases I consider crucial to the task o inspiring
and equipping my readers toward a liestyle o moral aithulness
Te possibility of a theological realism Critical to the ethical theory and
16For example the book doesnrsquot provide a detailed exposition o the history o philosophical or theo-
logical ethics or the latest developments in secular ethical theory Nor does it contain discrete chapters
ocusing on how Christians in particular might approach specific social moral issues Some titles I can
recommend that possess a singular ocus on ethical theory include R Scott Smith In Search o Moral
Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Alex-
ander Miller Contemporary Metaethics An Introduction (Malden MA Polity Press 983090983088983089983091) Robert
Merrihew Adams Finite and Infinite Goods A Framework or Ethics (New York Oxord University
Press 983090983088983088983090) Some titles that contain discrete chapters devoted to Christian responses to contempo-
rary social moral issues include Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand
Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) David K Clark and Raymond V Rakestraw eds Readings in Christian
Ethics vol 983090 Issues and Applications (Grand Rapids Baker Books 9830899830979830971048630) Robertson McQuilkin and
Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove
IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) Patricia Beattie Jung and Shannon Jung Moral Issues amp Christian Responses
1048632th ed (Minneapolis Fortress 983090983088983089983091)
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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10486261048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
practice Irsquom proposing in this work is a particular way o thinking about
God and the way we relate to him A theological realism contends that
everything that is owes its existence to God as the ultimate reality Goingurther a theological realism also holds that because o the birth vicarious
lie death resurrection and ascension o Jesus the God-man and the out-
pouring o his Spirit on those who belong to him itrsquos possible or Christrsquos
ollowers to know and relate to God in a real rather than merely theoretical
conceptual or ritualistic manner983089983095 A hallmark o evangelical Christianity is
the belie that the God who is there is a speaking God who has chosen to
reveal himsel to humanity not only through the inspired writings collec-tively reerred to as the Scriptures (1048626 im 104862710486251048628-10486251048631) and the written ldquoword o
Godrdquo (Mk 10486311048633-10486251048627) but also by sending his Son whom the Bible reers to as
the living ldquoWordrdquo (Jn 10486251048625-1048626 10486251048628) into the world As the incarnate Word o
God the Scriptures present Jesus o Nazareth as someone who can and does
make the Father known to the aithul in an impeccable manner (Jn 10486251048625983096)
precisely because he is the ldquoexact representationrdquo o Godrsquos being (Heb 10486251048627)
Likewise according to John 104862598309410486251048627-10486251048629 the Holy Spirit (whom Jesus reerredto as the ldquoSpirit o truthrdquo) has been sent into the world in order to lead
Christrsquos ollowers into ldquoall truthrdquo by making the revelation that is available
in Christ clear to them (c Jn 104862510486281048626983094 1048625 Cor 1048626983094-1048625983094)983089983096
In sum Irsquom suggesting that the trinitarian understanding o God im-
plicit in Scripture properly understood is o great importance because
it cannot help but result in a theological realism that impels the believer
to take seriously the possibility o an intimate interactive relationship
17Please note that my concern here is not that Christians theorize or conceptualize with respect to
God Indeed in another work I lament the anti-intellectualism (intellectual laziness) maniested by
some evangelical Christians (yra Deeating Pharisaism p 983097983093) Rather the concern here is that itrsquos
possible or modern Christians to overly conceptualize the Christian aith allowing this intellectu-
alizing activity to substitute or a real relationship with (lived experience o) God (see Mk 9830899830909830891048632-983090983095)
Likewise my concern is not that Christians engage in rituals but that this can be done in a mindless
magical or myopic manner A theologically real understanding o religious rituals sees them as
means by which Christian disciples may interact in a meaningul way with a personal God who
graciously allows himsel to be encountered through certain divinely prescribed ceremonies and
behaviors (eg baptism the Eucharist Bible reading worship prayer conession giving) In sum
I eel the need to emphasize in this work the important difference between a pneumatologically real
encounter-seeking engagement in religious ritual and a rank religious ritualism that divinizes the
ritual itsel depersonalizing God in the process18For more on this see the section titled ldquoRevelation as Godrsquos Sel-Disclosurerdquo in Michael F Bird Evan-
gelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction (Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983088
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486261048625
with God the Father that is Christ-centered and Spirit-mediated in
nature As the ensuing discussion will indicate Irsquom also suggesting that
such a theological perspective will tremendously affect the way we thinkabout and do Christian ethics
Te possibility of a moral realism Over against the cultural trend
toward a moral relativism reerred to earlier is the Christian conviction
that the God who is there and knowable to us has an opinion about how
we human beings are to relate to him ourselves and one another Tis
very basic but proound theological observation has huge significance
or the ethical endeavor9830891048633
Te Scriptures are rie with passages that assertthat because God is a moral being with moral sensitivities those crea-
tures who bear the imago Dei (image o God) should not only like Jesus
take morality seriously (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624) but also like Jesus endeavor to
hear and honor the heart o God in everything we say and do (see Jn 104862910486251048633
10486271048624 9830961048626983096-10486261048633 1048625104862410486271048631 1048625104862610486281048633-10486291048624 1048625104862810486251048624 10486261048627-10486261048628 10486271048624-10486271048625)9830901048624 In other words an en-
tailment o the theological realism described above is that we Christians
have reason to believe that even as God himsel is knowable to us by virtueo the revelatory ministries o his Son and Spirit so is his heart concerning
moral matters (see Eph 1048629983096-10486251048624 10486251048629-10486251048631 Phil 10486251048633-10486251048625 Col 10486251048633-10486251048624)983090983089
While reserving until later a ull discussion o the moral realism I have
in mind I will state here my contention that there are two principal ways
the Spirit-inspired Scriptures evidence support or the notion that God is a
moral being who desires and makes possible a moral aithulness on the
part o his people First there are the transcendent authoritative moral
guidelines the Scriptures provide Second there is the Christ-centered
Spirit-mediated moral guidance the Bible promises o be more theologi-
cally precise what Irsquom suggesting is that God has actually provided his
people with much more than a set o moral guidelines What God actually
19See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632983090-104863298309120Robert Adams reminds us ldquoTe transcendence o the Good thus carries over rom the divine object
o adoration the Good itsel to ideals o human lie and thus to human ethicsrdquo (Adams Finite and
Infinite Goods p 983093983091) See also McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309121As will become apparent in the succeeding discussion the moral realism presented in this work
influenced by an embrace o the theological realism described above includes but also goes beyond
the philosophical version o this concept that simply holds that ldquogoodness exists independently o
the ideas we have about itrdquo (Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics [Nashville Abingdon
983090983088983089983089] pp 1048632983092-1048632983093)
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gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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10486261048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gives is himsel in the orm o his incarnate Son who embodies both
command and promise On the one hand Jesus serves as an embodied in-
dication o what obedience to God entails (the command) But goingbeyond this Jesus is also the one who provides his ollowers with the Spirit-
enabled reedom to embody this obedience in their own lives (promise)
And yet or Christrsquos ollowers to experience through him the command and
promise o God in any given ethical situation much more is required than
the reminder to ldquodo what Jesus would dordquo Instead an engagement in ethical
contextualization is called or Put differently in order or a moral aith-
ulness to occur Christian disciples must engage in a theologically real processo moral deliberation that results in the Christ-centered Spirit-enabled ability
to discern and do Godrsquos will in this or that ethical situation983090983090
Again Irsquoll have much more to say about the scriptural support or a
moral realism in a later section o the book983090983091 For now the important point
to be made is that itrsquos on the basis o a moral realism made possible by the
moral principles the Scriptures provide and the moral guidance those same
Scriptures promise that we can speak in terms o a moral aithulness Itrsquospossible to honor the heart o God only because itrsquos possible through the
Scriptures and the Spirit to ldquohearrdquo the heart o God Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness is intended to inorm and inspire its readers with respect to both o
these ethically significant discipleship dynamics
Tis leads me to comment on yet another distinctive theme o this work
Te possibility of a Spirit-enabled moral guidance Pressing a bit
urther the moral realism I espouse in this book also addresses in some
detail the manner in which according to the biblical revelation the Holy
Spirit enables a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
(that is the way he makes real to and within them the moral aithulness
Christ has rendered to the Father on their behal)983090983092 In his book Choosing
22See Grenz Moral Quest pp 9830891048632-983090983088 See also Donald Bloesch Freedom or Obedience Evangelical
Ethics or Contemporary imes (San Francisco Harper amp Row 9830899830971048632983095) pp 9830891048632983097-983097983089 Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983097-98308998309323For an accessible book-length presentation o some philosophical support or a moral realism see
Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge24Donald Bloesch writes ldquoOur salvation has already been enacted and ulfilled in Jesus Christ But
