Moral Reasoning in this fallen world is a cultivated skill. We have to learn ethical competence. Sadly, this is a skill that is sorely lacking in today’s culture. Many young people draw their understanding of right and wrong from movies, television and social media . . . the absolute worst sources for ethical understanding. The only infallible source of ethics is Scripture – not your parents, not school, not the law and not your friends. Many Christians fail to understand that they have to work at cultivating ethical skills and can never stop learning. They naively believe that right is defined by the culture-at-large. Or, worse yet, they simply manufacture their own ethics out of thin air. Moral Reasoning = Ethics. Ultimately, ethics is about “right” versus “wrong.”

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:14) Chrysostom (4th church father commenting on Heb 5:14) – “Trained to distinguish, that is, to be skilled.”

Why Should Christians Study Ethics? The answer is simple: to better know the will of God (Matt 28:19-20; John 14:15, etc.) Shyamalan’s 2021 movie “Old” is a terrifying example of ethics gone off the rails in a misguided quest for “good.”

Food for thought: Do we sometimes have to commit a “lesser evil” in order to accomplish a “greater good” (i.e., the impossible moral conflict)? How important is a strong skill of moral reasoning in a world that increasingly rejects absolute truth and is freefalling into moral chaos? Everyday we are confronted with multiple ethical decisions – and some will be difficult to resolve. What factors should we consider in making ethical decisions? What is your foundation for moral reasoning?

Every day we face ethical dilemmas: Some are easy … for example, Returning the wallet the man in front of you dropped, or reporting an accident you caused in a parking lot. Some are difficult … for example, Should you monitor your teen’s social media activities? or . . . Your mother-in-Law who lives with you is 83 and refuses any more medical intervention for a failing heart (in good health otherwise) – should you support her decision or try to convince her otherwise?

Some ethical dilemmas require snap judgment. For example: Your daughter and her best friend are swimming at the beach. No one else is around and there is no life guard. Suddenly your daughter screams and you realize both are caught in a ferocious rip current being dragged out to sea. Your daughter’s friend is a much weaker swimmer.
Which one do you try to save first? There is no time for analysis. Your snap decision will be the result of the moral foundation you have already laid – for either good or bad.

Every generation faces new ethical dilemmas. For example, previous generations did not encounter questions regarding: human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, surrogate motherhood, in vitro fertilization, human head transplantation, exploding information technology avenues (Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Alexa, etc.), hormone blockers for children, etc.

There are different sources for ethics. What are Christian Ethics? Christian Ethics is any study that answers the question, “What does the whole Bible teach us about which acts, attitudes, and personal character traits receive God’s approval, and which do not?” What does the whole of Scripure teach us? (Proverbs 14:12; 2 Tim 3:16; John 17:17) Taking a single verse out of the context of the whole of Scripture can lead to false conclusions. Ethical study should be based on broad principles in Scripture and not specifics. It becomes easy to compartmentaize and draw erroneous conclusions from single verses if that is the sole basis of our Biblical ethical study. Any rule in Scrpture can be overcome by creative interpretation. Examples: the specific admonition in Eph 5:22 and the principle of Gal 3:28, or Rom 13:4 versus Matt 5:39. Jesus obeyed all rules and principles that applied to him fully and without exception. (But what about the accusation that He broke the Sabbath?)

We have to be careful to differentiate “Major” vs “Minor” Ethical Issues. Major ethical issues have wide and long-lasting effects on us and others (marriage, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, stewardship of money, etc.) Minor ethical issues have relatively little effect on us and others (vegetarianism, cremation, personal use of analgesics, electric versus hybrid versus combustion car, etc.)

How Should We Study Christian Ethics? With With prayer, humility, reason, with help from others including the historical church, and with all relevant passages in Scripture on a given topic.

This series will addess moral reasoning (ethics) from an apologetic perspective. If you are looking for a good single resource on Christian Ethics, I recommend Wayne Grudem’s book “Christian Ethics: Living a Life That Is Pleasing to God”. This series draws heavily on that book.

Part 2 is here