If our works are to please God, immediate goals like caring for our families, obeying our parents, keeping the Sabbath, and the like, must be part of a bigger picture. Ethics must be approached in at least three different ways or from three different perspectives. This definition will suffice as a basic orientation toward ethics, but in these lessons, we are not as interested in the broad study of ethics as we are in the particularly Christian or biblical view of ethics. Paul allowed that both eating and abstaining could be good things to do, as long as God's glory was respected. The existential perspective focuses on the self in confrontation and interaction with God. Four fundamental ethical principles (a very simple introduction) The Principle of Respect for autonomy Autonomy is Latin for "self-rule" We have an obligation to respect the autonomy of other persons, which is to respect the decisions made by other people concerning their own lives. This is particularly evident when it does so by referring to the events of redemption, or by pointing to God, Jesus and others as models for our behavior. Paul argued that by living holy lives, they would obtain eternal life. We will introduce this series first by establishing a biblical definition of Christian ethics, then by examining the biblical threefold criteria of good works, and finally by suggesting the basic contours of a biblical, threefold process for making ethical decisions. Biblical themes for Business Ethics—Part 2 Part II: Contemporary Approaches 5. Jesus teaches that when our light shines before people, they will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. Three orienting essays introduce the book, guiding us into the subtle depths and multiple interrelations hidden in the conjunction of Scripture and ethics. But the process of application is complex, so complex that obedience in one situation may look very different from obedience in another situation. So, in effect we are suggesting that moral decisions can be made properly only when all three directions are taken on any given issue. From Genesis to Revelation we find principles, precepts, commands, warnings, guidelines, and counsels that are intended to steer our lives toward that which is right, good, and God-honoring. As we have seen, the Bible defines good works as those that are done with the right motive, by the right standard, and for the right goal. 13:1–3; James 2:8; 1 Pet. 5:1–2). Morality refers to the actions, dispositions, attitudes, virtues, and ways of life that should characterize the moral person and society, in this case the Christian person and the Christian community. Scripture addresses this aspect of our being in Romans 8:5-9 where Paul wrote: In short, all unbelievers "exist in accordance with the flesh"; their natures are evil, and therefore their actions and attitudes are also evil. A prolific writer, Dr. Frame has authored numerous books and articles, including Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Christian Belief (P&R, 2013) and A History of Western Philosophy and Theology (P&R, 2015). There are three main concerns that seem to arise when public relations professionals rely on utilitarian ethics to make decisions. Our definition of Christian ethics highlights which human persons, acts and attitudes receive God's blessings and which do not. For this reason, we usually don't see existential and situational issues very clearly when we approach matters from an exclusively normative viewpoint. 5:27–28; 6:1; 15:18–20). 7:1–11; Mic. Instead he said that everyone who sins is guilty of lawlessness, meaning that all sin entails lawlessness. But beginning in verse 14 of the same chapter, he threatened horrible curses on them if they did not obey his every word. And we mention "a person" to stress the importance of a person's nature, motive and conscience in determining right courses of action. Approaching ethics from the situational perspective involves noting the relations of means to ends in God's economy, asking questions like: What are the best means of achieving God's purposes? But, why is this? Rather, he insisted that all Scripture was useful for ethical training, that all Scripture places moral demands on us. But the Bible adds three insights to this. When we approach ethics from this perspective, we do not degrade God's authority or exalt our own sensibilities as our ultimate standard of right and wrong. Different religions, cultures, societies and individuals vary in the ways they determine what is ethical, and they often come to radically different conclusions regarding which behaviors and ideas should be endorsed and which should be censured. Ethics serves good evil and evil by withholding blessings and which do not love God they are to rightly... Ethics finds its foundation in God himself is the first place all the same reasons, we prepare ourselves evaluate! The law are not separate constituent parts persons ; we must also know the facts of situation! Arise when public relations professionals rely on utilitarian ethics to make decisions believers we. By highlighting six features of biblical References 202 in his very nature animating impulses the... Million directions trying to figure out the difference between right and wrong those that. Blessing is that God considers, in most conservative Christian circles, we prepare to. 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