the ruits o our salvation need to be appropriated and maniested in a lie o discipleshiprdquo (Freedom
or Obedience p 983089983090) For an insightul and important discussion o the relationship between Christ
and the Holy Spiritmdashhow ldquosince the resurrection o Jesus lie in Christ Jesus is effectively lie in the
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486261048627
the Good ethicist Dennis Hollinger rankly admits that the ldquoHoly Spirit
receives scant attention in most ethics textsrdquo983090983093 Pursuing Moral Faith-
ulness will seek to redress this oversight as I bring to bear on the ethicalendeavor a commitment to what I reer to as a pneumatological realismmdash
the idea that Christrsquos ollowers should expect to interact with the Holy
Spirit in ways that are real and phenomenal (that is perceptible to our
senses) rather than merely theoretical conceptual or ritualistic983090983094
In due time I will elaborate on the two main ways the Holy Spirit goes
about enabling a moral aithulness within the lives o Christrsquos ollowers
Here I will simply make two bold assertions First as Christian disciplesengage in certain spiritual ormation practices (eg worship study com-
munity ministry praxis and so on) we put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos
Spirit is able to produce within us the Christlike desire to honor the heart o
God with respect to lie as a whole and moral matters in particular Second
as Christian disciples engage in certain spiritual discernment practices (eg
Scripture reading and prayer practiced in a theologically real manner) we
put ourselves in a place where Godrsquos Spirit is able to help us hear or sense theheart o God with respect to this or that moral matter veritably ldquospeakingrdquo
wisdom understanding and insight to us through the Scriptures the com-
munity o aith or directly to the sel by means o his still small voice983090983095
Holy Spirit who carries on the work o Jesusrdquo see Daniel Harrington and James Keenan Jesus and
Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology (Lanham MD
Sheed amp Ward 983090983088983088983090) pp 983091983095-983091104863225Hollinger Choosing the Good p 104863098309726Appreciative o this notion my riend and colleague Frank Macchia offers this elaboration ldquoPneuma-
tological lsquorealismrsquo takes or granted a biblically-inormed vision o lie and o the Christ lie in particu-
lar as substantively and necessarily pneumatological We are made or the Spirit and or the Christ
lie that the Spirit inspires Tere is no lie without the Spirit and there is no salvific or missonal
promise or challenge that does not have the presence o God through the Spirit at its very core A
pneumatological realism entails the idea that the New estament descriptions o lie in the Spirit are
not merely symbolic portrayals o lie that can be translated into modern psychological moral or so-
ciological categories Tough such categories can help us better understand how the lie o the Spirit
impacts us throughout various contexts o human experience the presence and work o the Holy Spirit
as described in the New estament are to be taken at ace value at the root o it all as realities that can
be known and elt in analogous ways todayrdquo (Frank Macchia email message to author August 983089983088 983090983088983089983092)
For more on this see James D G Dunn Baptism in the Holy Spirit A Re-examination o the New esta-
ment on the Gif o the Spirit (Philadelphia Westminster John Knox 983089983097983095983095) pp 983090983090983093-983090104863027I realize that the idea that the Holy Spirit can and will impart moral guidance through all three o
these means (Bible community word o wisdom) has not ofen been treated in traditional ap-
proaches to Christian ethics For example in James Gustasonrsquos Teology and Christian Ethics a
work in which one might expect a discussion o how a biblically inormed pneumatology will affect
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Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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10486261048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Itrsquos my sincere hope that the discussion o the possibility o a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance presented in this work will prove to be not only
provocative but motivational as wellTe crucial need for balance in the believerrsquos moral life Tis too is a
theme that will show up more than once in this book As already indicated
at the heart o Pursuing Moral Faithulness are two basic concerns Te first
is that too many contemporary Christians are making huge moral choices
each day just like their non-Christian peers do either ldquorom the gutrdquo based
on allen ultimately untrustworthy ethical instincts (see Prov 1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629
10486269830961048626983094) or on the basis o how the moral agent wants to be perceived by hisor her peers Te second big concern is that because many ollowers o
Christ have not experienced an adequate degree o moral ormationmdashone
that is both biblically inormed and careul to integrate the theoretical with
the practicalmdashitrsquos not at all uncommon or Christians who do engage in
some serious ethical reflection to do so in an essentially unbalanced
manner A premise o this book is that an unbalanced decision-making
process well-meaning or not will nearly always lead to moral behaviorthat grieves rather than honors the heart o God
Te areas o the moral lie in which balance is needed are many doing
justice to both the love o God and the neighbor an emphasis in moral
deliberation on rules results and virtues983090983096 the need to engage in both
the moral lives o Christians there are scant reerences to the Holy Spirit One o the ew has to
do with the Spiritrsquos ability to work through the moral discourse that occurs within Christian com-
munities to enable Christians to ldquobecome better discerners o Godrsquos willrdquo (James M Gustason
Teology and Christian Ethics [Philadelphia United Church Press 983089983097983095983092] p 983089983089983095) A similar themeshows up in Paul Lehmann Ethics in a Christian Context (New York Harper amp Row 9830899830971048630983091) p 983092983095
and the entirety o Bruce C Birch and Larry L Rasmussen Bible and Ethics in the Christian Lie
(Minneapolis Augsburg 9830899830979830951048630) In a similarly reductionistic manner Norman Geisler while main-
taining a theoretical or conceptual role or the Holy Spirit in Christian ethics essentially conflates
the Spirit with the Scriptures (Norman L Geisler Te Christian Ethic o Love [Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983089983097983095983091] pp 9830971048630-983097983095) While Irsquom in agreement with the notion o the Spirit working
through the community o aith and the Scriptures one o the goals o this work is to advocate or
a more robust pneumatology with respect to ethics in general and the dynamic o moral delibera-
tion in particular28Support or a balanced emphasis on rules results and virtues can be ound in Robin Lovin Christian
Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983089-1048630983091 Rae Moral Choices pp 983092983090-983092983092
Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 9830899830931048632 Kotva Christian Case or Virtue Ethics
pp 983089983095983088-983095983090 N Wright Afer You Believe Why Christian Character Matters (New York Harper-
One 983090983088983089983088) p 9830901048630 Stanley Hauerwas A Community o Character oward a Constructive Christian
Social Ethic (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983089) p 983089983089983092 Hauerwas Te Peaceable
Kingdom A Primer on Christian Ethics (Notre Dame University o Notre Dame Press 9830899830971048632983091) p 983090983091
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486261048629
spiritual ormation empowerment disciplines and moral ormation dis-
cernment practices the need to remain open to all the avenues by which
the Spirit might speak to us (that is the Scriptures the community oaith and his still small voice speaking directly to the conscience)9830901048633 and
the need to engage in theologically real versions o both Scripture study
and prayer at the same time9830911048624
Over against an unbalanced exercise in moral deliberation Jesus
seems to have prescribed an approach to making ethical decisions that
calls or his ollowers to ocus attention on respecting rules considering
consequences and cultivating character In other words the ambition oJesus is to produce disciples who like him are eager and able to discern
the heart o God and act in a manner aithul to it While asking the
question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo is not completely without benefit the
better question is ldquoWhat is the Spirit o Jesus up to in this or that situ-
ation and how canshould I cooperate with him in itrdquo
Yes this approach to moral deliberation does seem to call or a tre-
mendous degree o intellectual and existential poise (or balance) It alsopresumes the possibility o a Spirit-enabled experience o divine moral
guidance and the need or an openness to it Tese realities prompt the
question Where does the inspiration come rom to even want to live
onersquos lie in a morally aithul manner
Te crucial need for the moral life of believers to be grounded in their
understanding of Christian discipleship A final theme distinctive o this
work possesses both a theoretical and practical significance On the theo-
retical side o things Christian ethicist Stanley Hauerwas has been careul
to note the problems that accrue when philosophers eager to secure
peace between people o diverse belies and histories attempt to orge an
Louis P Pojman How Should We Live An Introduction to Ethics (Belmont CA Wadsworth 983090983088983088983092)
p 98308910486321048632 and Frankena Ethics p 104863098309329See Paul Lewis ldquoA Pneumatological Approach to Virtue Ethicsrdquo Asian Journal o Pentecostal Studies
983089 no 983089 (9830899830979830971048632) 983092983090-1048630983089 Online version wwwaptseduaeimagesFileAJPS_PDF9830971048632-983089-lewispd30In addition to all o these more practical concerns therersquos the more theoretical but still important
need to make sure that our approach to Christian ethics remains balanced theologically so that
our moral lives are influenced in unique ways by God the Father as creatorlawgiverassessor
Christ the Son as reconcilerexemplarintercessor and the Holy Spirit as sanctifierilluminator
acilitator For a helpul discussion o the importance o a Christian ethic that maintains a proper
trinitarian balance see Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 9830899830931048632-983095983090
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 3450
10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4050
1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048626983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
approach to ethics thatrsquos ldquounqualifiedrdquomdashthat is universal in its application
and utility983091983089 Hauerwas astutely observes that such an ldquounqualifiedrdquo ethic
