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Where can moral direction and moral certainty be found in a secular materialist world?
The Christian answer is: In the scriptures, in the teaching of Jesus and the early church, in personal spiritual experience and inspiration, in a sense of discipleship and the application of the New Testament principles and values.
This book is not a detailed treatment of New Testament ethics, but it does contain much material from the New Testament which the author has found helpful in developing his own sense of moral direction as a Christian disciple. The opening chapters deal with ethics in general and how Christian ethics relate to this. There is a detailed discussion of the Sermon on the Mount followed by a study in Ephesians chapters 4-6 focussing on ethics in the early Church. The last part of the book deals with moral issues which confront disciples today – marriage and remarriage; anger and violence; environmentalism; purity; and the moral issues relating to computers and the Internet.
The emphasis throughout is on the application of Christian and New Testament principles and attitudes under the Holy Spirit. There are questions for discussion and private study at the end of each section.
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Contents
Preface viii
How to use this book ix
Chapter 1, ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments’ 1
Hearing the Holy Spirit 2
Personal Discipleship 6
Chapter 2, Moral Decision Making 7
The Philosophical Background 7
The Teleological Approach 7
The Deontological Approach 12
Consequentialism 14
Towards a Christian Perspective 16
Chapter 3, Christians and Moral Decision Making 18
Ethics and Morals 20
Christian Ethics 20
Resources for Christian Moral Decision Making 21
The Old Testament 22
The New Testament 25
Modern Scientific Knowledge 28
Life in the Spirit 29
Chapter 4, Jesus, and the Moral Struggle Then and Now 32
Ethics and Salvation 33
Household Rules 34
Broad General Principles and Specific Questions 34
The New Testament and the Modern Context 36
The Place of Rules 38
The Challenge of Perfection 40
Imagery and the Teaching of Jesus 40
Community and Dialogue 42
Chapter 5, The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7 43
A Framework for Christian Ethics 43
The Introduction 45
The Beatitudes 46
Salt and Light 57
The Better Righteousness 59
Love and the Challenge of Perfection 64
Christian Piety 66
Building on the Rock 72
Chapter 6, Ethics in the Early Christian Communities,
Ephesians 4-6 75
Ephesus and the Letter to the Ephesians 75
Christian Unity 81
Vision, Discipline, Grace and Unity 87
Church, Ministry, and Society 90
Imitation and Discipleship 99
Sexual Sins and the Transfer from Darkness to Light 102
The Household Rules 106
Chapter 7, Christian Attitudes to Marriage, Divorce,
and Remarriage 113
Chapter 8, Anger and its Concomitants 123
Some Issues Relating to Anger and Violence 125
Hermas on Bad Temper and its Concomitants 127
Chapter 9, The Christian Understanding of Purity 131
The Acts of Paul and Thecla 132
The Pastoral Epistles - an alternative view of purity 147
Chapter 10, The Moral demands of the Gospel and
Life in the Spirit 153
The Paraclete 153
The Fruit of the Spirit 155
Chapter 11, Romans 8 and the Powerful Guidance of the Spirit,
and the Importance of the Natural World 163
Chapter 12, Christian Principles, Computers, and the Internet 173
Appendix, The Christian as the Soul of the World, The Letter
to Diognetus 5&6 183
Bibliography 185
Index 193 |
