Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics by Rae, Scott B. (Author)

Chapter One

CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Despite modern departures from it, the Judeo-Christian system of morality has had a profound impact on society from its inception. In this chapter we will put forth the various emphases in Christian ethics and address some of the criticisms of Christian ethics. Initially, we will establish a scriptural foundation by examining various points of ethical emphasis in both Old and New Testaments. Although both Old and New Testament ethics are vast subjects on which entire volumes have been written, a synthesis of the major emphases in biblical ethics is all that space here will allow.

Much of biblical ethics revolves around God's specially revealed commands. For many people, therefore, the divine command theory of ethics has become synonymous with biblical ethics. Such a theory of ethics, however, raises questions about whether something is good because God commanded it or whether God commands something because it is good. This is known as the "Euthyphro dilemma," since the question was first raised by Plato in his dialogue Euthyphro . This dilemma cannot be adequately addressed without a consideration of what is called natural law. Previously emphasized primarily by Roman Catholics and at times treated with scorn by Protestants, this concept is important for a fully developed biblical ethic. Its definition and biblical justification will be explored toward the end of this chapter.

OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS

Just as the Old Testament is not a systematic theology but a mixture of different theological emphases presented in a variety of literary styles, so too, the Old Testament is not a carefully arranged system of ethics, but a mixture of different types of moral reasoning. The Old Testament reflects great diversity in methods of moral reasoning. With the Mosaic Law providing the ethical principles by which Israel ordered its life, it is not surprising that deontology, or an appeal to principles, is strongly emphasized in the Old Testament. In their appeal to the Law as the basis of their prophetic message, the prophets depend heavily on deontology. But there is more to morality in the Old Testament than the simple appeal to principles and commands. The Wisdom Literature contains a measure of utilitarian reasoning. For example, many of the Proverbs contain explicit descriptions of the consequences of certain actions and character traits. The writers of the Proverbs appear to praise wisdom because of the good consequences it produces, while they warn against folly because of the harmful consequences that it produces. To be sure, the Wisdom Literature is ultimately grounded in the Law, and thus ultimately grounded in principles. The Wisdom Literature, then, does not attempt to use utilitarianism as a self-sufficient system for discovering morality, but the appeal to principles is supplemented by appeal to consequences, a use of both utilitarian and deontological methods.

The Old Testament also appeals to egoism and self-interest, specifically in the covenant blessings and cursings in Deuteronomy 27-30. Here God reveals to Moses that Israel's agriculture and national security face certain consequences dependent on her obedience to the covenant. Thus her loyalty to the covenant will result in certain blessings, while her disobedience will lead to certain cursings. Accordingly, Israel would have a high degree of self-interest to obey the Law. The prophets repeatedly refer to the blessings and cursings of the covenant in their attempts to call Israel back to faithfulness to God, suggesting that the covenant cursings and blessings form a significant aspect of Old Testament ethics. Again, this is not to say that Scripture uses egoism as a self-sufficient ethical system, but rather, that the appeal to principles is supplemented by an appeal to self-interest.

Finally, the Old Testament also appeals to natural law. For example, the book of Proverbs defines right and wrong (wisdom and folly) by observations drawn from nature (Prov. 6:6-11; see also Ps. 19:1-6) and human relationships (Prov. 24:30-34). Natural law is not strictly limited to observations from nature, however. It refers to universal moral principles that are not specifically derived from special revelation. The oracles to the nations (e.g., see Isa. 13-23; Jer. 46-51; Ezek. 25-32) are good examples of biblical appeal to natural law. Unlike Israel who had the Mosaic Law, these nations lacked the Law and are still condemned for many of the same transgressions as Israel, including injustice, violence, and oppression of the poor. We can conclude, therefore, that these nations were somehow aware of their crimes, otherwise God could not be just in holding them accountable for their crimes. The means by which God made them aware of these moral obligations is general revelation, or natural law. Thus in the Old Testament natural law supplements the ethics provided by special revelation.