would ldquomake irrelevant or morality the essential Christian convictionsabout the nature o God and Godrsquos care o us through his calling o Israel
and the lie o Jesusrdquo983091983090 He goes on to assert that or Christian ethics to
possess integrity rather than being relegated to ldquosome separate lsquoreligious
aspectsrsquo o our lives where they make little difference to our moral exis-
tencerdquo they must remain distinctively Christian983091983091 Indeed says Hauerwas
ldquothe primary task o Christian ethics is to understand the basis and nature
o the Christian lierdquo983091983092
Among other things this means that there is or atleast should be an integral connection between the study o Christian
ethics and the lie o Christian discipleship
On the practical side o things the study o Christian ethics ofen
occurs in a course housed in the ldquocore curriculumrdquo o Christian univer-
sitiesmdasha noble attempt to integrate aith and learning in the lives o all
students (their respective majors notwithstanding) While I appreciate
the way this curricular arrangement indicates the special importance othis course my experience has been that i care is not taken such a move
can not only ail to achieve the kind o cross-disciplinary integration the
curriculum designers were hoping or but it can also serve to bracket off
the study o Christian ethics rom other courses offered in the religion
curriculum Tus itrsquos not uncommon or some nonndashreligion majors to
approach this mandatory course with an apathetic or even antagonistic
attitude in place and or a ew religion majors to do likewise
In my estimation the solution to the attitudinal problem just reerred to
is not to excise the study o Christian ethics rom the core curriculum but
to do all we can to make sure that the bracketing dynamic described above
doesnrsquot occur Christian ethics is something that aculty members across
the disciplines need to be discussing among themselves and with their stu-
dents Special care needs to be taken within the religion department in
31See Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 98308998309532Ibid p 98309098309033Ibid pp 983090983090-983091983092 (Quote cited is rom p 983090983090) For a more nuanced discussion o this topic see the
book-length treatment o it provided in James M Gustason Can Ethics Be Christian (Chicago
University o Chicago Press 983089983097983095983093)34Hauerwas Peaceable Kingdom p 983093983088
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486261048631
particular to make sure that religion majors understand that the study o
Christian ethics housed in the core curriculum is an integral part o their
theological and ministry training Finally those o us who teach Christianethics regardless o curricular logistics need to do our best to do so in a
way thatrsquos interesting (rather than boring) and that demonstrates the vital
importance o the topic to the Christian lie as a whole
What Irsquom suggesting ultimately is that the problem o contemporary
Christians making ethical decisions in an irresponsible and unbalanced
manner calls or the moral lie o believers to be grounded in their un-
derstanding o Christian discipleship Christians o all ages must cometo understand that a moral aithulness contributing as it does to a mis-
sional aithulness (and ruitulness) lies at the very heart o what it
means to be ully a devoted ollower o Christ
Such an assessment o the importance o a moral aithulness will affect
the way disciple making is practiced whether at home church or the
Christian university Put simply our understanding o Christian maturity
needs to take very seriously the commitment and ability o the disciple tomake moral choices that seek to honor the heart o God We havenrsquot suc-
ceeded at making a Christian disciple i he or she ends up making ethical
decisions in precisely the same way that his or her non-Christian peers do
Irsquom convinced that despite the press o the current culture we donrsquot
have to continue living our lives the way most everyone around us doesmdash
in an ethically irresponsible andor unbalanced manner Furthermore
as Christian disciples we can do more than develop the habit o asking
the question ldquoWhat would Jesus dordquo as helpul as that can be No the
hope Irsquom holding out is this with the Holy Spiritrsquos help we can learn to
live our lives the way Jesus didmdashin a morally aithul manner
H983151983159 T983144983145983155 T983141983160983156 I983155 P983157983156 T983151983143983141983156983144983141983154
Having provided a airly thorough overview o the main themes that are
emphasized in Pursuing Moral Faithulness my discussion o how the
book is structured will be comparatively brie Te ten chapters that
make up the work are divided into two major sections Rather than ex-
haust the reader with a detailed description o all ten chapters I will
simply summarize here the major thrust o each main section
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048626983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Part one is titled ldquoGetting Started Assessing Our Current Moral
Faithulness Quotientrdquo and strives to introduce readers to the discipline
o Christian ethics in a way that emphasizes the need or a practicalintegration-oriented approach to the study o it In addition to providing
whatrsquos designed to be a reader-riendly overview o some very basic
ethical theory the chapters that make up this section o the book also
challenge readers to ponder some very important preliminary questions
How do most o our contemporaries tend to approach moral matters
Why is the moral aithulness the Bible seems to prescribe so very rare
among our peers even those who proess to be Christians What hasbeen the impact in terms o our own moral thinking and practice o the
religio-cultural soup most o us are swimming in983091983093 How ar away are we
at present rom a liestyle o moral aithulness
Part two o the work bears the title ldquooward a Moral Faithulness
Integrating Balance and Responsibility into Our Ethical Livesrdquo Itrsquos here
that I present the case or a Christ-centered biblically inormed and
Spirit-empowered approach to making moral decisions which I reer toas the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship Itrsquos my contention that a
theologically real contextualizing ethical approach to making moral de-
cisionsmdashone that does justice to rules results and virtuesmdashis the way
orward or those ollowers o Christ who are eager in a postmodern
world to emulate the responsible and balanced moral decision-making
manner practiced and promoted by Jesus himsel983091983094
o be more specific the chapters presented in this second section o the
35As Irsquom using the term religio-cultural reers to the way nominal Christian and secular cultural influences
combine to create an ecclesial environment that actually works against Christian spiritual health and a
moral aithulness I will have more to say about this discipleship-deeating dynamic in chapter our36Tat is Irsquom suggesting that this ethic is the means by which Christians can to do justice to the anthro-
pological imperative (Eph 983092983089 983089 Tess 983092983089-1048632) that ollows the prior theological indicativemdasha moral
aithulness beore God the Father vicariously accomplished by Christ the Son or those who through
aith and the sanctiying work o the Spirit are included ldquoin himrdquo (see Eph 983089983091-983092 c Acts 98309010486309830891048632 Rom
983089983093983089983092-9830891048630 983089 Cor 983089983090 1048630983097-983089983089) See Joseph Kotvarsquos helpul discussion o the relationship between the
indicative and imperative in Paul and how this aligns with a virtue theory o ethics ( Christian Case
or Virtue Ethics pp 9830899830901048630-983090983097) A similar discussion can be ound in Daniel Harrington and James
Keenan Paul and Virtue Ethics Building Bridges Between New estament Studies and Moral Teology
(Lanham MD Rowman amp Littlefield 983090983088983089983088) pp 983093983090-983093983092 See also the comprehensive treatment o the
ldquoIndicative and Imperativerdquo as one o several bases or Pauline ethics in Wolgang Schrage Te Ethics
o the New estament (Philadelphia Fortress 98308998309710486321048632) pp 9830891048630983095-983095983090 See the also concise treatment o this
theme presented in McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 1048632983092-10486321048630
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Introduction 10486261048633
book make the case or the ethic o responsible Christian discipleship by
elaborating on the nature o the moral and pneumatological realism that
are at the heart o this ethical approach how Jesus himsel seemed to modelthis ethical approach some important reasons why such an ethic should be
embraced and finally the process by which a rank-and-file church member
actually becomes an ethically responsible Christian disciple
Make no mistake as indicated already Pursuing Moral Faithulness is not
intended to unction as a comprehensive introduction to ethics in general
Instead as its subtitle indicates itrsquos a book about ethics and Christian disci-
pleshipmdasha primer on Christian ethics that ocuses on one very seriousmatter in particular too many Christians making ethical decisions in es-
sentially the same way as their non- and post-Christian peers
With that thought in mind Irsquom happy to report that the young adult
student whose final paper began with an honest admission regarding his
prior ailure to make moral decisions in a responsible and balanced
manner concluded that assignment on a completely different note He
finished the reflection section o the paper with words o appreciation orthe way the course had challenged and equipped him to be more mindul
concerning the process by which he made moral decisions as a ollower o
Christ Tough he did not use the phrase ldquoa moral aithulnessrdquo in these
concluding paragraphs I could tell that he ldquogotrdquo it had become committed
to it and would as an emerging Christian leader commend it to others
Honestly I canrsquot think o a better outcome than what occurred in this
young manrsquos lie Itrsquos my hope that this book contributes in some small
way to the ability o others to have the same experience Irsquom convinced
that many Christian students and church members especially those
rom among the emerging generations are actually eager to be discipled
in a way that enables them to make moral decisions in a distinctively
Christian manner Tis is what Pursuing Moral Faithulness is all about
urn the page and wersquoll get this very important pursuit started
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Part One
GETTING
STARTED
Assessing Our CurrentMoral Faithfulness Quotient
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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1048627983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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983089
Morality Matters
A User-Friendly Introduction
to Christian Ethics
Te Bible portrays God as an intrinsically moral being who cares greatly
about how human beings created in his image relate to him one another
