2 thread – needed each reply 500 words
read each thread & reply to both
After reading your classmates’ threads, choose one to which you will respond, then write a reply that interacts with your classmate’s thread and presents a well-reasoned alternative to his or her approach to the issue. You do not have to defend a position that is diametrically opposed to your classmate’s position, but you do need to either defend a position that is significantly different from his/hers or defend the same position in a very different way. If possible, you must reply to a classmate to whom no one else has yet replied. Treat your classmate’s opinion with sensitivity and respect.
This is a university-level writing assignment. Therefore it must be carefully proofread, free of grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Do not use slang, emoticons, or abbreviations (as if you are texting or sending an email to a friend)
Thread 1
There are many different views on how ethics should be perceived. Some people believe that no set of ethics apply to every person, this view is referred to as ethical relativism. This view, however, has many holes that would need to be filled in for it to be accurate. I believe that there are some morals that exist within everyone.
When approaching the different ethical theories throughout the time in this course, I have had a difficult time trying to find one that I could 100 percent invest myself in. There were always questions that I would find myself asking and criticisms that would always appear. Now that we have reached week 5 this is no longer an issue for me. While reading this week’s material I automatically knew that this was the theory I could get behind 100 percent. No matter how many questions I could ask myself about the Christian approach to ethics I couldn’t find any criticisms that led to me discrediting it.
Christian ethics seem to ring true within the world for many reasons. I believe the biggest reason is that God is always present and speaking to us. Even before we are saved and have become a Christian the voice of God is there; we just are less inclined to listen to it because we have not been paying attention. God can reveal things to us through his word but also in other external ways as well. I believe wholeheartedly that he can speak to us and reveal exactly what he needs us to hear. The little voice that everyone refers to as their conscience has always been what I call the voice of God. I believe the voice that tells you something wrong is a gift from God helping to guide you down the correct path if you choose to listen.
I personally believe that God also reveals the correct morals through the bible. This is sometimes a little trickier than God speaking to us. When reading God’s word, we can do a lot of things to add in our own opinions and life experiences. Without using exegesis and actually drawing out the original meaning of the scripture, we endanger ourselves with the opportunity to make a verse something it is not. God most definitely can speak to us through reading his word, but we do have to be conscious of how we read the words. Context is key when studying the scripture and it is very important to learn the history behind the language that is being spoken.
In conclusion, I believe that all of our ethics come from God. I believe he speaks to us and tells us what is right from wrong if we choose to listen to him. He can and will speak to us through his word as well as through his holy spirit. He uses what most people consider to be their conscience to guide us down the correct paths and helps to lead us in the correct direction.
Thread 2
There are many different metaethical theories, however few of them have a foundation founded in the author of morality, God. Although many of these theories have, according to people, good standards by which to live, these standards are still set forth by flawed humans whose morals are based on their own ability to do good. Nonetheless, we can still draw from these theories to form an ideology of the morality established by God, for God is the only determining source of true morality.
Morality should be an unchanging principle. It cannot be relative, following the emotions of people or cultural trends. It should be absolute and unchanging, for if it is not, then morality founded in feelings will result in chaos, and morality becomes obsolete. Therefore, morality should be based on an unchanging standard. Unlike man, God is the only unchanging being and His nature always remains the same. Scripture states in Hebrews 13:8-9 that, “Jesus the Anointed One, is always the same-yesterday, today and forever. So don’t let anyone lead you astray with all sorts of novel and exotic teachings.”[1] For this reason, morality must be founded in God and can only be founded in the character of God.
A quick glance into God’s character can be found in His commandments, which are often used as the basis for moral code in the Christian community. However, as the Divine Nature theory mentions, God’s commandments don’t determine what is good, “but rather they institutionalize and communicate the good that is part of the unchanging nature of God.”[2] For example, Jesus commands “to love your neighbor as yourself.”[3] The character trait of Jesus found in this verse is His unconditional and sacrificial love. Thus, the moral standard should be treating others greater than yourself. The philosopher Immanuel Kant states in his description of Duty Ethics, “I should never act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law.”[4] In other words, Kant is explaining that “you should accept as the guiding principles of your life those principles that you wouldn’t mind everyone else also living by.”[5] The principle of unconditional love is a quality that is universally desired, thus, if God’s character is to love, then man’s guiding laws should follow the nature of God.
If God’s character becomes our moral basis, then one can go beyond His commandments to determine what is good, and it is evident that His essence is in His creation. Genesis 1:27 reveals that god created man “in His own image,”[6] thus, pieces of God’s character were innately placed in each person. As a secular philosopher, Aristotle recognized that is an innate aspect of man that drives him or her towards morality. In his Virtue Ethics Theory, Aristotle defines virtue as “a character trait that inclines you to act in a moral way.”[7] As elements of God’s character are found in each person, then even without commandments each individual has been created to reflect their creator, the author of all morality and the only unchanging and unwavering being, who is God himself. Consequently, it is unmistakable that true morality can only be founded on the character, nature, and qualities of God.
[1] Hebrews 13:8-9
[2] Jones, Michael S., Moral Reasoning: An Intentional Approach to Distinguishing Right from Wrong, (Dubuque, IA Kendall Hunt, 2017).
[3] Matthew 22:39
[4] Ibid., 86
[5] Ibid., 87
[6] Genesis 1:27
[7] Ibid., 38
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