The Old Testament (OT) should never be used for making ethical standards for Christians. The OT consists of only one principle: do whatever God commands by any means necessary. No ethics can exist based on an ‘ends justify the means’ philosophy. In the OT, God commands "thou shalt not kill (murder)", but then commands harem warfare genocide. God was trying to teach people faithfulness, not ethics, in the OT. In the New Testament (NT), Jesus fulfills God’s will by valuing the spiritual over the physical: armor of God instead of physical weapons, treasures in heaven instead of wealth, God dwelling in us instead of the Temple, and family of believers instead of blood lines. Jesus established a spiritual kingdom in the NT, whereas it was mostly physical (geographically and ethnically) in the OT. The spiritual kingdom is upheld with ethics based on the Greatest Commandment to love God and everyone.

When it comes to ethics, we should not go for avoidance ethics. Avoidance ethics asks, "How can I avoid sin?" Instead, we should be asking, "How can we best live for the cause of Christ?" The question should be in the positive, not negative. "Whatever you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31). This dramatically changes how we look at our actions. Instead of scrupulously looking for verses to defend our every action, we should ask, "Does this action help the cause of fulfilling the Great Commandment?"

No verses in the Bible definitively command against slavery or support the right for women and minorities to vote, yet most believe these are ethical and loving ideas. Moreover, these are human rights. The Greatest Commandment is the fundamental principle for perfect living, which is the Golden Rule: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12. In other words, it is the categorical imperative of Kant and all rationale moral philosophy, "Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law."

P.S. Sunday, February 4, 2007: I provide a different (gradual ethical enlightenment) interpretation of Old and New Testament ethics in the last three paragraphs at http://www.interconnectedness.net/2007/02/04/rob-bell-nonviolence-and-scapegoating/

Biblical ethics

This entry was originally published at Interconnectedness