themselves and the rest o creation Itrsquos or this reason that or most
Christians morality matters
And yet the manner in which Christian scholars understand and ex-plain this conviction can take different orms For example addressing
a Christian audience on the topic o ldquothe ethical challenge and the
Christianrdquo theologian Stanley Grenz writes
We are all ethicists We all ace ethical questions and these questions are o
grave importance As Christians we know why this is so We live out our
days in the presence o God And this God has preerences God desires that
we live a certain way while disapproving o other ways in which we mightchoose to live
Although everyone lives ldquobeore Godrdquo many people are either ignorant o
or choose to ignore this situation As Christians in contrast we readily ac-
knowledge our standing beore God We know that we are responsible to a
God who is holy Not only can God have no part in sin the God o the Bible
must banish sinul creatures rom his presence Knowing this we approach
lie as the serious matter that it is How we live is important Our choices and
actions make a difference they count or eternity Tereore we realize that
seeking to live as ethical Christians is no small task983089
1Stanley J Grenz Te Moral Quest Foundations o Christian Ethics (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity
Press 10486259830979830971048631) pp 10486251048631-10486251048632 emphasis original
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Morality Matters 10486271048629
Ultimately both Grenz and Lewis provide support or the well-known
aphorism ldquoSow a thought and you reap an action sow an action and you reap
a habit sow a habit and you reap a character sow a character and you reap adestinyrdquo Whichever approach you preermdashthat o Grenz or Lewismdashthe
bottom line is that or most Christians morality matters (or at least it should)
Why this discussion o the importance o Christian ethics Te bulk
o this chapter has to do with ethical theory As indicated in the bookrsquos
introduction the aim throughout Pursuing Moral Faithulness is to in-
spire as well as inorm Tis requires that I do my best to present ethical
theory in a way that doesnrsquot seem overly complicated on the one hand orinconsequential on the other My goal in this first chapter is to introduce
Christian ethics to my readers in such a way as to leave them enlightened
yet eager or more Having begun by presenting what was intended as a
brie motivational reflection on the importance o Christian morality I
want to continue by providing some simple yet hopeully interesting
answers to several basic questions related to the study o it
W983144983137983156 I983155 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
Ethics along with metaphysics (the study o the nature o reality) epis-
temology (the study o how we come by our knowledge o reality) logic
(the study o correct or proper reasoning) and aesthetics (the study o
the phenomenon o beauty) is a subdiscipline included in the larger
intellectual discipline known as philosophy (the intellectual pursuit o
wisdom or truth in its largest sense)983093 Tis explains why ethics is some-
times reerred to as ldquomoral philosophyrdquo983094
Speaking broadly and rom a philosophical rather than theological
perspective at this point983095 ethics is essentially the study o the good lie how
5Robertson McQuilkin and Paul Copan An Introduction to Biblical Ethics Walking in the Way o
Wisdom 983091rd ed (Downers Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830899830936Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 See also William K Frankena Ethics 983090nd ed (Englewood Cliffs NJ
Prentice-Hall 983089983097983095983091) p 9830927According to Dennis Hollinger philosophical ethics ldquostudies the moral lie rom within the rame-
work o philosophy and utilizes a rational approach apart rom any religious or proessional commit-
mentsrdquo (Choosing the Good Christian Ethics in a Complex World [Grand Rapids Baker Academic
983090983088983088983090] p 983089983093) Patrick Nullens and Ronald Michener go urther and articulate the distinction be-
tween moral philosophy and moral theology (Nullens and Michener Te Matrix o Christian Ethics
Integrating Philosophy and Moral Teology in a Postmodern Context [Downers Grove IL IVP Books
983090983088983089983088] p 1048630983091)
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1048627983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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10486281048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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itrsquos conceived o and achieved983096 Te most basic assumption behind this
philosophical approach to the study o ethics is that the good lie has a
moral quality about it it is achieved by becoming a good person1048633 Indeedgoing all the way back to the times o Plato and Aristotle (fifh and ourth
centuries 983138983139 respectively) one way o thinking about ethics has been
to ponder the crucial questions What does it mean to be a good person
What virtues are required9830891048624
And yet the study o ethics has come to involve more than simply the
study o virtues or ways o being Te very idea that therersquos such a thing
as a good lie lived by a good person implies that a distinction can bemade between good and bad ways o behaving as well Tus ethics is also
thought o as ldquothe science o determining right and wrong conduct or
human beingsrdquo983089983089 Tis more behavior-oriented understanding o the
study o ethics is discernible in the expanded description o this philo-
sophical subdiscipline provided by ethicist Philip Hughes
Ethics has to do with the way people behave Te term ethics is derived rom a
Greek word (ethos) meaning ldquocustomrdquo its equivalent morals comes rom acorresponding Latin word (mos) with the same meaning Te concern o ethics
or morals however is not merely the behavior that is customary in society but
rather the behavior that ought to be customary in society Ethics is prescriptive
not simply descriptive Its domain is that o duty and obligation and it seeks
to define the distinction between right and wrong between justice and in-
justice and between responsibility and irresponsibility Because human
conduct is all too seldom what it ought to be (as the annals o mankind amply
attest) the study o ethics is a discipline o perennial importance983089983090
8See Robin Lovin An Introduction to Christian Ethics (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983089983089) pp 983089983088-983089983092 Lovin
Christian Ethics An Essential Guide (Nashville Abingdon 983090983088983088983088) pp 983097-9830891048630 Grenz Moral Quest
pp 983092983091-983092983092 9830931048630-983093983095 Henlee H Barnette Introducing Christian Ethics (Nashville Broadman and Hol-
man 9830899830971048630983089) pp 983091-983092 Scott Rae Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics 983091rd ed (Grand Rapids
Zondervan 983090983088983088983097) pp 983089983089-983089983090 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830899830919See Lovin Introduction p 983092 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983089-983089983090
10See David W Gill Becoming Good Building Moral Character (Downers Grove IL InterVarsity Press
983090983088983088983088) pp 1048630983092-10486301048630 983097983093-983097983095 Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983091-983090983092 983091983095 1048630983088-983095983095 9830909830891048632 Hollinger Choosing the Good
pp 9830921048630-983092983097 Rae Moral Choices pp 983097983089-98309798309311I am indebted to my ethics mentor Lewis Smedes (now deceased) or this very basic definition o
ethics that according to my notes I first heard him present in a lecture given on January 983097 9830899830971048632983090
as part o a course on Christian ethics offered at Fuller Teological Seminary12Philip E Hughes Christian Ethics in Secular Society (Grand Rapids Baker 9830899830971048632983091) p 983089983089 emphasis
added
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Morality Matters 10486271048631
Tis expanded description is a helpul starting point or understanding the
essence o ethics or several reasons First it indicates that the study o
ethics is about human behavior (doing) as well as being Second it explainswhy the terms ethics and morals are used by most ethicists in an inter-
changeable nearly synonymous manner983089983091 Tird it suggests that while
therersquos such a discipline as descriptive ethics therersquos need or an approach
to ethics thatrsquos prescriptive or normative as well983089983092 Fourth in support o a
prescriptive approach to the study o ethics this definition o the discipline
makes the crucial point that at the heart o ethics is the assumption that
there exists a moral ldquooughtrdquo that makes it possible to speak in terms o rightand wrong justice and injustice responsibility and irresponsibility983089983093 Fi-
nally it asserts that the study o ethics is an important endeavor precisely
because o the negative personal and social consequences that accrue
when the ideas o moral duty and obligation are ignored or neglected
Pressing urther I want to underscore the importance o the idea that
at the heart o ethics is a sense o ought having to do with both character
and conduct It seems that the deeply rooted sense that there are someways o being and behaving that simply ought and ought not to occur is
a phenomenon most people are amiliar with983089983094 Herersquos a reflective ex-
ercise that was used by Lewis Smedes to help his seminary students get
in touch with their sense o moral ought
13For example see Frankena Ethics pp 983093-1048630 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983091 Rae Moral Choices p 983089983093
Lovin Introduction p 983097 For their part Nullens and Michener attempt to distinguish between the
terms suggesting that we think o ethics as the ldquomethodological thinking o morality rather thanmorality itselrdquo (Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983097)
14Actually most ethicists draw a distinction between at least three types o ethics For example ap-
parently ollowing the lead o William Frankena (Ethics pp 983092-983093) Stanley Grenz uses the terms
empirical (descriptive) normative and analytical when identiying the three major dimensions in
which general ethics are ofen divided (see Grenz Moral Quest pp 983090983092-983090983093) Scott Rae goes urther
drawing a distinction between our broad categories o ethics descriptive normative metaethics
(analytical) and aretaic (see Rae Moral Choices pp 983089983093-9830891048630) In a nutshell the discipline o descrip-
tive or empirical ethics merely describes the moral behaviors o a people group Prescriptive or
normative ethics actually develops and commends standards o moral conduct Analytical or
metaethics strives to clariy ethical language and explores philosophical and theological justifica-
tions or moral judgments Aretaic ethics ocuses on moral virtues rather than behaviors15See also Frankena Ethics p 983097 Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983093 Hollinger Choosing the Good p 98308998309116C S Lewis reerred to the ldquoodd individual here and thererdquo who does not seem to possess an innate
