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==Overview==
==Overview==
Ethicist David W. Jones writes that ethics and morality are not strictly synonymous.<ref name="David W. Jones">{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=David W. |title=An Introduction to Biblical Ethics|editor1-last=Heimbach|editor1-first=Daniel R.|date=2013 |publisher=B&H Academic Publishing |location=Nashville, Tennessee |isbn=978-1-4336-6969-9}}</ref>{{rp|6}} Ethics is the study of morals, therefore, biblical ethics is the study and interpretation of morals in the Bible.<ref name="David W. Jones"/>{{rp|6}} Bible scholar [[Alan Mittleman]] goes on to explain the Bible contains no overtly philosphical ethical theory. Instead, it offers rather than argues, a moral vision that is suggestive and case-based. This leaves the reader to engage intellectually with moral reasoning of their own.<ref name="Alan Mittleman">{{cite book |last1=Mittleman |first1=Alan L. |title=A Short History of Jewish Ethics: Conduct and Character in the Context of Covenant |date=2012 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Suffix |isbn=978-1-4051-8942-2}}</ref>{{rp|1–14}}<ref name="Harold M. Schulweis">{{cite book |last1=Schulweis |first1=Harold M. |title=Evil and the Morality of God |date=2010 |publisher=KTAV Publishing House |location=Brooklyn, New York |isbn=978-1-60280-155-4}}</ref>
Bible scholar [[Alan Mittleman]] wrote that the Bible contains no overtly philosophical ethical theory.<ref name="Alan Mittleman">{{cite book |last1=Mittleman |first1=Alan L. |title=A Short History of Jewish Ethics: Conduct and Character in the Context of Covenant |date=2012 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |location=Chichester, West Suffix |isbn=978-1-4051-8942-2}}</ref>{{rp|1–14}}<ref name="Harold M. Schulweis">{{cite book |last1=Schulweis |first1=Harold M. |title=Evil and the Morality of God |date=2010 |publisher=KTAV Publishing House |location=Brooklyn, New York |isbn=978-1-60280-155-4}}</ref>


⚫
Sociologist Stephen Mott says ethics in the Bible is a corporate, community based ethic. It is not simply individual.<ref name="Steven Mott">{{cite book |last1=Mott |first1=Steven |title=Biblical Ethics and Social Change |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-973937-0 |edition= Second}}</ref>{{rp|3–69}}
Theologian [[John Murray (theologian)|John Murray]] writes "It is impossible to separate the Biblical ethic from the teaching of Scripture..."<ref name="John Murray">{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=John |title=Principles of Conduct: Aspects of Biblical Ethics |date=1957 |publisher=Eerdmans Pub. Co. |location=Grand Rapids, Michigan |isbn=0-8028-1144-2}}</ref>{{rp|202}} Throughout the Hebrew Bible there are commands relating to persons, and to worship and ritual, with many commandments remarkable in their blending of the two roles. For example, observance of ''[[Shabbat]]'' is couched in terms of recognizing God's sovereignty and creation of the world, while also being presented as a social-justice measure to prevent overworking one's employees, slaves, and animals. The Bible consistently binds worship of the Divine to ethical actions, and ethical actions with worship of the Divine. A biblical ethic, then, is a distinctively religious ethic.<ref name="Alan Mittleman"/>{{rp|1–14}}

Murray argues that God works through humans in history; therefore, he says, it is not God that changes, it is human understanding that is progressive. He adds that, if this thesis is correct, it lends support to the position there is basic agreement on the underlying norms and standards of the Old and the New Testaments.<ref name="John Murray"/> Philosopher Mark Linville teaches a [[moral particularism]] that argues it is God's nature that sets the standard of morality.

⚫
Sociologist Stephen Mott says ethics in the Bible is a corporate, community based ethic. It is not simply individual.<ref name="Steven Mott">{{cite book |last1=Mott |first1=Steven |title=Biblical Ethics and Social Change |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-973937-0 |edition= Second}}</ref>{{rp|3–69}} Theologian [[Robin Gill (priest)|Robin Gill]] agrees that "ethics refers to interpretations of, and ideals and norms for, moral behavior at both the individual and societal level."<ref name="Robin Gill">{{cite book |last1=Gill |first1=Robin |editor1-last=Gill |editor1-first=Robin |title=The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-107-00007-0 |edition= Second |chapter=Preface}}</ref>{{rp|104}}




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Ethicist Christopher Marshall writes that covenant law included features that have become standard in human rights law: due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of law. Judges are not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), were required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16,17; Exodus 23:2-6). The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also required (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23-25). Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal society—children, women and strangers—were singled out for special protection (Psalm 72:2,4).<ref name="Christopher Marshall">{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Christopher |editor1-last=Atkin |editor1-first=Bill |editor2-last=Evans |editor2-first=Katrine |title=Human Rights and the Common Good: Christian Perspectives |date=1999 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=0 86473 362 3 |chapter="A Little lower that the Angels" Human rights in the biblical tradition}}</ref>{{rp|47–48}}
Ethicist Christopher Marshall writes that covenant law included features that have become standard in human rights law: due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of law. Judges are not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), were required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16,17; Exodus 23:2-6). The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also required (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23-25). Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal society—children, women and strangers—were singled out for special protection (Psalm 72:2,4).<ref name="Christopher Marshall">{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Christopher |editor1-last=Atkin |editor1-first=Bill |editor2-last=Evans |editor2-first=Katrine |title=Human Rights and the Common Good: Christian Perspectives |date=1999 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=0 86473 362 3 |chapter="A Little lower that the Angels" Human rights in the biblical tradition}}</ref>{{rp|47–48}}

