The Christian View of Ethics
Ethics has to do with the basis for morality and the principles governing the "rightness" or "wrongness" of a particular action or attitude. The Christian view of ethics is simply this - that the sovereign and righteous God has revealed to man in His Word what is right and what is wrong, and this revealed will forms the standard or basis of all ethics and morality. We may find a summary of this revealed will in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). God's word is sufficient to guide Christians in all ethical and moral issues of life (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
In contrast, secular ethics is a total failure because it is unable to justify a single norm of conduct and it cannot provide guidance in making concrete decisions in daily living. For example, utilitarianism, which teaches that men ought to seek the greatest good for the greatest number, is unworkable because it is impossible to estimate the pleasures and pains that the two lines of action will produce for the person. Also, based on this principle, one can easily justify the murder and torture of a few in order to give pleasure to a great number.
Not to Destroy but to Fulfil
A very important but often neglected or else misunderstood Bible passage on Ethics is Matthew 5:17-48. Having preached through this passage, I have compiled my sermons into one document and entitled it, "Not to destroy but to fulfil." You can download it here.
Homosexuality: A Christian Evaluation and Response
Here are my notes for a lecture I gave on the subject of homosexuality. I begin by presenting the foundations of ethics and the relationship between ethics and science. You can download it here. If you'll like my full notes or the MP3 recording of it, please contact me.
