Ethics, Morals and Spiritual Belief - Essay Example

Ethics, Morals and Spiritual Beliefs Religious ethics refer to the value-systems that direct religions and that lay down the pattern for what can be considered acceptable and what can’t be. Virtues are principles for moral, ethical conduct. In almost all of the religions of the world, personal morality commences with a simple concept that involves treating others in a way that oneself would wish to be treated by others (Welfel, 2012). And this golden rule can be considered as the most fundamental of the personal virtues. As mentioned in the bible, “Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." (Matthew 7:12). Christianity furnishes the classical religious declaration of humility within the Sermon on the Mount. It says, "Blessed be the meek for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Here, it has been pointed by Jesus that, the secular world acknowledges and rewards wealth and power; on the contrary, the religious world elates the individuals that have been crushed or passed over by the world (Gellman & Hartman, 2013;Spohn, 1995). However, the application of these biblical teachings has never been easy to circumstances where believers have to make decisions. For instance consider the dilemma confronted by the Clement of Alexandria: if it had been advised by Jesus that the young ruler should sell all his belongings and help the poor and needy than it would have been difficult for Clement to accommodate his well placed clientele. Similarly, When Jesus asks Peter to keep his sword back into its cover (John 18:10-11), has been argued by Tertullian, while unarming Peter means unarming every Christian (Bercovitz, 2005). In order to highlight the biblical ethics let us examine a sample of teachings mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. These include admonitions against lust, anger and hatred (Matthew 5:21-24; 27-28), eternalness of marriage, the shunning of swearing, the denial of retaliation for resolution and adoring your foe (Matthew 5:31-47). Besides these teachings, the Bible set the idea of common human rights and egalitarianism as it exclusively provides that all individuals are developed in the image of God. Moreover, in the ancient times, a woman was given very low status in the society as a wife was treated like husband’s property. According to Aristotle, a woman was considered somewhere in between a slave and a free human being. However, the church prohibited its followers from such actions and provided woman a status of a free human being and allowed widows to either marry or not. Widows were provided financial support as well as honor within the society. Church allowed the widows a share in their husband’s property. Since the Bible taught that the only way a man could live with a woman of his choice was to get married as there is no concept of cohabitation. Such teachings provided secured environment to a woman (Faith facts, 2008). If the Biblical insights are to be applied with grace and wisdom, instead of being imposed, then believers could prudently team biblical ethics with the ethical wisdom entrenched in the convention of the church, with sanctified reason which discerns our duty to love God, and with pious receptiveness to the steering of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus pledged to send his following to guide them into completely truth (John 16:7-13 ) and the Spirit who could help disciples in recognizing what is just, midmost of confusing ambiguities. In the Bible various teachings are obsolete, morally repulsive such as slavery, sexism and genocide and unresponsive to the demands of present economic life such as the forbiddance of usury. Various biblical teachings have been replaced by wiser, kinder, and occasionally more challenging moral insights. Although it is evident that Jesus was not hesitant to execute a process of advancement. And this development extends after the ending of the biblical era. In ancient times, infanticide was legal and was acclaimed. But such inhuman acts are forbidden by the Biblical teachings. And many other ancient times unethical and immoral practices were being abolished with the spread of Christianity and the teachings of Jesus Christ (Gellman & Hartman, 2013). Despite the fact that ethical teachings prescribed within the Bible, made ways out of many immoral acts of the ancient periods but they do not entail the flexibility to be applied without any amendment in the present day ethical dilemmas. Today it appears odd, and virtuously disgusting, to be stated of the duties of a slave to his/ her master, or of a kind treatment of master to his slave (Ephesians 6:5-9; Colossians 3:22 – 4:1), when slavery is itself considered as an evil, a stipulation which nullifies the dignity and freedom of individuals, produced in the epitome of God. Likewise, it is known to all that an incompetent submission to the state (Romans 13:1-7) is hazardous to the wellness of humanity.  Once again, the lack of biblical teaching on various present day issues is problematic in case if it is considered as a sole source of guidance (Bercovitz, 2005). When the reader is informed by the Bible, “God blessed [the male and female human beings], and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth’” (Genesis 1:28), it ignores the issues of environmental responsibility. Taken together the teachings of Jesus do not tell individuals to prefer the smaller of two iniquities but tells with a practical awareness of the ambit of these evils, so that greater good can be chosen (Fitzgerald, 2010). No one stands out of a cultural and social world while framing ethical and moral decisions. Each individual evaluates human reality in accordance to a set of adapted and adopted moral criteria on the basis of factors such as education, nationality, professional occupation, social class, and religious affiliation. Christian ethics provide an organized reflection upon ethical choices made by its believers to employee important Biblical insights but does not ensure the implementation of biblical ethics completely (Harkness, 2013). Since the biblical ethics lack the flexibility to address the modern world challenges. References Bercovitz, J. P. (2005). The Bible in Christian Ethics. Paulonpaul. Retrieved from http://www.paulonpaul.org/ethics/bibl-ethics.htm Faith facts. (2008). The Impact of Christianity. Retrieved from http://www.faithfacts.org/christ-and-the-culture/the-impact-of-christianity Fitzgerald, P. (2010). The Horizon of Faith. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v9n1/horizon.html Gellman, R. M. & Hartman, M. T. (2013). Religion for Dummies. Retrieved from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/exploring-religious-ethics-in-daily-life.html Harkness, G. (2013). Christian Ethics. Religion online. Retrieved from http://www.religion-online.org/showchapter.asp?title=802&C=1078 Spohn, W. C. (1995). What Are They Saying About Scripture and Ethics. N.Y.: Paulist Press. Welfel, E. R. (2012). Ethics in Counseling and Psychotherapy. Cengage Learning. Read More