===Human relationships===
{{Main|The Bible and slavery}}
[[Image:Vincent Willem van Gogh 022.jpg|thumb|The Good Samaritan]]
Caring for others is a foundational principle of biblical ethics. Leviticus 19:18 includes "love your neighbor as yourself" as does Mark 12:31; Matthew has it in three places, and James has it in the second chapter, verse 8. Catholic Social Teaching lays out seven biblical ethical principles for human interaction: (1) the worth and dignity of human life (Genesis 1:26-27); (2) the call to family, community, and participation (Genesis 1:22,1 Corinthians 12:25, Galatians 5:14-16); (3) that we are endowed with natural, inalienable rights and responsibilities (Galatians 6:4,5); (4) especially to the poor and the vulnerable (Matthew 5, James 1:26,27); (5) that there is dignity in work (Colossians 3:23); (6) that we need unity and solidarity to accomplish God's will (1 Peter 3:8,9); (7) and care for God's creation (Genesis 1:26).<ref name="Amy E. Black"/>{{rp|15}} Theologian P. J. Harland explains that, the belief man is in some way like God, confers a reflected worth and dignity to each human being.<ref name="P. J. Harland">{{cite book |last1=Harland |first1=P. J. |title=The Value of Human Life: A Study of the Story of the Flood (Genesis 6-9) |date=1996 |publisher=E. J. Brill |location=New York |isbn=90-04-10534-4}}</ref>{{rp|177}}

====Women, marriage and family====
{{Main|Sexual slavery|Women in the Bible|Pilegesh|Polygyny|Jesus' interactions with women}}
[[File:St Photina.jpg|thumb|180px|Orthodox [[icon]] of [[Photina]], the [[Samaritan woman at the well|Samaritan woman]], meeting Jesus by the well.]]

Textual scholar [[Phyllis Trible]] says "considerable evidence depicts the Bible as a document of male supremacy."<ref name=Trible1973depat>{{cite journal|last1=Trible|first1=Phyllis|title=Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|date=1973|volume=41|issue=1|pages=30–48|jstor=1461386}}</ref><ref name="Trible1984terror">{{cite book|last=Trible|first=Phyllis|year=1984 |title=Texts of Terror: Literary feminist readings of biblical narratives|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |publisher=Fortress Press|isbn= 978-0-80061-537-6}}</ref> However, Hebrew Bible scholar [[Tikva Frymer-Kensky]] says there are also evidences of "gender blindness" and equality in the Bible.<ref name=Frymer-Kensky2006>{{cite book|last1=Frymer-Kensky|first1=Tikva|title=Studies in Bible and feminist criticism|date=2006|publisher=Jewish Publication Society|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|isbn=9780827607989|edition= 1st}}</ref>{{rp|166–167}} Most theologians agree the Hebrew Bible does not depict women as different in ''essence'' from males in the manner the Greeks and Romans did.<ref name=Frymer-Kensky2006/>{{rp|166–167}} However, most scholars also agree the Bible is a patriarchal document from a patriarchal age.<ref name=Frymer-Kensky2006/>{{rp|166–167}}

Bible scholar Katrine Evans says Jesus repeatedly challenged the various discriminations of ancient Israel that rendered some, such as women, as outsiders. The New Testament refers to a number of women in Jesus’ inner circle. New Testament scholar [[Ben Witherington III]] says "Jesus broke with both biblical and rabbinic traditions that restricted women's roles in religious practices, and He rejected attempts to devalue the worth of a woman, or her word of witness."<ref name="Ben Witherington III1984">{{cite book|last1=Witherington III|first1=Ben|title=Women in the Ministry of Jesus: A Study of Jesus' attitudes to women and their roles as reflected in his earthly life|date=1984|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England|isbn=0 521 34781 5}}</ref>{{rp|127}}

Political science scholar Amy E. Black writes that "God created humanity to live and thrive in community, beginning with the foundational relationships of marriage and family, and extending outward to other forms of community."<ref name="Amy E. Black"/>{{rp|16}} Bible scholar [[Gordon Hugenberger]] writes that marriage in the Bible has a legal, cultural, ethical and covenantal basis, and that scholarship in this area has produced dissimilar and contradictory results.<ref name="Gordon Hugenberger">{{cite book |last1=Hugenberger |first1=Gordon Paul |title=Marriage as a Covenant: Biblical Law and Ethics as Developed from Malachi |date=2014|edition=Reprint|publisher=Wipf & Stock |location=Eugene, Oregon |isbn=1-62032-456-3}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

====Sexual ethics====
{{See also|Religion and sexuality|Sexual ethics|Christianity and homosexuality|Judaism and sexuality}}

