Discuss about the Report for Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology.
Christian ethics is an integral aspect of theology. It enables how the people should lead virtuous behavior. Systematic theology is the study of Christian ethics that has been derived from morality. Christian virtues are based on seven important virtues. Christian ethics deals with how women should be treated, acts morality in war and how the rich should act towards the poor. Ethics play an important role in how people should live and what virtues they should strive to get. People have been found to have an issue as to how they should strive to achieve a balance between material life and live a life based on biblical balance[1]. The people in general want to lead a life that is based on the word of God and also ensure that they live their life based on their own terms. There are many important virtues and ethical guidelines that have been prescribed in Christianity. The ethical issue that will be probed in this analysis is materialism.
The purpose of this analysis is to look in to the different theories related to ethics and apply it to the aspect of materialism or wealth.
Analysis of the theories
Morality can be defined as the factor where the end should justify the means taken to achieve a certain fact. Morality and values directs and preludes the people to act in ways that would morally right. It enables them to act to the best of their conscience. There are many theories that has been related to utilitarianism and deontology.
Utilitarianism revolves around the paradigm that the end should justify the means. It is developed by John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. It fundamentally states that the outcome is derived from a course of action should have greater value derived from the latter. It states and asks the people to take advantage of their happiness for the overall good of the people and the society in general. In this notion the concept of utilitarianism depends on the concept of consequentiality.[2] Some of the mandates related to utilitarianism do not have an impact in the current health care. For example, the concept of euthanasia will be deemed based on the notion of utilitarianism. The issue with this theory is that it depends more on the philosopher rather than other factors. Many philosophers do not agree with the mandates of this theory. It is for this reason that the concepts of deontology have been practiced in many situations and advocated by many people.
Practical applications of Deontology
Deontology is another moral theory that is derived from the scriptures. It refers to the rules, law and intuition of the people. The concepts of deontology depend on the principles derived from Immanuel Kant. In the concept of deontology, it mandates that the actions and the outcome should be ethical. The actions are given more weight than the outcome. The course of action has been analyzed in the concept of deontology[3]. In this the philosopher tries to probe into the situation from both the angles and derived the outcome without affecting the final ethical outcome of the situation.
There are three important factors that have been associated with the ethics. It is the duty of an individual. In this the individuals are expected to undertake and perform a certain task based on the inherent duty. The rightness or the wrongness of the act is the matter of innate moral values held by the individual.[4] The act of killing or lying is considered to be morally wrong in these situations the individuals really do not have duty to act on these things. The final outcome is not the only factor that has been considered in the deontological approach it is the means taken to achieve the final goal. While the people who are practicing the goal would want to function and reach positive consequences it is not the case at all times. The second factors that has been considered in this approach is that the human all have an innate moral values and sense this should be accepted. This is a difficult notion to justify. If people adopts an approach where they do not follow the theological doctrine it becomes difficult to justify the means. The third fact is the imperative of the people that these are universalizable[5]. It is applicable for all the people who are involved in the moral situation. Moral statements in this approach are considered to be the command that holds the people for the type of act in consideration.
The issue with deontology or any ethics is the ways in which it needs to be practiced in the real world where there ae no real mandates for the people to adopt an approach. The practical needs of the people have been changing from the times these approaches have been prescribed to the people[6]. Owing to this there has been many approaches by the philosophers to combine the practical dictum with the theories of ethics.[7]
There have been many modern approaches taken to these fundamental values that has been propagated in deontology. Frances Kamm’s “Principle of Permissible Harm” is one such effort that the people take in order to derive a constraint that makes the people to follow the the deontological principles that has been focused on Kant categorical imperative.[8] According to this principle it has been stated that the people may harm other in order save more. Kamm feeling that most people consider the case judgement that involved the deontological intuitions. There have also been efforts taken to combine the principles of deontology with the virtue ethics and utilitarianism. There has been efforts taken to fuse many principles in order to ensure that the people live according to the ethical guidelines.
One of the issues that has pervaded man is materialism. They prove to be an issue or hurdle to people. People are driven by the material need in the modern times. People need to ensure that there is a way to live ethically and also meet their needs to materialism. In this modern world the people are driven by the motive to achieve material pleasure and wealth. In this analysis the issues of materialism and its impact have been probed in detail.
