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Christian Ethics Exam
September 17, 2023

According to our primary text (Lovin), Ethics is the method by which we make decisions in line with having “a good life”. What constitutes a good life is different for everyone but is largely shaped by our culture and our early experiences.

Christian Ethics incorporates our experiences with our embedded theology and drives our decision making as we seek to live “a good Christian life”. In broad terms, a good Christian life is centered around living according to our interpretation of what God requires of us, what fosters harmony and brings good to those with whom we are in relationship, and what brings happiness and satisfaction to us as individuals.

Living a good Christian life is deliberative (Wells). As humans, we use our experience and our reasoning to make deliberative choices in line with our beliefs about what living a good Christian life entails. There are times when our choices are driven more by what we want as individuals in contradiction with what we believe God wants for us, or what is right for others with whom we share community, and when those choices are harmful, they are considered unethical.

The beliefs we learn growing up and what we are taught about God and the Bible early on in our lives guides much of our decision making. What constitutes Christian Ethics in one family is wholly unacceptable in another.

For example, although we were taught in my family that it is good to say blessing at meals, it was never enforced. As a child, I saw other Christian families pray together, and it seemed a good thing to me. I was taught that God wanted us to give thanks for our provision. Family prayer seemed a solemn holy act, and I not only thought it would make God happy, but also that it would make me feel good, and that it would bring us closer as a family. My behavior as a young child was guided largely by teleological ethics (Wells); I was focused on what would show the most love to God and culminate in the most good for my family.

When I’d ask to pray at dinner, the idea was never met with resistance, but it was left to me to say the blessing. I didn’t do it often because it felt awkward and forced. After a while, I didn’t do it at all. My lofty goals gave way to practicality. I…