The concepts of purity, pollution and sexuality are inextricably linked in the Bible. Near Eastern scholar Eve Levavi Feinstein writes that purity and pollution are not primitive, exotic ideas, but are instead inherent in the way all human individuals and societies think and interact with their world. Concepts of what degrades or defiles us do change, but the belief there are things that can degrade and defile, does not.<ref name="Eve Levavi Feinstein">{{cite book |last1=Feinstein |first1=Eve Levavi |title=Sexual Pollution in the Hebrew Bible |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-939554-5}}</ref>{{rp|1–10}} The Bible has two categories of pollution: ritual pollution and moral pollution. Pollution concerns arise when things and people are outside the established order.<ref name="Eve Levavi Feinstein"/>{{rp|176}}

Feinstein says the Hebrew Bible never uses the term 'pure' (טָהֵר) to describe virginity, but does use it to describe a married woman who has not committed adultery (Numbers 5:28).<ref name="Eve Levavi Feinstein"/>{{rp|2}} The blood of slain innocents is said to pollute the land in Numbers 35:34. According to Leviticus 11, eating prohibited meats pollutes the consumer's throat. Wanton, unrepentant sins are seen as having a contaminating effect on the sanctuary similar to environmental pollution. Sexual pollution is attributed to people and sometimes, indirectly, to the land but it is not said that it pollutes the sanctuary and is not necessarily a result of sin, since ritual pollution can result from prescribed sex as well as proscribed sex.<ref name="Eve Levavi Feinstein"/>{{rp|8}}

Early Church Fathers of Christianity advocated against adultery, polygamy, homosexuality, pederasty, bestiality, prostitution, and incest while advocating for the sanctity of the marriage bed.<ref name="witte20">Witte (1997), p. 20.</ref> The central Christian prohibition against such ''porneia'', which is a single name for that array of sexual behaviors, "collided with deeply entrenched patterns of Roman permissiveness where the legitimacy of sexual contact was determined primarily by social status." [[Paul the Apostle|St. Paul]], whose views became dominant in early Christianity, made the body into a consecrated space, a point of mediation between the individual and the divine, which separated the Christian concept of sexuality from its societal dimension entirely. Same-sex attraction spelled the estrangement of men and women at the very deepest level of their inmost desires. Paul's over-riding sense that gender—rather than status or power or wealth or position—was the prime determinant in the propriety of the sex act was momentous.<ref name="Kyle Harper">{{cite book| last=Harper| first=Kyle| title=From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity| year=2013| publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts| isbn=978-0-674-07277-0 |page=4}}</ref>{{rp|12,92}} Over the first three centuries of the early Church, Christianity's ethic on sexuality was elaborated, an entire debate about [[free will]] was generated within the communities and in debate with people outside of those communities, and by around 300 BCE, the orthodox position had generally crystalized into seeing celibacy as best-—the ''Symposium'' of [[Methodius of Olympus|Methodius]] is an example of a Christian "philosophy distinctly apart from the machinery of society."<ref name="Kyle Harper"/>{{rp|14–18;80–83}}

===Economics===
The Bible gives images of [[social justice]], [[economics]] and labor, and [[business ethics]].

===Environmental===
{{See also|Animal ethics}}
The Bible has a great deal to say on [[bioethics]] and animals.


==Criticism==
==Criticism==
{{See also|Criticism of the Bible}}
{{See also|Criticism of the Bible}}
[[Bertrand Russell]] stated that,
{{quote|It seems to me that the people who have held to it [the Christian religion] have been for the most part extremely wicked....I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world."<ref>{{cite book |title= Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects|edition= |last= Russell|first= Bertrand|authorlink=Bertrand Russell| year= 1957|publisher= George Allen & Unwin Ltd.|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-671-20323-8|pages= 20–21}}</ref>}}

[[Elizabeth S. Anderson|Elizabeth Anderson]], a Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the [[University of Michigan, Ann Arbor]], states that "the Bible contains both good and evil teachings", and it is "morally inconsistent".<ref>Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In {{cite book |title= The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever|last= Hitchens|first= Christopher|year= 2007|publisher= Da Capo Press|location= Philadelphia|isbn= 978-0-306-81608-6|page= 336}}</ref>
[[Elizabeth S. Anderson|Elizabeth Anderson]], a Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the [[University of Michigan, Ann Arbor]], states that "the Bible contains both good and evil teachings", and it is "morally inconsistent".<ref>Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In {{cite book |title= The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever|last= Hitchens|first= Christopher|year= 2007|publisher= Da Capo Press|location= Philadelphia|isbn= 978-0-306-81608-6|page= 336}}</ref>