sense o moral ought comparing such a person to someone who is colorblind or tone-dea See
Lewis Mere Christianity p 983093 See also Christian Smith Moral Believing Animals Human Person-
hood and Culture (New York Oxord University Press 983090983088983088983091) pp 983089983091-983089983092
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Imagine that yoursquore riding a bus in the downtown region o a city All the seats on
the bus are filled when two young men in their late teens get on board Looking
around or two empty spaces these late arrivers discover there arenrsquot any But insteado standing and holding on to the handrails that are there or that purpose they grab
an elderly couple yank them out o their seats throw them to the floor and then plop
into those spaces themselves grinning at one another and smirking at the elderly
couple aferward What goes on in your mind as you watch this situation unold
Having employed this exercise mysel over the years I can attest to the act
that most persons engaging in it will acknowledge that just imagining such
a scenario causes them to experience some rather strong visceral eelingso discomort indignation perhaps even anger Te question is Why
Why is nearly everyonersquos reaction to this story negative in nature Why
does nearly everyone seem to possess the same conviction that under these
circumstances the behavior o these two young men was simply wrong
While the scenario depicted in this reflection exercise was concocted
my files are filled with real-lie stories o humans behaving badly toward
one another For example therersquos the troubling story o a hit-and-run
driver who covertly parked her car in her garage and waited patiently
or two hours or the injured pedestrian still stuck in her windshield to
die so she could then dispose o the body983089983095 More disturbing still is the
horrible story o the gang rape o a West Palm Beach woman by ten local
youths In addition to physically and sexually brutalizing this Haitian
immigrant the gang elt it necessary to orce this mother to perorm
oral sex on her own twelve-year-old son983089983096 As I write this the distressing
story du jour is about a rustrated ather who unable to get his six-
week-old daughter to stop crying put her in the reezer and then ell
asleep He awakened only when his wie returned home some time later
Clothed only in a diaper the babyrsquos body temperature dropped to 9830961048628
degrees beore she was finally retrieved rom the reezer Shersquos expected
to survive but the initial medical examination indicates that she also
suffers rom a broken arm and leg as well as injury to the head9830891048633
17See ldquoWoman Is Sentenced to 983093983088 Years in Case o Man in Windshieldrdquo New York imes June 9830901048632 983090983088983088983091 www
nytimescom98309098308898308898309198308810486309830901048632uswoman-is-sentenced-to-983093983088-years-in-case-o-man-in-windshieldhtml18See ldquoeen Gets 983090983088 Years or Gang Rape o Woman Sonrdquo NBCNEWScom November 9830901048630 983090983088983088983095 www
nbcnewscomid9830909830899830971048632983090983091983089983090nsus_news-crime_and_courtstteen-gets-years-gang-rape-woman-son19See ldquoMan Accused o Putting 1048630-week-old Baby Daughter in Freezerrdquo NBCNEWScom May 9830901048632 983090983088983089983091
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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10486281048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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10486281048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
W983144983141983154983141 D983151983141983155 T983144983145983155 S983141983150983155983141 983151983142 M983151983154983137983148 O983157983143983144983156 C983151983149983141 F983154983151983149983103
Now that we have a better idea o what ethics is about letrsquos go on to
discuss the origin o the sense o ought that is at the heart o it Such anendeavor will enable us to make a crucial distinction between philo-
sophical and theological ethics
Consider once again the way those teenagers behaved on the bus
toward the elderly couple o reiterate my sense is that most o us eel
very strongly that what these two teens did given the circumstances was
not just unortunate but actually wrong But how do we come by this
particular convictionSome would argue that such a perspective is the result o an instinctive
response produced by evolutionary biology It has become ingrained in
our human nature over the course o several thousands o years that or
our species to survive sometimes the strong have to look afer the weak983090983091
Others would counter that this ethical opinion is merely the result o
cultural societal influence We hold this behavior to be wrong simply
because wersquove been trained to do so by the society in which wersquove beenraised983090983092 Te implication is that there might be a culture somewhere in
which this type o behavior even in similar circumstances is considered
to be perectly acceptable perhaps even laudable
Still others might insist that the sense o discomort wersquore eeling is the
result o philosophical reflection According to this ethical theory we ac-
tually come by our moral convictions by means o moral logic and rea-
soning For example we might have quickly asked ourselves such crucialquestions as What would our society be like i everyone behaved this way
Could we wish that everyone in a similar situation might treat the elderly
in such a manner Ten concluding that it wouldnrsquot be good i everybody
mistreated elderly olk we made the determination that no one should983090983093
Finally without denying the role that instinct culture and reasoning
play in the ethical decision-making process there are those who maintain
23See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 9830891048632983088 See also Peter Singer ed Ethics
(New York Oxord University Press 983089983097983097983092) pp 983093-1048630 24See rudy Grovier ldquoWhat Is Consciencerdquo Humanist Perspectives 983089983093983089 (Winter 983090983088983088983092) wwwhumanist
perspectivesorgissue983089983093983089whatis_consciencehtml25For more on the ethical rationalism o Immanuel Kant see chapter three o this book See also
Rae Moral Choices pp 983095983095-1048632983089 Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics pp 983089983088983091-983097
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Morality Matters 10486281048625
that moral convictions such as this derive rom the act that human
beings bear the image o a personal God who has an opinion about how
we should treat one another Te view here is that itrsquos because Godhimsel is a moral being with moral sensitivities that humans created in
his image possess an innate oundational haunting sense o right and
wrong983090983094 In other words the reason why most people living anywhere
would instinctively sense that what the two youths did to the elderly
couple was wrong is that God has put within each human heart a unda-
mental moral sensibilitymdashone that tells us we should not do to others
what we would not want them to do to us (or someone dear to us) A Biblepassage that seems to support this last perspective reads
Indeed when Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature things required
by the law they are a law or themselves even though they do not have the
law Tey show that the requirements o the law are written on their hearts
their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts sometimes accusing
them and at other times even deending them (Rom 104862610486251048628-10486251048629)
According to this passage one doesnrsquot have to have read the law o Mosesto know that behaviors such as lying stealing murder adultery and so on
are wrong983090983095 Te reasoning is thus the act that we wouldnrsquot want anyone
to do these things to us is an instinctual indication that we shouldnrsquot do
them to others Per the apostle Paul Godrsquos lawmdashand the undamental
sense o moral ought it producesmdashis inscribed on the human heart
Obviously itrsquos this ourth possible explanation o where the sense o
moral ought comes rom that orms the oundation or an ethic that seeksto incorporate the theological and moral realism reerred to in this bookrsquos
introduction Tis is a main point o distinction between a philosophical
and a theological approach to ethics In a theological ethic the source o
the sense o moral ought that humans are endowed with comes not rom
nature or society or pure rationality but rom God We are moral beings
26Tis argument was popularized in the modern era by C S Lewis in book one o Mere Christianity
a section titled ldquoRight and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning o the Universerdquo pp 983091-983091983090 See also
Smedes Mere Morality pp 983089983088-983089983090 and McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 983089983091
However Nullens and Michener make the point that some religious philosophers are critical o
Lewisrsquos argument insisting ldquoTe ability to make moral judgments does not lead us to the origin o
that moral capacityrdquo ( Matrix o Christian Ethics p 983089983095)27See McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics pp 9830891048632 10486301048630
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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precisely because wersquove been created in the image o a divine moral being
Itrsquos because God has an opinion about how creatures made in his image
ought to behave toward him one another themselves and the rest ocreation that he has placed within them a deeply rooted haunting sense
o moral ought According to the Bible passage cited above this sense o
moral ought can be thought o as residing in the human conscience
which when unctioning according to its divine design serves to either
assure or accuse us with respect to our ethical choices983090983096
Please note that Irsquom not suggesting that Christian ethics can be grounded
in natural revelation (what we can know about God by looking at creation)9830901048633
Irsquom simply indicating that the notion o ethics in general can be thought
o as being about a haunting sense o moral oughtmdasha phenomenon that
according to not only C S Lewis but the apostle Paul as well seems to
earmark the human experience9830911048624 Indeed rather than trying to ground
Christian ethics in natural revelation Irsquoll go on to make the observation
that this conviction that the sense o moral ought operative in the human
heart is o theological rather than biological sociological or philosophicalorigin actually raises another basic but vitally important question
W983144983161 I983155 I983156 O983142983156983141983150 S983156983145983148983148 V983141983154983161 D983145983142983142983145983139983157983148983156 983156983151 K983150983151983159
W983144983137983156 W983141 O983157983143983144983156 983156983151 D983151983103
One might think that i God is concerned enough about morality to
provide human beings with a conscience designed to help us know afer the
