withallyourmind.net

I, for one, am very glad to see J. P. Moreland blogging. I am finding his posts to be excellent summaries of clear thinking on a number of issues. (This post is a briefer summary of his brief summary!) His post, How Did Jesus Act?: Jesus as a Moral Teacher, explores the ethical system of Jesus Christ and, by extension, of those who call themselves Christians (followers of Christ). Two competing ethical theories (there are others, of course) are deontological ethics and virtue ethics. Deontological ethics focuses on right and wrong moral actions and moral rules. It stresses that there are moral “laws” which should be followed by all in all circumstances if one is to be considered moral. Immanuel Kant is perhaps one of the best remembered deontologists. Virtue ethics, in contrast, focuses not on the particular actions, but more on the individual who performs those actions. The focus is on the nature and formation of a good person. The development of moral character receives the emphasis, rather than the performance of any particular act. Aristotle and Aquinas represent this ethical position.

So, which is for the Christian? Are we to consider morality as the development of a good, moral person who inculcates the habit of choosing that which is right? Or are we to consider morality as the keeping of certain moral principles or rules? J. P. Moreland, rightly I think, answers, “Both.” Regarding Christ’s view on morality, he first lays a foundation by stating three important aspects of Christ’s moral teaching.

First, Christ was objectivist, not relativist. He believed in the existence of objectively true moral principles.
Second, He believed in moral knowledge… that we can have knowledge of right and wrong.
Third, Morality is based in God’s holy, moral nature.

I won’t reproduce Moreland’s entire post here, since you can read it yourself in his own words. But, I appreciate his ability to provide clear thinking in areas which can sometimes by quite murky. I conlcude with a portion of his last paragraph:

Fortunately, one does not need to choose between the two as some have claimed. Some ethicists hold, correctly in my view, that virtues and moral rules should coexist in some way. They claim that virtues without rules are blind, but rules without virtues are motivationally impotent. Both virtue and deontological ethics are necessary for an adequate moral system. Neither virtues nor moral rules is basic; rather, each has intrinsic value and they complement each other. People have a duty to be a certain kind of person and to obey correct moral rules. The virtues refer to the character traits that should characterize a good person and moral rules provide guidance for defining right and wrong moral actions.