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Blackburn provides examples of Old Testament moral criticisms such as the phrase in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 22:18 that has "helped to burn alive tens or hundreds of thousands of women in Europe and America": "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and notes that the Old Testament God apparently has "no problems with a slave-owning society", considers birth control a crime punishable by death, and "is keen on child abuse".<ref>{{cite book |title= Ethics: A Very Short Introduction|last= Blackburn|first= Simon|authorlink=Simon Blackburn|year= 2001|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-280442-6|pages= 10, 12}}</ref> Additional examples that are questioned today are: the prohibition on touching women during their "period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19–24)", the apparent approval of selling daughters into slavery (Exodus 21:7), and the obligation to put to death someone working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2).<ref>{{cite book |title= Ethics: A Very Short Introduction|last= Blackburn|first= Simon|authorlink=Simon Blackburn|year= 2001|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-280442-6|page= 11}}</ref>
Blackburn provides examples of Old Testament moral criticisms such as the phrase in [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]] 22:18 that has "helped to burn alive tens or hundreds of thousands of women in Europe and America": "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and notes that the Old Testament God apparently has "no problems with a slave-owning society", considers birth control a crime punishable by death, and "is keen on child abuse".<ref>{{cite book |title= Ethics: A Very Short Introduction|last= Blackburn|first= Simon|authorlink=Simon Blackburn|year= 2001|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-280442-6|pages= 10, 12}}</ref> Additional examples that are questioned today are: the prohibition on touching women during their "period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19–24)", the apparent approval of selling daughters into slavery (Exodus 21:7), and the obligation to put to death someone working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2).<ref>{{cite book |title= Ethics: A Very Short Introduction|last= Blackburn|first= Simon|authorlink=Simon Blackburn|year= 2001|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-280442-6|page= 11}}</ref>

Several Biblical prescriptions may not correspond to modern notions of justice in relation to concepts such as [[slavery]] (Lev. 25:44-46), intolerance of [[religious pluralism]] (Deut. 5:7, Deut. 7:2-5) or of [[freedom of religion]] (Deut. 13:6-12), [[discrimination]] and [[racism]] (Lev. 21:17-23, Deut. 23:1-3), treatment of [[women in the Bible|women]], [[honor killing]] (Ex. 21:17, Leviticus 20:9, Ex. 32:27-29), [[genocide]] (Num. 31:15-18, 1 Sam. 15:3), [[religious war]]s, and [[capital punishment]] for sexual behavior like [[adultery]] and [[the Bible and homosexuality|sodomy]] and for [[Sabbath breaking]] (Num. 15:32-36).

The [[Book of Proverbs]] recommends [[corporal punishment]] when disciplining a child:
{{quote|text= Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.|sign=Proverbs 22:15}}

===Supersessionism===
{{main|Antinomianism|Biblical law in Christianity|Moral relativism}}
The predominant Christian view{{citation needed|date=August 2012}} is that Jesus mediates a [[New Covenant]] relationship between God and his followers and [[Supersessionism|abolished some Mosaic Laws]], according to the New Testament ({{bibleverse||Hebrews|10:15-18}}; {{bibleverse||Gal|3:23-25}}; {{bibleverse|2|Cor|3:7-17}}; {{bibleverse||Eph|2:15}}; {{bibleverse||Heb|8:13}}, {{bibleverse||Rom|7:6}} etc.). From a Jewish perspective however, the Torah was given to the Jewish people as an eternal covenant ({{bibleverse||Exod|31:16-17}}, {{bibleverse||Exod|12:14-17}}, {{bibleverse||Mal|3:6-7}}) and will never be replaced or added to ({{bibleverse||Deut|4:2}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Deut|13:1|HE}}). There are differences of opinion as to how the new covenant affects the validity of biblical law. The differences are mainly as a result of [[Internal consistency of the Bible|attempts to harmonize biblical statements]] to the effect that the biblical law is eternal ({{bibleverse||Exodus|31:16-17}}, {{bibleverse-nb||Exod|12:14-17}}) with New Testament statements that suggest that it [[Antinomianism#Antinomianism in the New Testament|does not now apply at all]], or at least [[Abrogation of Old Covenant laws|does not fully apply]]. Most biblical scholars admit the issue of the Law can be confusing and the topic of [[Paul the Apostle#Relationship with Judaism|Paul and the Law]] is still frequently debated among New Testament scholars<ref>Gundry, ed., ''Five Views on Law and Gospel''. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993).</ref> (for example, see [[New Perspective on Paul]], [[Pauline Christianity]]); hence the various views.

===War and genocide===

===Criminal justice and human rights===

===Patriarchy===

===Sexual intolerance===

===Problem of evil===
{{further|Theodicy}}
A central issue in [[monotheist]] ethics is the [[problem of evil]], the apparent contradiction between a [[Omnibenevolence|benevolent]], [[Omnipotence|all-powerful God]] and the existence of [[evil]] and hell (see [[Problem of Hell]]). [[Theodicy]] seeks to explain why one may simultaneously affirm God's goodness, and the presence of evil in the world. [[Descartes]] in his ''Meditations'' considers, but rejects, the possibility that God is an evil demon ("[[dystheism]]").