People in the world live for shirt spans of time. In this process the people tend to forget that spiritual citizenship is not based on the material acquisition. The people tend to fall prey to “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does” (v. 16, NIV). They tend to shift focus from the priorities of God to live some selfish personal lives. There has been a common sense voice that tells the people not to sacrifice the eternal life for the short temporary human life. This struggle emphasizes the people to indulge in sinful deeds and the desire to obtain possessions take over the ultimate truth.[9]
An important way to achieve this mandate is through the application of contentment with the material possessions. Some possessions such as media, mutual funds and money are not destructive. They are only tools used by the people to live a materially comfortable life. But the people tend to go through a lot of destrictuve habits to gain materials. This has led to people to even assume that “think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (v. 5 NIV). Paul states godliness with contentment is great gain” (v. 6).[10] This concept of contentment is not the issue of ignoring the virtues and the reality of the practical life. Some of the materials are used to increase the necessities of life. But the methods adopted by people to achieve this paradigm has been questioned.
Accumulation of material possession is not a sin. Abraham and Job in the old testament were good examples of this notion.[11] Some of the Christians are very skilled in making money and putting together positive legitimate business deals. The issue is the attitude of the people. It is the approach taken by the people to achieve wealth. The notion of amassing wealth becomes more important ant that it impacts their actions. They succumb to following unlawful practices that they justify for the pursuit of money or possessions[12]. People who are trapped by the needs of money can never really attain their spiritual goal.
Historically there were a number of wealthy people who went to Ephesian church. To those people Paul offers main principle to follow. The first principles is to have a proper attitude. It is to avoid being arrogant to the people who do not have a lot of material wealth. The people assume that only material possession is a means to having security[13]. This is not the case as wealth can be easily destroyed. Another important principle is that the wealthy people should be generous and help the people who are suffering from want of material need. People acquire spiritual benefit. John 3:17 says, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (NIV).[14]
In this notion the people should be fundamentally generous in reaching their goals. The spiritual benefit that the people can gain from this process and the impact it has on the society is truly spectacular. It is for this reason that Paul states it as a mandate or a rule in the ways to live[15].
Deontology can be applied to this concept of being generous. In the concept that has been propagated by deontology, it has been said that the action of the individuals and the final benefit should be considered.[16] This process of being generous and not hoarding wealth enables the society to live with basic material needs and also ensures that the spiritual needs of the people are also achieved. The ethical values do not state that people should not acquire wealth. Rather it states that they should acquire wealth by legitimate means and help those people around. This would enable in the growth of the society as well as help people reach their ultimate spiritual destination.
Conclusion.
To conclude, utilitarianism only focuses on the ultimate end result. It does not factor in the actions that the people undertake to reach a particular goal. On the other hand, deontology asks the people to adopts an approach where the actions taken to achieve the end result is also factored. This is the most important rule according to many philosophers. There have been many theories that discusses about the ways in which the people can reach a balance between spirituality and practical life. One of the most important aspect of the practical life is materialism. People need to have certain material comfort to live in this world. This pursuit of money making is not considered as a sin. But the people should adopt legal means to gain wealth. This wealth gaining process should not hurt others or cheat them. From applying deontological principles, the people should have an approach of following ethics and help others in need. This would enable the people to live a material life that is adequate and also enable them to live a life of spiritual attainment.
Reference:
Atkinson, David J., David F. Field, Arthur F. Holmes, and Oliver O’Donovan, eds. New dictionary of Christian ethics & pastoral theology. InterVarsity Press, 2013.
Brunner, Emil, and Olive Wyon. The divine imperative: a study in Christian ethics. James Clarke & Co., 2002.
Childress, James F., and John Macquarrie. “The Westminster dictionary of Christian ethics.” (1986).
Geisler, Norman L. Christian Ethics: Contemporary issues and options. Baker Academic, 2010.
Graham, Gordon. Evil and Christian ethics. Vol. 20. Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Grenz, Stanley J. The moral quest: Foundations of Christian ethics. InterVarsity Press, 2000.
Hollenbach, David. The global face of public faith: Politics, human rights, and Christian ethics. Georgetown University Press, 2003.
Kim, David, Dan Fisher, and David McCalman. “Modernism, christianity, and business ethics: A worldview perspective.” Journal of Business Ethics 90, no. 1 (2009): 115-121.
McDonald, James Ian Hamilton. Biblical interpretation and Christian ethics. No. 2. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Niebuhr, Reinhold. An interpretation of Christian ethics. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
Northcott, Michael S. The environment and Christian ethics. Vol. 10. Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Pope, Stephen J. Human evolution and Christian ethics. Vol. 28. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Ramsey, P., 1950. Basic christian ethics. Westminster John Knox Press.
Rudman, Stanley. Concepts of person and Christian ethics. Vol. 11. Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Swimberghe, Krist RG. When Corporate Policies and Consumer Values Collide: Examining the Relationship Between Religion and Controversial Business Decisions. ProQuest, 2009.
Wogaman, J. Philip. Christian ethics: A historical introduction. Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.
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