The Law as the Core of Old Testament Ethics

The foundation of Old Testament ethics is the Law. Some scholars use the term Law more narrowly to refer to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17; Deut. 5:1-21). We will use it more broadly to refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, but especially to the material found in Exodus 20-40, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy 5-30. The Law sets out the fundamental principles and commands for Israel and consists of three primary parts: (1) the moral law, or the Ten Commandments; (2) the civil law, which governed social relations and institutions; and (3) the ceremonial law, which governed Israel's worship of God. When referring to Old Testament ethics, most scholars use the moral and civil law as the foundation. The ceremonial law is often considered a part of Israel's religious ritual, and not strictly related to ethics.

Much of the remainder of the Old Testament ethics can be seen in relation to the Law. In the Poetic Literature, especially Psalms, worship is often presented as a response to the revelation of God in the Law. The Wisdom Literature attempts to take the general demands of the Law and make them persuasive to an international audience, without any of the features directly related to Israel, such as the sacrificial system, the Promised Land, the covenants, and the tabernacle or temple. The Prophets appeal to the Law as their primary point of reference in making their indictments against Israel.

One major difference between the Law and the Prophets is that the Prophets make a general appeal to the broad overarching principles in the Law, namely, avoiding idolatry and maintaining justice, in contrast to the detailed specifics in the Law. These are key concepts for Old Testament ethics, reflecting the emphasis of the Ten Commandments on both worship and social relations, or on one's relationship with God and with other people in the community. Rarely do the Prophets address the people with the specifics contained in the Law. Essentially they are preaching the general principles contained in the Law, and they frequently direct attention to the cause and effect relationship between obedience and agricultural prosperity in the covenant blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy 27-30.

In the Old Testament, Israel was a theocracy, a nation in which the law of God was automatically the law of the land. Accordingly, all morality was legislated. No distinction was made between law and morality, as one could find in a pluralistic society. The church today, however, is not under the civil and ceremonial aspects of the Law as was Israel. Even though this distinguishes Old Testament Israel from modern, nontheocratic Western nations, a case can be made for Israel as a model for a biblical social ethic. This assertion is based on the premise that the principles underlying the Law are still valid and applicable for the church today.

The Overlap of Personal and Social Ethics

Being a theocracy, Israel made no distinction between personal and social ethics. Today ethicists usually separate ethics into personal ethics (concerning individual ethical decisions), and social ethics (concerning morality for groups, namely, the broader society). A social ethic mandates morality for the society at large, or the degree to which individual moral positions should also be moral obligations for society at large.

The abortion debate effectively illustrates the distinction between personal and social ethics. Many people argue that while it may be valid to be personally opposed to abortion, it is not necessarily valid to say that abortion is wrong for the rest of society. This type of reasoning has also been applied to the subjects of adultery and homosexual behavior. In the case of murder, however, everyone-regardless of background, culture, or religious tradition-believes that it is wrong and should be wrong for everyone in society. In this case there is an overlap of personal and social ethics. In the Old Testament, personal and social ethics were virtually indistinguishable. What was moral for the individual (personal ethics) was also moral for the society (social ethics).

The emphasis on individual morality occurs most frequently in the Wisdom Literature. Perhaps this is because the wisdom books are intended universally in a way that the Law was not. The Wisdom Literature was written more for a international audience and the Law was addressed to the covenant community of Israel. Thus personal and social ethics overlap more in the Wisdom Literature because the bonds of community are not emphasized as much as they are in the parts of the Old Testament addressed directly to Israel.

Holiness as the Unifying Theme of Old Testament Ethics

The central concept that unifies Old Testament ethics is the idea of holiness. The Hebrew term for "holy" derives from the Hebrew word qadosh , which means "set apart." This is the root concept of the New Testament idea of sanctification. Israel is set apart as a nation to reflect the character of God in their worship, their social relations, and their institutions. One of the primary reasons that God issues his commands is to set Israel apart from its pagan neighbors. This is what Exodus 19:6 means when it refers to Israel as a "holy nation" and a "kingdom of priests." Vivid examples of how God desired Israel to be set apart occur in the specific commands in Deuteronomy that are aimed at producing a contrast between Israel's practices and those of the other nations in the ancient Near East. The following examples will illustrate this.

