Basis for Christian Ethics
Basis for Christian Ethics
Ethics are standards of conduct or guidelines for behaviour. We often qualify ethics to apply to a particular profession or group, as in medical ethics or legal ethics, by which we mean the expected behaviour and conduct of members of a particular profession to their clients and to other professionals. Professional ethics apply only to members of that profession and are not intended to apply to conduct generally.
Being a Christian is not an accident of birth or membership in a particular church. A Christian consciously uses Jesus’ life and teachings as a model for his/her life and chooses to live by a Christian ethic. These values form the foundation and provide guidelines for Christian behaviour and decision-making. If Jesus is the model we have chosen to emulate, what does that imply about attitudes, values and lifestyle? Jesus lived in a very different time and place. The passage of time and theological interpretation developed to understand him make it difficult to reconstruct his life and teachings with precision and confidence. We have a very different understanding of the world from the First Century. These differences make it necessary to translate Jesus’ teachings into words, behaviours and attitudes which are relevant today and consistent with the spirit of Jesus’ teaching.
Christian ethics is particularly important to understand the ethical and behavioural implications of a decision to live a Christian life. Moral values defining right and wrong conduct are valuable for individual and personal guidance in determining how an individual or member of a group should act in a particular situation, and may have universal value as moral principles that obligate all members of society. We have a duty to live a moral life and decide what is right and wrong behaviour for us in accordance with our values. .
The Dilemma of Scientific, Medical, and Technological Advances: The ethical dilemmas of postmodern society are
Ethics are standards of conduct or guidelines for behaviour. We often qualify ethics to apply to a particular profession or group, as in medical ethics or legal ethics, by which we mean the expected behaviour and conduct of members of a particular profession to their clients and to other professionals. Professional ethics apply only to members of that profession and are not intended to apply to conduct generally.
Being a Christian is not an accident of birth or membership in a particular church. A Christian consciously uses Jesus’ life and teachings as a model for his/her life and chooses to live by a Christian ethic. These values form the foundation and provide guidelines for Christian behaviour and decision-making. If Jesus is the model we have chosen to emulate, what does that imply about attitudes, values and lifestyle? Jesus lived in a very different time and place. The passage of time and theological interpretation developed to understand him make it difficult to reconstruct his life and teachings with precision and confidence. We have a very different understanding of the world from the First Century. These differences make it necessary to translate Jesus’ teachings into words, behaviours and attitudes which are relevant today and consistent with the spirit of Jesus’ teaching.
Christian ethics is particularly important to understand the ethical and behavioural implications of a decision to live a Christian life. Moral values defining right and wrong conduct are valuable for individual and personal guidance in determining how an individual or member of a group should act in a particular situation, and may have universal value as moral principles that obligate all members of society. We have a duty to live a moral life and decide what is right and wrong behaviour for us in accordance with our values. .
The Dilemma of Scientific, Medical, and Technological Advances: The ethical dilemmas of postmodern society are