In the classes that I teach for UIU on Contemporary Ethics (and to a lesser degree in the classes on World Religions), I explore some of the primary ethical systems in practice in humanity, such as:
- Consequentialism (of which popular Utilitarianism is a special case)
- Virtue Ethics
- Deontological Ethics
- Natural Law
as well as some others not as widely practiced, like Feminist and Relational Ethics.
Whenever I do this, I inevitably get around to the question of which of these is most like Christianity, or more precisely, which of these is most consistent with historic Christian theology and praxis?
The conclusion I most often come to is that the moral philosophy of Christianity is a special case of Deontology, in which the Moral Imperative of Deontology is informed by God in three ways: 1) the basic moral hard wiring common to humanity, 2) the Jewish and Christian scriptures, and 3) in these latter days, a living and active relationship with God through faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
Deontology, to those readers who may not have had much opportunity to study ethics, is sometimes called the "ethics of duty". A prominent proponent of this ethical system was the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The essence of it is this: there are such things as moral good and moral evil, and they are known by the vast majority of humanity. As a result of this nearly universal agreement, we must take them as moral imperatives to do the right and avoid the wrong as those concepts are generally known. We have a duty to obey these moral imperatives, the obedience of which is moral goodness, and the disobedience of which is moral evil.
As to how these moral imperatives for Christians become informed by God, there is a presupposition that must first be stated. Christians hold that God exists (specifically YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), that God is the epitome of moral goodness, and that God was directly involved in creation of the universe in which we find ourselves. Unlike Deists, Christians see God as interventionist, as immanent, not as disinterested and aloof. In the process of creation (whether by fiat - ex nihilo, or by active divine guidance of evolutionary processes) God imbued creation with a moral order as a direct result of God's own nature. The LOGOS of God, the divine creative reason and will, was what guided creation, and still does. We see this in John 1:1-3a:
"In the beginning was the [LOGOS], and the [LOGOS] was with God, and the [LOGOS] was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."
As a result of this moral order permeating creation, humanity also has a moral compass - the conscience. The Apostle Paul described the effect of that this way in his letter to the Romans (1:19-20 and 2:14-16)
"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse ..."
"When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all."
So even without the Jewish and Christian scriptures, God still impressed on the hearts of humans what is morally right and wrong. But God did not stop there. Being an interventionist God, willing to step into the created order and steer it, God also sent teachers to humanity in the form of Moses who communicated to ancient Israel the Ten Commandments and other teachings of the Law of God, as well as the prophets who told Israel and Judah when they were going morally off course and how to change direction. Here is a clear example from the prophet Micah (6:8):
He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
And this from the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians (4:6-9):
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.
In this way, the scriptures also inform the moral imperatives by which Christians strive to live. But for those who have put their faith for their moral salvation in the free grace (undeserved favor) of God, through
identification with Jesus Christ as Savior, there is an additional way that God informs their moral imperatives: by the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God, as explained by Jesus himself in John 14:15-17, 25-26):
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you for ever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. [...] I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you."
This spiritual connection with God via the Holy Spirit is what informs us moment by moment of what is true and right. It also assures us of our position as beloved children in the family of God, as the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:7-17a:
For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ...
So, with their Deontological Moral Imperatives being informed by God in these ways, Christians have both a duty to obey the Moral Imperatives of God, and have a joy in doing so since they know that this pleases God, and aligns with the moral order of the universe. For Christians, then, Moral Goodness is adherence to, and alignment, affiliation with, God and God's teachings; Moral Evil is departure from or rebellion against the same.
When faced with a moral choice, the Christian attempts to align decisions with God's moral order, and is informed by conscience, the scriptures and by the Holy Spirit's guidance in the moment. The dilemma faced by moral philosophies like Utilitarianism, with its need to assign cost and benefit to life and death, health and suffering, is not one that should trouble Christians. When faced with a test like the "lifeboat" scenario, where you must choose who gets thrown overboard to allow an overloaded lifeboat to stay afloat, there is no need to evaluate the value of the elderly passenger versus the child, the woman versus the man, the professor versus the carpenter, etc. For the Christian, the moral imperative is to do as the Apostle Paul teaches us in his letter to the Philippians (2:3-8):
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.
As Christians, we align with Jesus in our moral choices. And so when faced with the lifeboat scenario or other such moral dilemmas, our moral imperative is informed by God through our conscience, the scriptures, and the guidance of God's Spirit.
Who leaves the lifeboat?
I do. I go overboard, so that you all can live.