First, Deuteronomy 17:16-17 places limitations on the person who would eventually occupy the office of king in Israel. He must not acquire great wealth, military might, or national security alliances (through intermarriage with foreign women), since these would undercut his dependence on God for personal and national security. Throughout the ancient world at this time, the king was virtually deified, and limits on his sovereignty were rare. The king of Israel, however, was to bow before the sovereignty of God. Due to these limitations placed on Israel's king, the surrounding nations knew that he was not a god, but only a servant of the living God.

Second, the treatment of women captured in the course of warfare illustrates how the Law set Israel apart from its neighbors. In much of the ancient world, women who were taken captive by a victorious army were subject to a wide variety of sexual offenses. Israel, however, was obligated to treat them humanely and with respect. If an Israelite wanted to marry her, he could do so. But the Law strictly prohibited Israelites from selling these women as slaves, either for domestic or sexual purposes (Deut. 21:10-14).

Third, the treatment of other slaves was also to be humane, in contrast to much of the ancient world. After six years of service, slaves were to be released (unless they wanted to remain with the family), and upon their departure their master was to provide for them liberally, rather than leave them destitute (Deut. 15:12-18). The treatment of the poor in the land was similar (Lev. 25:25-29, 35-43; Deut. 15:1-11).

The primary way in which Israel was to be set apart for God was in its worship. The Law repeatedly prohibited Israel from worship rituals that contained any compromise with the Canaanite religious practices of their neighbors. For example, sorcery, spiritism, witchcraft, and divination, all of which were associated with Canaanite idolatry, were forbidden in an effort to distance Israel from the worship patterns of their neighbors (Deut. 18:9-13).

The first two commandments explicitly prohibit worshiping false gods (Ex. 20:1-6). Other prohibitions contained in the Law may forbid certain practices simply because the practices resembled the worship practices of Israel's pagan neighbors. For example, when Aaron's sons offered "unauthorized fire" in the tabernacle, God took their lives (Lev. 10:1-5). Although this passage has various interpretations, the one that is most consistent with God's harsh treatment of the priests is that perhaps they introduced a pagan religious ritual into the worship of God in the tabernacle. Likewise, the prohibition in Exodus 23:19 ("Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk") may have nothing to do with kosher laws or good health practices. Instead, the practice may be prohibited because it resembled a pagan religious ritual. In addition, because the worship of the Canaanite god Baal frequently involved sexual immorality, illicit sexual relations are prohibited (Lev. 18; Num. 25:1-3). God's desire for Israel to be set apart for him was central to Old Testament ethics. This is the reason why Israel's request to have a king like all the other nations (1 Sam. 8) undercut God's purpose for Israel to be a "kingdom of priests" and a "holy nation."

Obedience as Personal Loyalty to God

Even though obedience to the precepts of the Law was strongly emphasized as one of the means by which Israel was to be set apart, obedience was not seen as an end in itself. Rather, obedience to the Law was seen primarily as loyalty to God. This emphasis made Old Testament ethics different from the other legal codes of the ancient world. Although the Law shares some similarities with other codes of the ancient world, such as the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, it is also quite distinct from them in that it is person-centered. A critical emphasis in Old Testament ethics is that God is a person who stands behind the precepts, a concept that is expanded by Jesus in the Gospels in his repudiation of Pharisaic legalism. The emphasis is on obedience to a Person, not just to a command. For example, even the first line of the Ten Commandments refers to God as the One who delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Accordingly, this summary statement of what God had already done on their behalf provides a motive for the people of God to remain loyal to him (Ex. 20:2-3).