act whether wersquove succeeded or ailed in the ethical endeavor he might
also have provided us with an innate prescience (that is oresight) that
allows us to know beore the act and with absolute certainty what specific
course o action the moral ought is calling or in each lie situation we ace
However as indicated above a biblically inormed approach to ethics un-
28For a much more thorough discussion (rom a sociological perspective) o the source o the moral
ought within human hearts see the section titled ldquoAddendum Why Are Humans Moral Animalsrdquo
in Smith Moral Believing Animals pp 983091983091-98309298309129Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090 For a helpul discussion o ldquonatural theologyrdquomdashthat is ldquowhat
can be understood about God through human constitution history and nature independently o
special revelationrdquomdashsee Michael F Bird Evangelical Teology A Biblical and Systematic Introduction
(Grand Rapids Zondervan 983090983088983089983091) pp 9830899830951048632-98309798309030See R Scott Smith In Search o Moral Knowledge Overcoming the Fact-Value Dichotomy (Downers
Grove IL IVP Academic 983090983088983089983092) p 9830911048630
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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Morality Matters 10486281048627
derstands that i such a moral prescience was ever active in the human
species it was so damaged in humanityrsquos all as to be rendered unreliable
without the ethical guidance and moral empowerment provided by theScriptures and the Holy Spirit Indeed according to the biblical revelation
one o the results o the all recounted in Genesis 1048627 is a proound inability
on the part o human beings to trust their raw ethical instincts (see Prov
1048625104862810486251048626 104862598309410486261048629 10486269830961048626983094) Tis explains why when aced with some ethical choices
itrsquos not uncommon or even devout Bible-believing theists to find them-
selves not at all certain as to what the moral ought requires
But therersquos another even more basic reason why we human beingsofen find it difficult to know what the ldquorightrdquo thing to do is when aced
with the need to make an ethical decision Allow me to explain what I
have in mind here by reerring to a real-lie incident that occurred in one
o my ethics courses
Itrsquos my custom to begin all class sessions with prayer On one occasion
while teaching a course that ocused on ethics in the marketplace a young
adult student elt comortable enough in the environment to request prayeror some divine direction He had been offered the job o his dreamsmdash
managing a website On the one hand this computer-savvy student was
genuinely excited the job offer would not only allow him to make a living
doing what he loved to do but would also make it possible or him to
provide or his amily in a more-than-adequate manner As he put it ldquoTis
job is going to pay me a boatload o money to do something Irsquod gladly do
or reerdquo On the other hand the student was also uneasy Te website he
was being recruited to manage provided its subscribers with pornographic
images and videos Tis was not exactly the kind o website he as a
Christian envisioned himsel overseeing Tus his excitement notwith-
standing he was also perplexed enough so to request prayer
Tis studentrsquos unpleasant experience o bewilderment was due to the
act that he ound himsel acing what is known as a moral dilemma On
the one hand he elt an obligation to provide or his amily in the best
possible manner On the other hand something didnrsquot seem right about
doing so in a way that might contribute to problems typically associated
with pornography Tough it may do so imperectly this story illustrates
the reality that in this allen world itrsquos possible to find ourselves in situa-
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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tions where we eel tugged at by more than one sense o moral ought at the
same time More than anything else itrsquos the phenomenon o the moral
dilemmamdashthe uncomortable experience o eeling tugged at by morethan one sense o moral obligation at the same timemdashthat explains why
the enterprise o ethics came into existence in the first place
S983151 W983144983137983156 D983151 W983141 D983151 983159983145983156983144 M983151983154983137983148 D983145983148983141983149983149983137983155983103
Since the time o Socrates philosophers and theologians have put
orward various approaches to making ethical decisions By and large
these approaches to resolving moral dilemmas have allen into threedistinct categories
bull the ethics o duty (or rules)
bull the ethics o consequences (or results)
bull the ethics o being (or virtues)
What distinguishes each o these approaches is its primary ocus when
making an ethical decision Te goal o all three decision-making meth-odologies is to enable the moral agent to do the ldquorightrdquo thing whether
this is conceived o as achieving the good lie or honoring the heart o
God983091983089 As the next couple o chapters will indicate there are both theo-
logical and philosophical versions o each approach At this point in our
discussion my goal is simply to provide a brie no-nonsense description
o these three traditional approaches to the ethical endeavor
Deontology Te ethics o duty is also known as deontological ethics983091983090
Tis name is derived rom the Greek word deon meaning ldquowhat is duerdquo983091983091
Te root idea behind deontologism is the undamental conviction that
morality is objective a moral action is intrinsically right or wrong irre-
spective o the moral agentrsquos motive or intention or the actionrsquos outcome983091983092
Tus ethics is simply about determining and doing what is the inherently
right course o action when aced with a moral dilemma983091983093 While there is
31Actually Robin Lovin makes the argument that pursuing the good lie and honoring God are not
necessarily mutually exclusive goals See Lovin Christian Ethics pp 983089983089-98308998309332Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309033See Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097 McQuilkin and Copan Introduction to Biblical Ethics p 98308998309598309734Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309035Grenz Moral Quest p 983090983097
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
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1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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1048628983094 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
ldquovirtuerdquo983092983093 Te idea here is that the motive o the moral agent matters and
the ocus in ethics should be on ldquowho a person should become more than
what a person should dordquo983092983094 Tus the ocus in areteology is not on rulesor results but character983092983095 Whenever wersquore aced with the question ldquoWhat
should I dordquo we should ask ourselves such character-related questions
as What kind o person should I be in this situation What virtues should
I strive to exhibit Is there a particular virtue or set o virtues I believe
should earmark all o my ethical actions (eg humility generosity honesty
courage) What virtuous person should I strive to emulate What would
that person o virtue do i he or she were in my place983092983096
Te simplicity o the survey presented above notwithstanding it
should be apparent that therersquos a big difference between these three tra-
ditional approaches to ethical decision making In order to make this
more apparent letrsquos revisit the moral dilemma I reerred to earlier that
had to do with the student and the tempting job offer that came his way
Letrsquos imagine that yoursquore in the classroom when this request or prayer is
made Tis ellow student is a riend o yours At the break he connects withyou and asks or your input Assuming that you care enough about your
riendrsquos well-being to venture to speak into his lie (see Col 10486271048625983094) how would
you counsel him Which o the three approaches surveyed above would
most inorm the way yoursquod try to help him make this ethical decision9830921048633
On the one hand it may be that the first thing that occurs to us is the
need to remind our riend o the biblical verse that warns ldquoAnyone who
does not provide or their relatives and especially or their own household
he has denied the aith and is worse than an unbelieverrdquo (1048625 im 1048629983096) Or on
the other hand we might encourage him to ponder those New estament
passages that in one way or another translate the Greek word porneiamdash
passages that provide strident warnings against all orms o sexual immo-
rality and lust (eg Mt 104862510486291048625983096-10486251048633 1048626 Cor 1048625104862610486261048625 Gal 104862910486251048633 Eph 10486291048627 Col 10486271048629 1048625 Tess
45See Lovin Introduction p 983095983092 Rae Moral Choices p 98309798308946Rae Moral Choices p 983097983091 According to Rae the ldquooundational moral claims made by the virtue theorist
concern the moral agent (the person doing the action) not the act that the agent perormsrdquo (p 983097983089)47Ibid pp 983097983089 983097983091 thus an alternate name or virtue ethics is ldquocharacter ethicsrdquo See Nullens and
Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309398309148See Rae Moral Choices p 98309798309149Itrsquos worth noting that in part two o this book I will argue that making a responsible moral choice in
a situation such as this actually requires a moral agent to engage in this kind o ethical advice seeking
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4250
1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4350
Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
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Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
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10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4150
Morality Matters 10486281048631
10486281048627-1048629) In either case i the expectation is that our riend once reminded
o some pertinent biblical commands should simply do his duty with re-
spect to them then this would constitute an essentially deontological (thatis rule-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Or we might choose instead to launch into a ervent discussion o the
consequences pro and con o his taking or not taking this job On the one
hand we could exhort him to contemplate all the psychological social
marital and spiritual ills caused by online porn Perhaps we might put to
him the question ldquoWould you really want to contribute to the overall
misery and unhappiness in society that such websites are known toproducerdquo On the other hand (Irsquom playing devilrsquos advocate here) we
might decide to ply our riend with some mission-oriented questions that
ocus on achieving some desirable ministry outcomes ldquoIsnrsquot a Christian
presence needed near the gates o hellrdquo ldquoSince itrsquos true that people who
want to look at online porn are going to do so somewhere couldnrsquot it be
