Christian Ethics

In the old days, before there was public transit or sunlight, theologians addressed a wide variety of concerns. After the Enlightenment (and its weird fashion) everyone became a specialist, including theologians. Some studied theology proper, some studied soteriology, some studied Schleiermacher's contribution to the Christian concept of weltanshauung. Ethics were largely abandoned to the realm of philosophy, and became more situational than universal. While powdered wigs have fallen out of style, this separation of ethics from theology has not.

Consequences have been interesting. St. Augustine's seminal City of God is a multidisciplinary feast that ranges from philosophy of history to theology to political theory. One of its primary themes is ethics. Augustine was instrumental in starting a trend of integration of which ethical concerns were an important part.

Christian ethics should not be seen as irrelevant to other disciplines. In fact, in one sense Christianity is primarily ethical—it tells us how to live according to God's law. Everything we study or do should be related to our ethics, if for no other reason than that we stay consistent to the tenets of our faith. While not all of us need to be polymaths, we should be inclusive in our intellectual endeavor and able to use our knowledge in the defense and pursuit of goodness.

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Whatever Happened to the Human Race? DVD
by Francis A. Schaeffer
from Apologetics Group
for Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$15.00 (1 in stock)