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Chapter One

CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Despite modern departures from it, the Judeo-Christian system of morality has had a profound impact on society from its inception. In this chapter we will put forth the various emphases in Christian ethics and address some of the criticisms of Christian ethics. Initially, we will establish a scriptural foundation by examining various points of ethical emphasis in both Old and New Testaments. Although both Old and New Testament ethics are vast subjects on which entire volumes have been written, a synthesis of the major emphases in biblical ethics is all that space here will allow.

Much of biblical ethics revolves around God's specially revealed commands. For many people, therefore, the divine command theory of ethics has become synonymous with biblical ethics. Such a theory of ethics, however, raises questions about whether something is good because God commanded it or whether God commands something because it is good. This is known as the "Euthyphro dilemma," since the question was first raised by Plato in his dialogue Euthyphro. This dilemma cannot be adequately addressed without a consideration of what is called natural law. Previously emphasized primarily by Roman Catholics and at times treated with scorn by Protestants, this concept is important for a fully developed biblical ethic. Its definition and biblical justification will be explored toward the end of this chapter.

OLD TESTAMENT ETHICS

Just as the Old Testament is not a systematic theology but a mixture of different theological emphases presented in a variety of literary styles, so too, the Old Testament is not a carefully arranged system of ethics, but a mixture of different types of moral reasoning. The Old Testament reflects great diversity in methods of moral reasoning. With the Mosaic Law providing the ethical principles by which Israel ordered its life, it is not surprising that deontology, or an appeal to principles, is strongly emphasized in the Old Testament. In their appeal to the Law as the basis of their prophetic message, the prophets depend heavily on deontology. But there is more to morality in the Old Testament than the simple appeal to principles and commands. The Wisdom Literature contains a measure of utilitarian reasoning. For example, many of the Proverbs contain explicit descriptions of the consequences of certain actions and character traits. The writers of the Proverbs appear to praise wisdom because of the good consequences it produces, while they warn against folly because of the harmful consequences that it produces. To be sure, the Wisdom Literature is ultimately grounded in the Law, and thus ultimately grounded in principles. The Wisdom Literature, then, does not attempt to use utilitarianism as a self-sufficient system for discovering morality, but the appeal to principles is supplemented by appeal to consequences, a use of both utilitarian and deontological methods.

The Old Testament also appeals to egoism and self-interest, specifically in the covenant blessings and cursings in Deuteronomy 27-30. Here God reveals to Moses that Israel's agriculture and national security face certain consequences dependent on her obedience to the covenant. Thus her loyalty to the covenant will result in certain blessings, while her disobedience will lead to certain cursings. Accordingly, Israel would have a high degree of self-interest to obey the Law. The prophets repeatedly refer to the blessings and cursings of the covenant in their attempts to call Israel back to faithfulness to God, suggesting that the covenant cursings and blessings form a significant aspect of Old Testament ethics. Again, this is not to say that Scripture uses egoism as a self-sufficient ethical system, but rather, that the appeal to principles is supplemented by an appeal to self-interest.

Finally, the Old Testament also appeals to natural law. For example, the book of Proverbs defines right and wrong (wisdom and folly) by observations drawn from nature (Prov. 6:6-11; see also Ps. 19:1-6) and human relationships (Prov. 24:30-34). Natural law is not strictly limited to observations from nature, however. It refers to universal moral principles that are not specifically derived from special revelation. The oracles to the nations (e.g., see Isa. 13-23; Jer. 46-51; Ezek. 25-32) are good examples of biblical appeal to natural law. Unlike Israel who had the Mosaic Law, these nations lacked the Law and are still condemned for many of the same transgressions as Israel, including injustice, violence, and oppression of the poor. We can conclude, therefore, that these nations were somehow aware of their crimes, otherwise God could not be just in holding them accountable for their crimes. The means by which God made them aware of these moral obligations is general revelation, or natural law. Thus in the Old Testament natural law supplements the ethics provided by special revelation.

