"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the
Law?" Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your
neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on
these two commandments." Matt 22:37-40 NIV
That's as simple as it
gets. The difficulty with Christian ethics is not what
to do, but how and when to do it. We are always called upon to choose
our course of action. Beyond the choices we make for ourselves, we find
the issue of community standards. How we are to exercise discipline in
the church? Where is the dividing line between ethics and the
law? At which point does the state overstep its authority? Should
the church be pushing the state to enforce Christian moral
standards? Should the state impose its secular standards on
the church? Below
are two very good overviews concerning ethics. One is Christian (Xenos)
and the other is secular (Atheism). It would benefit you to
read both, especially for purposes of Apologetics. There are also a
number of articles on Just War. The Ethics Handbook is early
20th c. but clear and comprehensive.
When the church seeks to
impose its ethics on others by force instead of by example and
persuasion, it is called "theonomy." There are four articles below on
theonomy. I am opposed to the very idea of theonomy, even the
middle road taken by Williamson. Nonetheless, familiarize yourself
with it, because this is the "Christian Right" that you hear about
in the news. You'll find more about church and state on the Politics
Page.
If you're looking for a
good ethics textbook with loads of examples and guidance, the most
comprehensive book available is Kingdom Ethics by
Stassen and Gushee. It's a unique and extraordinary
work. You don't have to accept all their conclusions. I think
their treatment of the death penalty, for example, is
questionable. However, I appreciate their separation of Old and New
Testament teachings on the topic. Then again, their use of B.C.E.
and C.E. for dating suggests a liberal mindset. I still
recommend it. I favor and highly recommend Ethics for a
Brave New World by John Feinberg and Paul Feinberg
(Crossway, 1993). Though not as comprehensive as Kingdom Ethics,
the analyses of the issues are far superior.
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