The Bible contains numerous examples seemingly unethical acts of God.
* In the [[Book of Exodus]], God deliberately "hardened Pharaoh's heart", making him even more unwilling to free the Hebrew slaves ({{bibleref2|Exod|4:21}}, {{bibleref2|Rom|9:17-21}}).
* Genocidal commands of God in [[Deuteronomy]], such as the call to eradicate all the [[Canaan]]ite tribes including children and infants ({{bibleref2|Deut|20:16-17}}). According to the Bible, this was to fulfill God's covenant to Israel, the "[[promised land]]" to his chosen people.({{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|7:1-25|niv}})
* God ordering the Israelites to undertake punitive military raids against other tribes. This happened, for instance, to the Midianites of Moab, who had enticed some Israelites into worshipping local gods ({{bibleverse||Numbers|25:1-18|niv}}). The entire tribe was exterminated, except for the young virgin girls, who were kept by the Israelites as slaves ({{bibleverse||Numbers|31:1-54|niv}}). In {{bibleverse|1|Samuel|15:3|niv}}, God orders the Israelites to "attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." <ref>The Dominion of Love: Animal Rights According to the Bible, [[Norm Phelps]], p. 14</ref>
* In the [[Book of Job]], God allows [[Satan]] to plague his loyal servant Job with devastating tragedies leaving all his children dead and himself poor. The nature of divine justice becomes the theme of the entire book. However, after he got through his troubles his health was restored and all he had was doubled.
* Sending evil spirits to people ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|18:10|niv}}, {{bibleverse||Judges|9:23|niv}}).
* Punishing the innocent for the sins of other people ({{bibleref2|Isa|14:21}}, {{bibleref2|Deut|23:2}}, {{bibleref2|Hosea|13:16}}).
* In the [[Book of Isaiah]], God created all natural disasters/the evil in the world. ({{bibleref2|Isaiah|45-7}})


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 21:02, 17 September 2018

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Ethics in the Bible refers to the system(s) or theory(ies) produced by the study, interpretation, and evaluation of biblical morals, (including the moral code, standards, principles, behaviors, conscience, values, rules of conduct, or beliefs concerned with good and evil and right and wrong), that are found in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. It comprises a narrow part of the larger fields of Jewish and Christian ethics, which are themselves parts of the larger field of philosophical ethics. Ethics in the Bible is unlike other western ethical theories in that it is seldom overtly philosophical. It presents neither a systematic nor a formal deductive ethical argument. Instead, the Bible provides patterns of moral reasoning that focus on conduct and character in what is sometimes referred to as virtue ethics. This moral reasoning is part of a broad, normative covenantal tradition where duty and virtue are inextricably tied together in a mutually reinforcing manner.

The ethics of the Bible are religious ethics. The biblical narratives, laws, wisdom sayings, parables and unique genrés of the Bible provide the foundations for the ethical concepts and give those ethics their reason for being. These biblical foundations are central to, and inseparable from, the Bible's ethics. For example, the value of human life and human rights principles are ethical products of the biblical view of creation and covenant. Political theory, patterns of government, economics, just war, law, principles of criminal justice, and many theories of personal relationships are ethics connected to the Bible.

There is extensive and wide—spread criticism of ethics in the Bible, and some have called it immoral in some of its teachings. Slavery, genocide, supersessionism, the death penalty, violence, patriarchy, sexual intolerance, colonialism, and the problem of evil and a good God, are examples of criticisms of ethics in the Bible.

Overview

Bible scholar Alan Mittleman wrote that the Bible contains no overtly philosophical ethical theory.[1]: 1–14 [2]

Sociologist Stephen Mott says ethics in the Bible is a corporate, community based ethic. It is not simply individual.[3]: 3–69 


Political ethics

See also: Political ethics

Political theorist Michael Walzer says "the Bible is, above all, a religious book, but it is also a political book."[4]: xii  There is no political theory, as such, in the Bible, however, the Bible does contain "legal codes, rules for war and peace, ideas about justice and obligation, social criticism, visions of the good society, and accounts of exile and dispossession." Therefore, it is possible to work out a comparative politics.[4]: xii  He goes on to say politics in the Bible is similar to modern "consent theory" which requires agreement between the governed and the authority based on full knowledge and the possibility of refusal.[4]: 5–6  Politics in the Bible also models "social contract theory" which says a person's moral obligations to form the society in which they live are dependent on that agreement.[4]: 7  This implies a moral respect for God and his laws which is not a result of law, but pre-exists law.[5] Walzer asserts this is what makes it possible for someone like Amos, "an herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit," to confront Priests and Kings, and remind them of their obligations. Moral law is, therefore, politically democratized in the Bible.[4]: 7–15 

He goes on to explain that "Israel's almost-democracy has three features having to do with covenant, law, and prophecy."[4]: 200  First, God's covenant requires everyone adhere equally to the agreement they made, as in later "general will" theories of democracy. "In the biblical texts, poor people, women, and even strangers, are recognized as moral agents in their own right whatever the extent of that agency might be."[4]: 200  Second, everyone was subject to God's law. Kings were not involved in making or interpreting the law, but were as subject to it, in principle, as every other Israelite. Third, the prophets spoke as the interpreters of divine law in public places to ordinary people. They came from every social strata and denounced the most powerful men in society—and everyone else too. "Their public and uninhibited criticism is an important signifier of religious democracy."[4]: 200–201 