The Law as the Core of Old Testament Ethics

The foundation of Old Testament ethics is the Law. Some scholars use the term Law more narrowly to refer to the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17; Deut. 5:1-21). We will use it more broadly to refer to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, but especially to the material found in Exodus 20-40, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy 5-30. The Law sets out the fundamental principles and commands for Israel and consists of three primary parts: (1) the moral law, or the Ten Commandments; (2) the civil law, which governed social relations and institutions; and (3) the ceremonial law, which governed Israel's worship of God. When referring to Old Testament ethics, most scholars use the moral and civil law as the foundation. The ceremonial law is often considered a part of Israel's religious ritual, and not strictly related to ethics.

Much of the remainder of the Old Testament ethics can be seen in relation to the Law. In the Poetic Literature, especially Psalms, worship is often presented as a response to the revelation of God in the Law. The Wisdom Literature attempts to take the general demands of the Law and make them persuasive to an international audience, without any of the features directly related to Israel, such as the sacrificial system, the Promised Land, the covenants, and the tabernacle or temple. The Prophets appeal to the Law as their primary point of reference in making their indictments against Israel.

One major difference between the Law and the Prophets is that the Prophets make a general appeal to the broad overarching principles in the Law, namely, avoiding idolatry and maintaining justice, in contrast to the detailed specifics in the Law. These are key concepts for Old Testament ethics, reflecting the emphasis of the Ten Commandments on both worship and social relations, or on one's relationship with God and with other people in the community. Rarely do the Prophets address the people with the specifics contained in the Law. Essentially they are preaching the general principles contained in the Law, and they frequently direct attention to the cause and effect relationship between obedience and agricultural prosperity in the covenant blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy 27-30.

In the Old Testament, Israel was a theocracy, a nation in which the law of God was automatically the law of the land. Accordingly, all morality was legislated. No distinction was made between law and morality, as one could find in a pluralistic society. The church today, however, is not under the civil and ceremonial aspects of the Law as was Israel. Even though this distinguishes Old Testament Israel from modern, nontheocratic Western nations, a case can be made for Israel as a model for a biblical social ethic. This assertion is based on the premise that the principles underlying the Law are still valid and applicable for the church today.

The Overlap of Personal and Social Ethics

Being a theocracy, Israel made no distinction between personal and social ethics. Today ethicists usually separate ethics into personal ethics (concerning individual ethical decisions), and social ethics (concerning morality for groups, namely, the broader society). A social ethic mandates morality for the society at large, or the degree to which individual moral positions should also be moral obligations for society at large.

The abortion debate effectively illustrates the distinction between personal and social ethics. Many people argue that while it may be valid to be personally opposed to abortion, it is not necessarily valid to say that abortion is wrong for the rest of society. This type of reasoning has also been applied to the subjects of adultery and homosexual behavior. In the case of murder, however, everyone-regardless of background, culture, or religious tradition-believes that it is wrong and should be wrong for everyone in society. In this case there is an overlap of personal and social ethics. In the Old Testament, personal and social ethics were virtually indistinguishable. What was moral for the individual (personal ethics) was also moral for the society (social ethics).

The emphasis on individual morality occurs most frequently in the Wisdom Literature. Perhaps this is because the wisdom books are intended universally in a way that the Law was not. The Wisdom Literature was written more for a international audience and the Law was addressed to the covenant community of Israel. Thus personal and social ethics overlap more in the Wisdom Literature because the bonds of community are not emphasized as much as they are in the parts of the Old Testament addressed directly to Israel.

Holiness as the Unifying Theme of Old Testament Ethics

The central concept that unifies Old Testament ethics is the idea of holiness. The Hebrew term for "holy" derives from the Hebrew word qadosh, which means "set apart." This is the root concept of the New Testament idea of sanctification. Israel is set apart as a nation to reflect the character of God in their worship, their social relations, and their institutions. One of the primary reasons that God issues his commands is to set Israel apart from its pagan neighbors. This is what Exodus 19:6 means when it refers to Israel as a "holy nation" and a "kingdom of priests." Vivid examples of how God desired Israel to be set apart occur in the specific commands in Deuteronomy that are aimed at producing a contrast between Israel's practices and those of the other nations in the ancient Near East. The following examples will illustrate this.

