The Deontological Absolutist Approach To Christian Ethics

Ethics is the study of moral philosophy, namely understanding which actions would be considered righteous or wicked. The secular interpretation of ethics explains that every person has a conscience that grimaces at evil and warns the wicked to repent. However, secular ethics has differing explanations as to why humans have this innate ability to know what behaviors ought to be avoided or encouraged. The scientific explanation posits that man’s conscience came from instincts that evolved due to biological necessity. Other explanations claim that one’s culture, society, and personal philosophy all play a role in creating one’s sense of moral ought. This form of morality is exercised in three ways: deontological, teleological, and aretaic. The
deontological kind of ethics focuses upon following rules to stay on the right side of morality. The teleological form of ethics allows for any action that produces positive moral results, regardless of the method used. Aretaic ethics examine one’s innermost virtues and character, not simply on an action’s effects or one’s moral rules. These differing approaches to morality, along with the complexities of human existence, create moral dilemmas that need to be solved by the discipline of ethics.
What Makes Christian Ethics Distinctive Unlike secular ethics, Christian ethics is based on the idea that all humans were created with a conscience so that we know what God considers to be right and wrong.
Christians should strive to understand the inclinations of the heart of God in moral issues and in daily life. Thus, Christian ethics are based on following God. The deontological absolutist approach to Christian ethics is to strictly follow God’s rules written in the Bible, specifically the Ten Commandments and the New Testament for Christians. The teleological approach focuses on whether the results will honor God and aid fellow Christians. Another approach is to consider how Jesus would act in a moral dilemma, but this approach is flawed because the New Testament was written in a completely different culture from our postmodern world. It would be better to understand how Jesus viewed Old Testament scriptures, how Jesus lived his life in the context of his time period, how Jesus taught his fellow disciples, how his disciples taught other Christians, and how the Holy Spirit acts as a holy conscience that guides Christians towards the inclinations of God. Thus, Christians should learn to be biblically informed and to be empowered by the Holy
Spirit.
What It Means to be an Ethically Responsible Christian Disciple An ethic of responsible Christian discipleship provides a balance between the results-oriented teleological approach and the rules-oriented deontological approach. This ethic focuses on God’s moral principles, which allow Christians to be faithful. These principles are shown in Micah 6:8, in which God’s followers are exhorted to act justly, love with mercy, and to walk humbly before God. Proverbs 2 reveals that God can provide human beings with special moral guidance to help them embody righteousness and choose good over evil. When Christians engage in true Christian practices and study the Scriptures, they learn to recognize the Holy Spirit’s moral guidance and are given the Christ-like desire to honor God’s heart. Jesus Christ explained that understanding the heart of God is important because the Bible’s moral commands can be misinterpreted by sinners such as the Pharisees. The Pharisees used divine commands to appear holy and achieve dominance over their fellow Jews. Jesus explained that their motives were immoral and that they disdained true righteousness. Instead of acting like the Pharisees, it is better to slow down and try to understand every moral issue. It is important to understand the true purpose of the Bible’s commands and to be morally responsible and spiritually responsive to the Holy Spirit’s moral guidance.
My Current Perspective on Some Controversial Social Moral Issues
Capital Punishment
I personally support a retentionist position for capital punishment, which means the death penalty is a valid punishment for capital crimes, specifically pre-meditated murder.
However, I think that murder should be the only crime to merit the death penalty, and that there needs to be undeniable proof that the criminal is guilty. Other heinous crimes, such as rape and treason, can merit a life sentence so that the criminal is no longer able to harm society. However, humans are created in the image of God, so a human who unjustly takes a life has also forfeited his life. The executioner is allowed to execute a murderer because that person forfeited his own life by his own wicked actions. The act of murder does not include killings in self-defense or in a just war, since the perpetrator is forced to kill to protect himself/herself or his/her fellow human
beings.
The second part of 1 John 5:16 notes that “There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” In other words, some wicked actions deserve death as the punishment, in accordance with God’s justice. Some critics of the death penalty may say that God reserves vengeance for Himself; He does not want Christians to pursue vengeance for themselves. However, the act of executing a murderer is an act of God’s righteous vengeance, since the murderer broke God’s laws and thus deserves the proper consequence. We are not playing God when we carry out the proper judgment; we are merely following God. Micah 6:8 notes that Christians should pursue justice and walk humbly before God, so it seems that following God’s law regarding capital crimes is the correct biblical decision. However, Micah 6:8 also commands