Christianity has taken its political ethics from both Israel and Jesus. Political science scholar Amy E. Black says Jesus' command to pay taxes (Matthew 22:21), was not simply an endorsement of government, but was also a refusal to participate in the fierce political debate of his day over the Poll tax. Black quotes Old Testament scholar Gordon Wenham as saying, Jesus' response "implied loyalty to a pagan government was not incompatible with loyalty to God." However, debate on this issue continues.[6]: 7  Anabaptists advocate for the most limited involvement in politics possible; Lutherans support government but also recognize its spiritual and moral limitations; the distinctly American Black church is well aware of the possible short-comings and benefits of government, and tends to view politics as a group endeavor, not an individual one; Reformed tradition emphasizes God's sovereignty, that government is instituted by God, and supports advocating for policies in the public realm; and Catholic political thought says all human life is political in nature. It is therefore the responsibility of the state to cultivate the common good, and the responsibility of believers to participate in the effort to make sure it does.[6]: 7–18 

War and peace

Figures Five Kings of Midian Slain by Israel
See also: Military ethics

Warfare as a political act of nationhood, is a topic the Bible addresses ethically, both directly and indirectly, in four ways: there are verses that support pacifism, and verses that support non-resistance; 4th century theologian Augustine identified aspects of just war in the Bible, and preventive war which is sometimes called crusade has also been supported using Bible texts.[7]: 13–37  Near Eastern scholar Susan Niditch says "...To understand attitudes toward war in the Bible is thus to gain a handle on war in general..."[8]: 5 

Pacifism is not in the Hebrew Bible, but an ethic of peace can be found there.[9]: 278  The term peace is mentioned 429 times in the Bible—and more than 2500 times in classical Jewish sources. Many of those refer to peace as a central part of God's purpose for mankind. Political activist David Cortright writes that shalom (peace in Hebrew) is a complex word with levels of meaning that embody the conditions and values necessary to prevent war: "social justice, self-determination, economic well-being, human rights, and the use of non-violent means to resolve conflict."[10]: 188  Most texts used to support pacifism are in the New Testament, such as Matthew 5:38-48 and Luke 6:27-36, but not all. Passages of peace from the Hebrew Bible, such as Micah 4:3: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks," are also often cited.[11]: 81–97 [12]: 83  According to theologian Myron S. Augsberger, pacifism opposes war for any reason.[11]: 81–83  The ethic is founded in separation from the world and the world's ways of doing things, obeying God first rather than the state, and belief that God's kingdom is beyond this world. Bible scholar Herman A. Hoyt says Christians are obligated to follow Christ's example, which was an example of non-resistance.[13]: 32, 33  This obligation is to individual believers, not corporate bodies, or "unregenerate worldly governments."[13]: 27–58 

Near Eastern scholar Yigal Levin, along with archaeologist Amnon Shapira, write that the ethic of war in the Bible is based on the concept of self-defense. Self-defense, or defense of others, is necessary for a war to be understood as a just war.[14]: 115–135 [15]: 270  Levin and Shapira say forbidding war for the purpose of expansion (Deuteronomy 2:2-6,9,17-19), the call to talk peace before war (Deuteronomy 20:10), the expectation of moral disobedience to a corrupt leader (Genesis 18:23-33;Exodus 1:17, 2:11-14, 32:32;1 Samuel 22:17), as well as a series of verses governing treatment of prisoners (Deuteronomy 21:10-14; 2 Chronicles 28:10-15; Joshua 8:29,10:26-27), respect for the land (Deuteronomy 20:19), and general "purity in the camp" (Deuteronomy 20:10-15) are aspects of the principles of just war in the Bible.[15]: 270–274 

In Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua, and both books of Kings, warfare includes a variety of conflicts with Amalekites, Canaanites, and Moabites.[16]: 92–108 [17]: 54 [18]: 365–375 [19]: 33  For the modern reader, after centuries of imperialism, the ethics of conquest is problematic. God commands the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land, placing city after city "under the ban," the herem of total war.[20] This meant every man, woman and child was to be killed.[21]: 319–320 [22]: 10–11  This leads many contemporary scholars to characterize herem as a command to commit genocide.[23]: 242 [24]: 17–30  Michael Walzer writes that herem was the common approach to war among the nations surrounding Israel of the bronze age, and Hebrew scholar Baruch A. Levine indicates Israel imported the concept from them.[25][4]: 36–43 [26]: 79–90  Walzer points out that verses 15 to 18 of Deuteronomy 20 are very old, suggesting "the addition of herem to an older siege law."[4]: 42  He goes on to say the earliest biblical sources show there are two ethics of conquest in the Bible with laws supporting each.[4]: 36–43  Beginning at Deuteronomy 20:10-14[27] there is a limited war/(just war) doctrine consistent with Amos and First and Second Kings. From Deuteronomy 20 on, both war doctrines are joined without one superseding the other.[4]: 42  However, starting in Joshua 9, after the conquest of Ai, Israel's battles are described as self-defense, and the priestly authors of Leviticus, and the Deuteronomists, are careful to give God moral reasons for his commandment.[28][4]: 7 [29]: 2 

