An Enquiry into the Relationship between Ethical Conduct and Theological Belief

Abstract

It is an observable fact that there is no common Christian ethic. People and denominations of undoubted integrity differ widely in what they proclaim to be the Christian understanding of ethical questions. But it is not all disagreement. The great majority of members of all denominations would hold firmly to many of the fundamental ethical standards such as the rightness of monogamous marriage, the right of children to receive the mental, material and spiritual requirements for their growth and development, the evil of slavery as a fundamental denial of the rights of the individual. These and other ideas are so fundamental to the Christian faith that any comprehension of the faith involves, ipso facto, their acceptance. Then again it is often only in the application of fundamental principles that differences of opinion arise. No denomination would maintain that warfare is capable of being reconciled with the Christian ethic but there is no unanimity as to the right way to meet the evil. At least one denomination refuses to participate in warfare and opinions among the others are very much divided - a fact which the Appeal Boards of the Second World War revealed. Another such question is the attitude to alcoholic liquors. No Church would advocate unrestricted indulgence in such beverages, for the obvious reason that such indulgence is detrimental to physical health, social relationships, and spiritual perception. But there is no universally accepted attitude towards such questions. Some will maintain that abstinence is the method of approach, and others that the temperate use of the beverage is the solution. Again, all denominations while subscribing to the idea of the sanctity of marriage could not agree on the practical problem of the marriage of divorced persons.