First, Deuteronomy 17:16-17 places limitations on the person who would eventually occupy the office of king in Israel. He must not acquire great wealth, military might, or national security alliances (through intermarriage with foreign women), since these would undercut his dependence on God for personal and national security. Throughout the ancient world at this time, the king was virtually deified, and limits on his sovereignty were rare. The king of Israel, however, was to bow before the sovereignty of God. Due to these limitations placed on Israel's king, the surrounding nations knew that he was not a god, but only a servant of the living God.

Second, the treatment of women captured in the course of warfare illustrates how the Law set Israel apart from its neighbors. In much of the ancient world, women who were taken captive by a victorious army were subject to a wide variety of sexual offenses. Israel, however, was obligated to treat them humanely and with respect. If an Israelite wanted to marry her, he could do so. But the Law strictly prohibited Israelites from selling these women as slaves, either for domestic or sexual purposes (Deut. 21:10-14).

Third, the treatment of other slaves was also to be humane, in contrast to much of the ancient world. After six years of service, slaves were to be released (unless they wanted to remain with the family), and upon their departure their master was to provide for them liberally, rather than leave them destitute (Deut. 15:12-18). The treatment of the poor in the land was similar (Lev. 25:25-29, 35-43; Deut. 15:1-11).

The primary way in which Israel was to be set apart for God was in its worship. The Law repeatedly prohibited Israel from worship rituals that contained any compromise with the Canaanite religious practices of their neighbors. For example, sorcery, spiritism, witchcraft, and divination, all of which were associated with Canaanite idolatry, were forbidden in an effort to distance Israel from the worship patterns of their neighbors (Deut. 18:9-13).

The first two commandments explicitly prohibit worshiping false gods (Ex. 20:1-6). Other prohibitions contained in the Law may forbid certain practices simply because the practices resembled the worship practices of Israel's pagan neighbors. For example, when Aaron's sons offered "unauthorized fire" in the tabernacle, God took their lives (Lev. 10:1-5). Although this passage has various interpretations, the one that is most consistent with God's harsh treatment of the priests is that perhaps they introduced a pagan religious ritual into the worship of God in the tabernacle. Likewise, the prohibition in Exodus 23:19 ("Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk") may have nothing to do with kosher laws or good health practices. Instead, the practice may be prohibited because it resembled a pagan religious ritual. In addition, because the worship of the Canaanite god Baal frequently involved sexual immorality, illicit sexual relations are prohibited (Lev. 18; Num. 25:1-3). God's desire for Israel to be set apart for him was central to Old Testament ethics. This is the reason why Israel's request to have a king like all the other nations (1 Sam. 8) undercut God's purpose for Israel to be a "kingdom of priests" and a "holy nation."

Obedience as Personal Loyalty to God

Even though obedience to the precepts of the Law was strongly emphasized as one of the means by which Israel was to be set apart, obedience was not seen as an end in itself. Rather, obedience to the Law was seen primarily as loyalty to God. This emphasis made Old Testament ethics different from the other legal codes of the ancient world. Although the Law shares some similarities with other codes of the ancient world, such as the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi, it is also quite distinct from them in that it is person-centered. A critical emphasis in Old Testament ethics is that God is a person who stands behind the precepts, a concept that is expanded by Jesus in the Gospels in his repudiation of Pharisaic legalism. The emphasis is on obedience to a Person, not just to a command. For example, even the first line of the Ten Commandments refers to God as the One who delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt. Accordingly, this summary statement of what God had already done on their behalf provides a motive for the people of God to remain loyal to him (Ex. 20:2-3).

Continues...

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