The journal First Things recently posted an article called "Protestants Need Virtue Ethics", where it argues for Protestants to work towards a general or consistent "virtue ethics", trying to determine what is virtuous in the modern age, and expressing concern over certain recent policies by the current administration.
On the one hand, as a Protestant, I do agree that we Protestants can often do more to consider how exactly we should live out our Christian faith. We have, at times, conflated "doing good" with "works righteousness".However, this article seems to want to hash out a universal or generally applicable "virtue system", in the spirit of Aquinas, and I don't think that is a very sound foundation for such an endeavor. The book mentioned in this article, "Ethics Beyond Rules", appears to get stuck on this point, establishing the "problem" of "moral relativism", without considering his own use of the words "moral" or "absolute" or "relative".
Protestantism, at its best, highlights that many important things -- even such things as church governance or hierarchy -- can only be considered "good" in a cultural and/or historical context. Even the Old Testament Law itself contains many specific instructions and commands, that even the New Testament writers like Paul freely reimagine and reinterpret to best fit their own circumstance. Paul takes the instruction of "muzzling an ox treading out the grain", not to narrowly apply this command to other farming animals, but dives down into the *principle* of it, to resurface and argue for paying wages to those who preach the Word. That is a transformative way to apply God's law, and it gives us a model for seeking to apply it to our modern situation.
And what are these "principles"? Jesus says clearly that it's not the Ten Commandments, but rather the Great Commandments -- "loving God" and "loving neighbor" -- that establish the foundation for the Ten Commandments and all the rest of the moral law. Again, it's NOT that the Ten Commandments show us how to love, it's that love shows us how to properly keep the Ten Commandments. And indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounds on murder and adultery to get to the underlying principles, to give us a proper and full understanding of each commandment.
And if we were still confused about the meaning of "love", the New Testament spends a lot of time making it clear. Kindness, patience, not keeping a record of wrong, humbleness, seeking the good of others... all of these paint a consistent and clear pictures of a "new virtue", one enabled by the Holy Spirit, which is repeatedly stated as "fulfilling the requirements of the Law." But it requires us to *seek out and know that which is outside ourself*. To extend the metaphor a bit, in order to do good in today's society, we need to *know and understand the society* well enough to love it best. In that sense there IS something "relative" about this kind of "moral" behavior. The PRINCIPLE is absolute and timeless, the APPLICATION of it is relative to the time and place of each Christian. So let's teach Christians how to "love", how to reach outside themselves, and thus live "virtuous" lives in the circumstances they find themselves in.
Protestantism, at its best, highlights that many important things -- even such things as church governance or hierarchy -- can only be considered "good" in a cultural and/or historical context. Even the Old Testament Law itself contains many specific instructions and commands, that even the New Testament writers like Paul freely reimagine and reinterpret to best fit their own circumstance. Paul takes the instruction of "muzzling an ox treading out the grain", not to narrowly apply this command to other farming animals, but dives down into the *principle* of it, to resurface and argue for paying wages to those who preach the Word. That is a transformative way to apply God's law, and it gives us a model for seeking to apply it to our modern situation.
And what are these "principles"? Jesus says clearly that it's not the Ten Commandments, but rather the Great Commandments -- "loving God" and "loving neighbor" -- that establish the foundation for the Ten Commandments and all the rest of the moral law. Again, it's NOT that the Ten Commandments show us how to love, it's that love shows us how to properly keep the Ten Commandments. And indeed, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus expounds on murder and adultery to get to the underlying principles, to give us a proper and full understanding of each commandment.
And if we were still confused about the meaning of "love", the New Testament spends a lot of time making it clear. Kindness, patience, not keeping a record of wrong, humbleness, seeking the good of others... all of these paint a consistent and clear pictures of a "new virtue", one enabled by the Holy Spirit, which is repeatedly stated as "fulfilling the requirements of the Law." But it requires us to *seek out and know that which is outside ourself*. To extend the metaphor a bit, in order to do good in today's society, we need to *know and understand the society* well enough to love it best. In that sense there IS something "relative" about this kind of "moral" behavior. The PRINCIPLE is absolute and timeless, the APPLICATION of it is relative to the time and place of each Christian. So let's teach Christians how to "love", how to reach outside themselves, and thus live "virtuous" lives in the circumstances they find themselves in.
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