What Is Christian Ethics? This lecture
by Fr Austin lays out some of the principal answers that have been
given for that question. It makes a case for saying that Christian
ethics is just human ethics rightly understood.
You can listen to the lecture here.
Victor Lee Austin's book, Christian Ethics: A Guide for the Perplexed, is available to purchase here.
Christian
ethics is a most perplexing subject. This Guide takes the reader
through the most fundamental issues surrounding the question of Ethics
from a Christian perspective: Is ethics a meaningful topic of discourse
and can there be such a thing as an ethical argument or ethical
persuasion? What is the meaning of the adjective in "Christian
Ethics"?Could right behavior be different for Christians than it is for
others? Can we turn to the Bible for help? Does the Bible tell us what
to do, or give us insight into the good we should aim to achieve, or
give us a narrative by which to live? Is it best to think of ethics as a
matter of duty, or good, or excellence? If we take the virtue line and
say that ethics is about human excellence, doing well as a human being
or succeeding at being a good human being then what will we say about
humans who cannot achieve excellence? The virtue approach leads us to
place friendship as the goal of ethics.
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