Ethics

Please choose from the choices closest to your view.

There have been a few occasions where I preached someone else’s sermon. I did a series from a retired pastor friend (he began attending our church after he retired) who passed away on the subject of the Lord’s Prayer, but everyone knew (and I stated) that I was using his material. This was to honor him and his legacy at our church.

A handful of other times, I borrowed an outline from a popular author, but shared that I was using the outline. But most the material I preached was my own.

There is a category of Christian liberty found in Scripture. God gives us a great many options freely and selectively to enjoy. But this layer of ethical privilege exists only after Christian deontology, Christian consequentialism, and Christian Communitarianism are exhausted. To yield to quickly to egoism and “indifference” in ethics is at best a dubious practice.

One of the most unsettled issues in the Christian world (although most claim to have settled it — but they have not) is the relationship of the Law to the believer, specifically what applies and how it applies.

This issue comes up when we deal with tattoos, for example. But today’s issue is about divorce and remarriage. Some top commentators suggest that the main point of Deuteronomy 24:1-4 is to prevent someone who is divorced and remarried to return to the first spouse. The concessions to human nature about divorce might be the secondary issue.

Poll Results

Do you consider yourself well taught in the realm of ethics?

Yes, I have given a good amount of attention to the study of ethics Votes: 3
In the sense that the Bible deals a lot with ethics, yes; as a specialized discipline, a little or none Votes: 10
No, and I have no regrets Votes: 0
No, but it would be nice in an ideal world for me to do so Votes: 1
Other Votes: 2

The recent thread reporting a tragic loss for a prominent family in BJU (and wider) circles has recieved many views, but to this point not very many comments. A few of the ones that did comment, though, did seem to leave the impression that posting an notification about the story (in this case, I assume the initial posting provided details about the authority’s classification of cause of death) was sensationalistic. A comparison was made to the paparazzi fueled website TMZ, even.