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CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND CHARACTER – Introduction (Part 3)
Last time we continued our introduction to
Christian Ethics and Character. Here, we
will continue with that introduction.
There is an ethic of science –
the physical and natural sciences. There
are ethics of all professions. There are
“Pastoral” ethics. We could go on and
on. But here we are concerned with
Christian or Biblical ethics
Let’s start with the ethics
stemming from the Old Testament, sometimes called “Hebrew” ethics. In the Old Testament, the Hebrew nation
received much of the Word of God directly through Divine commands, passed
directly from God through Prophets and other leaders. We can also term these Divine commands as
God’s Moral Law. Of course, God’s moral
law began in the Garden of Eden where God indicated that mankind must obey
Him. The lesson of obedience is that God
is in charge. This law is most important
to us even today. The fall of Adam and
Eve came from disobedience and the failure to live under God’s Will, plan and
direction. Thus, sin entered the
world. The evil of disobedience – the
failure to live according to the law that to live otherwise is to elevate
something or someone over God – “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” So, the supreme source of moral law comes
from and IS God. It is evil to act and
live otherwise. We don’t always
recognize the way we live as evil, reserving that for mass murderers and the
like. But God sees it differently. Living contrary to God’s Moral Law is hostile
to God.
Next we will look at the
Decalogue – The Ten Commandments.
Doug
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