christian ethics (2)

I need a straightforward definition of ethics.
Is it knowing what's good and what's bad?
Maybe, but that implies someone has judged what good means.
For a Christian, is it doing what God wants?
But how does that work if what God requires seems to be bad?  Don Cupitt argues that what we believe to be ethical in the West is not actually what the Bible teaches- he cites human rights, liberty and democracy as examples.
The more I read, the more confused I become.
Stanley Hauerwas, who I was looking forward to reading, suggests we use the Eucharist as a way into ethics.....what? How does that help? What has an institutionalised ritual, which incidentally has been the focus of much unethical infighting, got to say about how we actually live our lives day by day?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

advent day two

Advent Day TWO~ Every one of you, hide among the rocks and in the ground, Because the LORD is fearsome, marvelous, and glorious. When the LORD comes, everyone who is proud will be made humble, And the LORD alone will be honoured. The LORD All-Powerful has chosen a day When those who are proud and conceited will be put down Isaiah 2: 10-12 What are we waiting for? Its good to remind ourselves  of who God is. What words would you use to describe God? Glorious?...Marvellous?...Fearsome? Try to spend some time today in a place where you can see something of God’s glory– it might be at the sea, under a starry night sky, watching a sunset or down on your hands and knees with the insects. God created this world we live in. He controls it, orders it, sustains it. He breathed life into our bodies– and He will decide when life leaves us. This is the LORD we worship. And he has chosen a day to return to earth in unmistakable power and glory. The angel choirs who sang to shepherds
Read more

Peter- walking a rocky road

Sometimes reading self help books or well-meaning blogs can make us feel that adopting a regime, a mantra or a new habit will lead to measurable results in a steadily increasing way. We feel as if we should be drawing a progress chart that climbs steadily upwards- but real life is just not like that. Maybe that's why so many of us find Peter an encouraging character in Scripture. When Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter, meaning the Rock, we cheer for him as we see Jesus recognising his strength of character. Jesus replied,  ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter,   and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades [  will not overcome it.   I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be  bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be   loosed in heaven.’   Then he ordered his disciples not to tell any
Read more

advent day fifteen

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord! Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice; Tender to me the promise of his word; In God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice. Do not be afraid! When Gabriel appeared to Mary, she was confused and frightened. He had to reassure her by reminding her how much she meant to God: “You’re beautiful with God’s beauty. Beautiful inside and out! God be with you.” And then he told her of her part in God’s plan…. We can’t begin to guess what her first reactions were. Whether it even made sense to her. She could hardly talk it through with Joseph– so she went off to visit Elizabeth, the only one who might begin to understand, to help her make sense of what was happening to her. Three months later, Luke lets us see what Mary is thinking. Is it a tear soaked page of her diary? Is it anger and outrage at God? Is it despair as she works out what to say to Joseph? No– God has brought Mary to a place where she can sing. We call her song the Magnif
Read more