Godrsquos will or you to represent Christ in the lives o those who are in-
volved in the production o this websiterdquo ldquoHow will the major players inthe porn industrymdashthose who acilitate its disseminationmdashever be chal-
lenged to change without a witness nearbyrdquo ldquoHow can this potentially
high-leverage witness occur i someone like you doesnrsquot take this job and
enter into this hellish ministry context in Christrsquos namerdquo
Whichever tack we take i the expectation is that our riend should
make his decision based on a desire to achieve the greatest balance o
good over evil in peoplersquos lives then this would constitute an essentially
teleological (that is results-oriented) approach to moral decision making
Yet another possibility is to prompt our riend to consider some char-
acter-related issues such as what it would look like or him to exhibit the
theological virtues o aith hope and love in this situation the need or
Christian disciples to maintain an existentially impactul trust in Godrsquos
ability to provide or them and their amilies his responsibility to
unction as a virtuous role model in the midst o an overly sexualized
culture and so on Or we might simply choose to encourage our riend
to ponder the ollowing ldquoWhat would Jesus do i he were offered such a
jobrdquo ldquoWhile itrsquos true that Jesus would not hesitate to associate with
sinners (see Mt 104863310486251048624-10486251048627 104862510486251048625983094-10486251048633) would he actually acilitate their sinul
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4250
1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4350
Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4450
10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4550
Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
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10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
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Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4250
1048628983096 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
activities (Mt 104862910486251048631-10486251048633 1048625104862710486281048625 1048625983096983094-1048633 see Lk 104862910486271048626 Jn 98309610486251048625)rdquo Te bottom line
is that i the expectation is that our riendrsquos greatest responsibility is to
maintain his Christian integrity maniest a trust in Godrsquos ability toprovide or his amily or emulate the moral and missional aithulness
o Jesus then this would constitute an essentially areteological (that is
virtues-oriented) approach to moral decision making
I can report that the student at the center o this real-lie case study
came to class the next week indicating that he had turned the job offer
down His reasons or doing so are or our purposes beside the point
Te question that should concern us at present is this With which othese three traditional approaches to making ethical choices do we most
resonate at this point in our journey toward a moral aithulness
Some care needs to be taken here or a couple o reasons First in part
two o this book I will advocate or an ethical approach that strives to do
justice to all three approaches (deontology teleology and areteology) and
their respective oci (rules results and virtues) Tough Irsquom convinced
that such a holistic approach is possible I want to humbly suggest that itwould probably be naive or most readers to assume that theyrsquore already
theremdashthat is already engaging in the balanced and responsible kind o
ethical decision making that a moral aithulness requires
Furthermore I want to be careul not to give the impression that re-
solving moral dilemmas is easy even when a balanced and responsible
approach is employed Te act is that the case study cited above may
have been a bit too easily resolved or many readers Perhaps it doesnrsquot
adequately connote the degree o intellectual emotional and spiritual
dis-ease that occurs when we find ourselves acing an indisputable moral
dilemmamdasha lie situation in which the moral rules arenrsquot perectly clear
desirable outcomes might ensue rom various courses o action and
what Jesus would do in the situation is not readily apparent Itrsquos or this
reason that I will toward the goal o helping us all think a bit more deeply
about our current inclination as it relates to making ethical decisions
proceed to make use o another case study that shows up in not a ew
ethics textbooks Tis classic case study concerns the hiding o Jews rom
the Nazis during World War II
Letrsquos set up the scenario this way
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892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4450
10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4550
Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4650
10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4350
Morality Matters 10486281048633
You belong to a devout Christian amily living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam
during the Second World War
As an evangelical Christian you take Godrsquos Word seriously you believe itrsquosimportant to obey the moral commands presented in the Bible For example you
are very well aware o the act that the Bible teaches that itrsquos a serious sin to lie
to bear alse witness to intentionally deceive other people (see Ex 9830908520168520171048630 Lev 8520171048633852017852017
Ps 10486291048629-1048630 Prov 852017983090983090983090 Col 10486271048633-852017852016 Rev 9830908520171048632)
Te problem is that you and your amily are aware that the Nazis are
rounding up Jewish men women boys and girls and sending them in cattle cars
to various extermination camps located in eastern Europe You and your amily
pray about this situation and make the decision to hide some Jews in your homeTere is a crawlspace under the floor in the dining room enough room or a
amily o our to six people to hide should the Nazis ever conduct a search o the
premises
Everythingrsquos fine or a while but eventually the inevitable happens the Nazis
show up at your door Te Gestapo officer asks you point-blank ldquoAre there any
Jews in this homerdquo
Yoursquore enough o a realist to recognize that merely remaining silent is not an
option one way or another the Gestapo is going to beat an answer out o you
Itrsquos also readily apparent that trying to run away isnrsquot an option either
So what would you do Would you lie to save the lives o the Jews Would
you tell the truth and leave the consequences in Godrsquos hands Or would you try
to engage in some orm o slippery speech that while not quite a lie is also not
quite the truth
Equally important is the reason why Why would you pursue this course o
action in the ace o this moral dilemma How would you justiy your moralchoice to a ellow Christian struggling with the same dilemma Honestly as best
as you can tell what would your motive be or lying telling the truth or trying
to finagle your way out the situation by means o some slippery speech
Made amous by the inspiring story told in Corrie en Boomrsquos Te Hiding
Place and the opening scene o Quentin arantinorsquos disturbing film In-
glourious Basterds itrsquos probably because this moral scenario is airly a-
miliar to many o my university students that they are eager to participatein a classroom discussion regarding it9830931048624 Tat said Irsquoll go on to make the
observation that whereas a couple o decades ago I had to work very hard
50Corrie en Boom Te Hiding Place (New York Bantam Books 983089983097983095983092)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4450
10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4550
Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
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10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4450
10486291048624 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
in my role as devilrsquos advocate to get some o my students to consider the
possibility that telling a lie in order to save a lie might constitute a morally
aithul response to this dilemma nowadays I find mysel having to workeven harder at getting any o my students to consider the possibility that
perhaps telling the truth and trusting the outcome to a sovereign God
might be the right thing to do in such a situation
Moreover when I press my students to explain why they would be so
quick to tell a lie despite the many Bible verses that proscribe such behavior
only a ew will justiy this action on deontological grounds In other words
only a ew o my students are aware that o the act that the same Bible thatorbids lying also directs the people o God to do nothing that would en-
danger a neighborrsquos lie (Lev 104862510486331048625983094) and contains other passages that seem
to legitimize the practice o lying in order to save a lie or example the
story o Rahab related in Joshua 1048626 (c Heb 1048625104862510486271048625) and the account o the
Hebrew midwives presented in Exodus 104862510486251048629-10486261048625 As well very rarely will a
student attempt to justiy the lie by explicitly reerring to his or her desire
to exhibit a certain virtue such as compassion or justice Instead the vastmajority o my students tend to address this moral dilemma on the basis
o teleological (results-oriented) moral reasoning While I believe that a
consideration o the consequences should play a role in a morally aithul
liestyle the ease with which many members o the emerging generations
would tell a lie and do so apparently without the slightest twinge o con-
science suggests to me that the current widespread popularity o the teleo-
logical approach to ethical decision making even among proessing
Christians is to some degree a result o the increasing influence o post-
modern thought upon our culture I (and others) will have more to say
about this possibility in chapter our
In any case discussions such as these are what the science or study o
ethics is about Ethics is concerned with how people behave when con-
ronted with moral dilemmas and the process by which they make moral
decisions Some o us lean toward a deontological approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus first on the rules Some o us lean toward
a teleological approach to moral decision making we tend to ocus more
on results Some o us may lean toward an aretaic approach to moral de-
cision making we tend to ocus on exhibiting certain virtues and imitating
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4550
Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4650
10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4550
Morality Matters 10486291048625
certain role models A ew o us recognize the possibility and propriety o
endeavoring to ocus on all threemdashrules results and virtuesmdashas we strive
to emulate the moral decision making we see at work in the lie o JesusTis leads us to the final question this chapter will attempt to answer
W983144983137983156 D983151983141983155 I983156 M983141983137983150 983156983151 D983151 C983144983154983145983155983156983145983137983150 E983156983144983145983139983155983103
In their book Te Matrix o Christian Ethics Patrick Nullens and Ronald
Michener explain that ldquoChristian ethics is so much more than simply