Criminal justice

Main article: Criminal justice
See also: Eye for an eye

Legal scholar Jonathan Burnside says biblical law is not fully codified, but it is possible to discern its key ethical elements.[30]: 30  Key elements in biblical criminal justice begin with the belief in God as the source of justice and the judge of all.[31] Criminal justice scholar Sam S. Souryal says the Bible emphasizes that ethical knowledge and moral character are central to the administration of justice. Souryal says foremost among the biblical ethical principles that ensure criminal justice are those prohibiting "lying and deception, racial prejudice and racial discrimination, egoism and the abuse of authority."[32]: xx  In the Bible, human judges are thought capable of mediating even divine decisions if they have sufficient moral capacity and wisdom.[33]: 76–77  Biblical criminal justice supports the fight to overthrow oppressors and liberate the oppressed, to put things right from God's perspective, and to put justice in the hands of the many and not just the few. It respects local courts, and involves a range of authorities in an effort to apply practical wisdom and a "divine" sense of justice.[30]: 103–104 

Ethicist Christopher Marshall writes that covenant law included features that have become standard in human rights law: due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of law. Judges are not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), were required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16,17; Exodus 23:2-6). The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also required (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23-25). Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal society—children, women and strangers—were singled out for special protection (Psalm 72:2,4).[34]: 47–48 

Criticism

See also: Criticism of the Bible

Elizabeth Anderson, a Professor of Philosophy and Women's Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, states that "the Bible contains both good and evil teachings", and it is "morally inconsistent".[35]

Anderson criticizes commands God gave to men in the Old Testament, such as: kill adulterers, homosexuals, and "people who work on the Sabbath" (Leviticus 20:10; Leviticus 20:13; Exodus 35:2, respectively); to commit ethnic cleansing (Exodus 34:11-14, Leviticus 26:7-9); commit genocide (Numbers 21: 2-3, Numbers 21:33–35, Deuteronomy 2:26–35, and Joshua 1–12); and other mass killings.[36] Anderson considers the Bible to permit slavery, the beating of slaves, the rape of female captives in wartime, polygamy (for men), the killing of prisoners, and child sacrifice.[36] She also provides a number of examples to illustrate what she considers "God's moral character": "Routinely punishes people for the sins of others ... punishes all mothers by condemning them to painful childbirth", punishes four generations of descendants of those who worship other gods, kills 24,000 Israelites because some of them sinned (Numbers 25:1–9), kills 70,000 Israelites for the sin of David in 2 Samuel 24:10–15, and "sends two bears out of the woods to tear forty-two children to pieces" because they called someone names in 2 Kings 2:23–24.[37]

Anderson criticizes what she terms morally repugnant lessons of the New Testament. She claims that "Jesus tells us his mission is to make family members hate one another, so that they shall love him more than their kin" (Matt 10:35-37), that "Disciples must hate their parents, siblings, wives, and children (Luke 14:26)", and that Peter and Paul elevate men over their wives "who must obey their husbands as gods" (1 Corinthians 11:3, 14:34-5, Eph. 5:22-24, Col. 3:18, 1 Tim. 2: 11-2, 1 Pet. 3:1).[38] Anderson states that the Gospel of John implies that "infants and anyone who never had the opportunity to hear about Christ are damned [to hell], through no fault of their own".[39]

Simon Blackburn states that the "Bible can be read as giving us a carte blanche for harsh attitudes to children, the mentally handicapped, animals, the environment, the divorced, unbelievers, people with various sexual habits, and elderly women".[40]

Blackburn criticizes what he terms morally suspect themes of the New Testament.[41] He notes some "moral quirks" of Jesus: that he could be "sectarian" (Matt 10:5–6),[42] racist (Matt 15:26 and Mark 7:27), and placed no value on animal life (Luke 8: 27–33).