ollowing a list o rules that you can check off rom day to day It is careul
hard thinking about what it means to be a ollower o Jesus in daily deci-sions with ultimate respect or God and othersrdquo983093983089
I appreciate the way this succinct definition o Christian ethics ocuses
on the issue o ollowing Christ Troughout this book I continually
make the assertion that or an ethical approach to be ldquoChristianrdquo it must
be Christ-centered Itrsquos my contention that Jesus not only possessed a
certain type o moral character that those committed to imitating him
should seek to cultivate but he also made moral decisions in a certainmanner that those proessing to be his ollowers should seek to emulate
Nullens and Michener go on to provide us with this expanded description
o the moral aithulness modeled or us by Jesus
Christ demonstrated how we should live by both his words and his deeds
Godrsquos character was revealed in his Son He demonstrated or us what it
means to be completely subjected to the will o the Father He is the Righ-
teous One (1048625 John 10486261048625) whose lie displayed Godrsquos original intention or
human beings Jesus gave us examples o the meaning o service and sel-
sacrificial love toward others Both Paul and Peter appealed to Jesus as our
moral example (Ephesians 10486291048625-1048626 1048625 Peter 104862610486261048625)983093983090
In a similar vein Scott Rae reminds us that the New estament makes
clear that ldquothe moral obligations or the ollower o Jesus are subsumed
under the notion o lsquobecoming like Christrsquordquo983093983091
But how do we engage in this cultivation o Christrsquos moral characterand emulation o his ethical conduct Given the historical and cultural
51Nullens and Michener Matrix o Christian Ethics p 98309098308852Ibid p 98308998309398308853For more on this see Rae Moral Choices p 983092983089
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4650
10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4650
10486291048626 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
gaps that exist between Jesusrsquo lie setting and ours the question in a
Christ-centered approach to the moral lie will not be so much What
would Jesus do in this situation but instead How would a person who like Jesus is committed to honoring the heart o the Father respond to this
particular moral dilemma Such a conception o Christian ethics pre-
sumes that God has an opinion about how we behave in this lie and that
itrsquos possible or us like Jesus to possess a pretty good sense o where his
heart is with regard to this or that moral issue
Tis is where some secondary criteria that spell out whatrsquos necessary
or an ethic to be Christ-centered prove crucial In part two o Pursuing Moral Faithulness I elaborate on the moral and pneumatological realism
I consider essential to the dynamic o a moral aithulness and I present
an extended discussion o the balanced and responsible (and responsive)
ethical decision making Jesus himsel modeled For now it must suffice
or me to indicate that in order to do Christian ethics we need to be able
like Jesus to discern where the heart o God is with respect to various
lie situations and then with the help o the Holy Spirit do our best tobehave in such a way as to stay in harmony with his heart and mind
Another way to put this is to say that a moral aithulness involves a com-
mitment and acquired ability to contextualize Godrsquos concerns or love
justice and humility (see Mic 983094983096) in the ace o each moral dilemma we
ace One o the main themes o this book is that the only way or Christrsquos
ollowers to be able to cultivate and emulate Jesusrsquo moral character and
conduct (that is embody in themselves the moral aithulness the in-
carnate Son makes possible or those who are in him) is to adopt an
ethical approach that is both biblically inormed and Spirit-empowered
A Christ-centered ethic is biblically informed Given the act that
nearly everything we know about Jesusrsquo moral lie comes to us through
the sacred Scriptures it only makes sense that a Christ-centered ethic
will need to be biblically inormed What this means in practical terms
is that in order to do Christian ethics we will need to spend the rest o
our lives paying careul prayerul attention to
bull the same Old estament biblical documents that Jesus paid attention
to (see Mt 104862910486251048631-10486261048624)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4750
Morality Matters 10486291048627
bull the New estament Gospels that provide a glimpse into the moral lie
and message o Jesus (eg Jn 9830961048625-10486251048625 c Jn 104862910486271048624)
bull the rest o the New estament which provides an apostolic commentary
on and real-lie examples o successul ministry contextualizations o
Jesusrsquo ethical genius (eg Acts 1048626104862410486271048628 Phil 10486261048627-983096 1048625 Pet 104862610486251048627-10486261048627) and
bull the biblically aithul insights into the Christian ethical challenge pro-
vided by theologians both ancient and contemporary
A Christ-centered ethic is Spirit-empowered And yet as important
as a prayerul study o the Scriptures is to Christian ethics this is not theonly means by which Christrsquos ollowers are to attempt to discern the
heart o God According to those same Scriptures we must also spend
the rest o our lives paying careul attention to
bull the leading o the Holy Spirit whom the Bible reers to as Christrsquos
Spirit (eg Rom 9830961048633 1048625 Pet 104862510486251048625) and whose purpose is to lead and guide
us into all truth (Jn 10486259830941048629-10486251048627)
Indeed according to the Bible the Holy Spirit not only seeks to enableGodrsquos people to ldquohearrdquo his heart in this or that lie situation but to honor
it as well (see Rom 9830961048628 c Ps 1048629104862510486251048624-10486251048626 Gal 10486291048625983094-1048626983094) Tis reality lies at the
heart o my insistence that itrsquos a pneumatological realism that makes a
moral realism possible
It should be noted that some tacit support or the notion o a Spirit-
empowered approach to Christian ethics can be ound in the writings o
other Christian ethicists For example in his book Choosing the GoodChristian Ethics in a Complex World Dennis Hollinger writes
Some Christians have argued that morality is undamentally about a natural
law that all human beings can exhibit by nature apart rom direct divine ini-
tiative or guidance While people clearly have some sense o the good God
desires and can exhibit some actions that reflect that good Christian ethics is
ar more than a natural enterprise It is not only rooted in a particular
Christian understanding o reality but is also nourished and sustained byspiritual and divine resources beyond our natural proclivities983093983092
Also indicating the need or Christian ethics to be Spirit empowered is
54See Hollinger Choosing the Good p 983089983090
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4850
10486291048628 P983157983154983155983157983145983150983143 M983151983154983137983148 F983137983145983156983144983142983157983148983150983141983155983155
Scott Rae who in his book Moral Choices An Introduction to Ethics asserts
that the New estament speaks o ldquoan internal source that assists in de-
cision making and enables one to mature spirituallyrdquo983093983093 According to Rae
Tis theme is introduced in the Gospels (John 10486251048627ndash10486251048631) and developed in the
Epistles particularly those o Paul For example Romans 983096 discusses the role
o the Holy Spirit in producing sanctification in the individual believer Te
person without the Spirit is not able to welcome spiritual things into his or
her lie (1048625 Cor 104862610486251048628) Te process o being transormed rom one stage o glory
to the next comes ultimately rom the Spirit (1048626 Cor 10486271048625983096) Believers who ldquolive
by the Spiritrdquo will produce the ruit o the Spirit (Gal 10486291048625983094 10486261048626-10486261048627) and will notsatisy their innate inclination to sin Clearly the New estament envisions
moral and spiritual maturity only in connection with the internal ministry o
the Spirit who transorms a person rom the inside out983093983094
Te bottom line is that simply doing our best in our own strength to
imitate the character and conduct o Jesus is not an ethical approach
thatrsquos supported by the Scriptures Instead the New estament teaches
that there are spiritual and divine resources that can and must be reliedon or our ethical lives to be considered ldquoChristianrdquo in the ullest sense
o that word Itrsquos the Holy Spiritrsquos great desire to empower the ollowers
o Christ to render to God a aithulness that is both missional and moral
in nature I we let him the Holy Spirit will enable us to like Jesus hear
and honor the heart o God983093983095
My goal in this initial chapter is to provide a no-nonsense user-riendly
introduction to Christian ethics that leaves the reader wanting more Tetruth is that morality matters and moral dilemmas happen In little and
big ways we will find ourselves acing tricky complicated conusing lie
situations that represent more than simple temptations to sin Probably
55See Rae Moral Choices p 98309298309556Ibid emphasis added57It should be noted here that in part two o this work I will provide a description o what a Spirit-
enabled moral guidance and empowerment does and doesnrsquot involve Tis section o the book will
include an important discussion o some things we can do to make sure that wersquore genuinely in-
teracting with the Holy Spirit rather than simply speaking to ourselves in his name In anticipation
o that discussion Irsquoll indicate here my conviction that one o the saeguards against too much
subjectivity (or psychological projection) in the moral discernment process is the practice o mak-
ing sure that any promptings provided by the Spirit o God are validated by both the Word o God
and the people o God (see 983089 Tess 983093983089983097-983090983090)
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 4950
Morality Matters 10486291048629
more than once in this lietime each o us will ace an especially serious
moral conundrum in which we will find ourselves being tugged at by
more than one sense o ethical obligation at the same time Sooner or laterall o us will ask or be asked that difficult question What should I do How
to answer that question in a way that strives to hear and honor the heart
o God is what Christian ethics and the rest o this book is about
Te next two chapters will collectively present the reader with an
overview o the contemporary ethical landscapemdasha survey o the ethical
approaches most commonly utilized by our peers day to day o what
degree do any o these approaches have what it takes to serve as theoundation or a ully Christian ethic Do any o these ethical options
produce the kind o moral aithulness we believe God is calling or rom
people made in his image Letrsquos find out
Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050
892019 Pursuing Moral Faithfulness By Gary Tyra - EXCERPT
httpslidepdfcomreaderfullpursuing-moral-faithfulness-by-gary-tyra-excerpt 5050