Blackburn provides examples of Old Testament moral criticisms such as the phrase in Exodus 22:18 that has "helped to burn alive tens or hundreds of thousands of women in Europe and America": "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," and notes that the Old Testament God apparently has "no problems with a slave-owning society", considers birth control a crime punishable by death, and "is keen on child abuse".[43] Additional examples that are questioned today are: the prohibition on touching women during their "period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19–24)", the apparent approval of selling daughters into slavery (Exodus 21:7), and the obligation to put to death someone working on the Sabbath (Exodus 35:2).[44]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mittleman, Alan L. (2012). A Short History of Jewish Ethics: Conduct and Character in the Context of Covenant. Chichester, West Suffix: Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-8942-2.
  2. ^ Schulweis, Harold M. (2010). Evil and the Morality of God. Brooklyn, New York: KTAV Publishing House. ISBN 978-1-60280-155-4.
  3. ^ Mott, Steven (2011). Biblical Ethics and Social Change (Second ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-973937-0.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Walzer, Michael (2012). In God's Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18044-2.
  5. ^ Deut 4:6–8
  6. ^ a b Black, Amy E. (2015). "Christian Traditions and Political Engagement". In Black, Amy E.; Gundry, Stanley N. (eds.). Five Views on the Church and Politics. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. ISBN 978-0-310-51793-1.
  7. ^ Clouse, Robert G., ed. (1986). War: Four Christian Views. Winona Lake, Indiana: BMH Books. ISBN 978-0-88469-097-9.
  8. ^ Niditch, Susan (1993). War in the Hebrew Bible: A study in the Ethics of Violence. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507638-9.
  9. ^ Sprinkle, Preston (2013). Fight: A Christian Case for Non-Violence. Colorado Springs, Colorado: David C. Cook. ISBN 978-1-4347-0492-4.
  10. ^ Cortright, David (2008). Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-85402-3.
  11. ^ a b Augsberger, Myron S. (1986). "Christian pacifism". In Clouse, Robert G. (ed.). War: Four Christian views. Winona Lake, Indianna: BMH Books. ISBN 978-0-88469-097-9.
  12. ^ Siebert, Eric (2012). The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament's Troubling Legacy. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-1-4514-2432-4.
  13. ^ a b Hoyt, Herman A. (1986). "Non-resistance". In Clouse, Robert G. (ed.). War: Four Christian Views. Winona Lake, Indianna: BMH books. ISBN 0-88469-097-0.
  14. ^ Holmes, Arthur F. (1986). "The Just War". In Clouse, Robert G. (ed.). War: Four Christian Views. Winona Lake, Indianna: BMH Books. ISBN 978-0-88469-097-9.
  15. ^ a b Levin, Yigal; Shapira, Amnon (2012). "Epilogue: War and peace in Jewish tradition-seven anomalies". In Levin, Yigal; Shapira, Amnon (eds.). War and Peace in Jewish Tradition: From the Biblical World to the Present. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-58715-0.
  16. ^ Hunter, A. G. (2003). Bekkencamp, Jonneke; Sherwood, Yvonne (eds.). Denominating Amalek: Racist stereotyping in the Bible and the Justification of Discrimination", in Sanctified aggression: legacies of biblical and post biblical vocabularies of violence. Continuum International Publishing Group.
  17. ^ Ruttenberg, Danya (Feb 1987). Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: War and National Security.
  18. ^ Fretheim, Terence (2004). "'I was only a little angry': Divine Violence in the Prophets". Interpretation. 58.4.
  19. ^ Stone, Lawson (1991). "Ethical and Apologetic Tendencies in the Redaction of the Book of Joshua". Catholic Biblical Quarterly. 53.1.
  20. ^ Deut 20:16–18
  21. ^ Ian Guthridge (1999). The Rise and Decline of the Christian Empire. Medici School Publications, Australia. ISBN 978-0-9588645-4-1.
  22. ^ Ruttenberg, Danya, Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices: War and National Security Danya Ruttenberg (Ed.) page 54 (citing Reuven Kimelman, "The Ethics of National Power: Government and War from the Sources of Judaism", in Perspectives, Feb 1987)
  23. ^ Bloxham, Donald; Moses, A.Dirk, eds. (2010). The Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-923211-6.
  24. ^ Grenke, Arthur (2005). God, greed, and genocide: the Holocaust through the centuries. New Academia Publishing.
  25. ^ Chazan, Robert; Hallo, William W.; Schiffman, Lawrence H., eds. (1999). כי ברוך הוא: Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and Judaic Studies in Honor of Baruch A. Levine. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. pp. 396–397. ISBN 1-57506-030-2.
  26. ^ Crook, Zeba A. (2006). "Covenantal Exchange as a Test Case". In Esler, Philip Francis (ed.). Ancient Israel: The Old Testament in Its Social Context. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Fortress Press. ISBN 0-8006-3767-4.
  27. ^ Deut 20:10–14
  28. ^ Deut 9:5
  29. ^ Creach, Jerome (Jul 2016). "Violence in the Old Testament". The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-154 (inactive 2018-04-11). Retrieved 23 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2018 (link)
  30. ^ a b Burnside, Jonathan (2011). God, Justice, and Society: Aspects of Law and Legality in the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19975-921-7.
  31. ^ Swartley, Willard (2014). "God's moral character as the basis of human ethics: Foundational convictions". In Brenneman, Laura; Schantz, Brad D. (eds.). Struggles for Shalom: Peace and Violence across the Testaments. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock. ISBN 978-1-62032-622-0.
  32. ^ Souryal, Sam S. (2015). Ethics in Criminal Justice: In Search of the Truth (6th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-323-28091-4.
  33. ^ Berman, Joshua A. (2008). Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-537470-4.
  34. ^ Marshall, Christopher (1999). ""A Little lower that the Angels" Human rights in the biblical tradition". In Atkin, Bill; Evans, Katrine (eds.). Human Rights and the Common Good: Christian Perspectives. Wellington, New Zealand: Victoria University Press. ISBN 0 86473 362 3.
  35. ^ Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
  36. ^ a b Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. p. 337. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
  37. ^ Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. pp. 336–337. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
  38. ^ Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
  39. ^ Elizabeth Anderson, "If God is Dead, Is Everything Permitted?" In Hitchens, Christopher (2007). The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Philadelphia: Da Capo Press. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-306-81608-6.
  40. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
  41. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 11–12. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
  42. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2003). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Very Short Introductions. OUP. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9780191577925. Retrieved 2015-09-11. Then the persona of Jesus in the Gospels has his fair share of moral quirks. He can be sectarian: 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel' (Matt. 10:5-6).
  43. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 10, 12. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
  44. ^ Blackburn, Simon (2001). Ethics: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-19-280442-6.
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