Total Truth Session 6 – Morality, Ethics, and Religion James River Community Church David Curfman February – April 2014
Total Truth
Session 6 – Morality, Ethics, and Religion
James River Community Church
David Curfman
February – April 2014
Did you look at your work
differently this week?
What’s the difference between work, play,
and service?
◦ Motivation
The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between
work and play. - Arnold J. Toynbee
Next topic – Morality without religion?
◦ http://youtu.be/sEQuIDqY6Cc
Outline
1. Introduction – Truth
2. Two Worlds – Post Modernism
3. Other Worldviews
4. Ancient Worldviews
5. Cultural Mandate - Work
6. Morality, Ethics, and Religion
7. Privatization of Faith
8. The Science of the Common Sense
9. Darwin’s of the Mind
10. How We Lost our Minds
11. When American met Christianity, Guess Who Won?
12. What Next? Living it Out
What then are our key
complementary roles in culture?
1. To create, improve and transform culture by developing the social order and natural order via our work (Gen 1:28)
2. To bring Christ into the lives of people
Matthew 28: 19 & 20 – “Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you.”
- The Great Commission
3. To love God with all of your being
4. To love your neighbor
To recap – Do your core values
align with the values of your work?
Many of us live in two worlds:◦ Private world (family, church, faith expressed)
◦ Public world (suppression of faith and truth)
How can we be bilingual (i.e., gospel perspective and language of the culture)?
How does this affect our sense of fulfillment?◦ Only when we’re engaged in creative,
constructive work – for the glory of God and the benefit of others
◦ We’re not on an endless vacation
How does the “cultural mandate”
affect our view of the culture?
Can we appreciate works of art and music and culture as products of human creativity expressing the image of God?
Can we respond to sin and error in light of the standard of scripture?
Can we appreciate the beauty, but critique the content of a piece of art, music, or culture?
So, what is your first response to culture?◦ Celebration of creativity?
◦ Condemnation of sin?
How does the “cultural mandate” affect
our view of Life? It’s not an abstract, random, or academic process,
but intensely providential
It points us to the Creator to answer to the cry of the human heart – “Why am I here?”
Do you know the Christian Worldview is truth?
God’s truth demands a response:
◦ A sacred/secular split makes no sense
◦ God’s Word becomes a light to all our paths
◦ I must bring every part of my life under the Lordship of Jesus – to love Him, glorify Him, and cultivate His creation!
Can you give examples of believers
who transformed the social order?
Justinian (483-565) – Byzantine emperor who had his
jurists prepare the Justinian Code, which clearly
condemned abortion and infanticide as illegal.
George Mueller (1805-98) – Mueller was an evangelist
who established orphanages in Bristol, England after a
cholera epidemic. For the next 60 years, he cared for
more than 10,000 orphaned and abandoned children.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) – Baptist minister
who spoke in support of fair and equal treatment for
African Americans in the United States during the 1960’s.
He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964
Can you give examples of believers
who transformed science? Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) – Polish astronomer who proposed the
heliocentric model (planets revolving around the sun).
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) – German astronomer and accomplished
scientist who coined the phrase, “Thinking God’s thoughts after him”,
identified two key laws of astronomy – the elliptical orbit of planets and the
law that planets do not move at a uniform speed.
Isaac Newton (1642-1727) – English physicist and mathematician whose many
accomplishments include the discovery of the law of gravity and the invention
of calculus.
George Washington Carver (1864-1943) – An African-American chemist (his
parents were slaves) was awarded the Roosevelt Medal in 1939 for his
research on peanuts and sweet potatoes. The medal read, in part, “To a
scientist humbly seeking the guidance of God…”
Can you give examples of believers
who transformed art? Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) - A dedicated Christian, a
prolific composer, wrote sacred music, dedicating his efforts to the
glory of God.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) – Italian Renaissance artist is
remembered for his many biblically inspired works of art, including
the sculpture of David, his painting of the Sistine Chapel in Rome
and “The Last Judgment”. Michelangelo “believed that spiritual value
could be found in all natural beauty.”
George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) – German born composer,
wrote the admired oratorio “Messiah” in a matter of weeks.
Rembrandt (1606-1669) – Dutch painter was one of the world’s
greatest painters and is known for his many biblical words including
“Return of the Prodigal Son”.
Can you give examples of believers
who transformed literature? John Milton (1608-1674) – was a Puritan who penned “Paradise Lost”
which recounts the Fall of Man and is considered a masterpiece of epic
English literature.
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) - Stowe’s vivid portrayal of slavery in
her classic book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” later caused Abraham Lincoln to
remark, “So this is the little lady who caused the great war”.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) – Russian author and historian as well
as recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in literature, wrote about the Soviet
labor camps (the Gulag) and was later exiled from Russia.
J.R.R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis – Two 20th century English writers who
penned some of the most popular works of fantasy in print; Tolkien “The
Lord of the Rings” and Lewis “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
So, What happened to take God
out of our culture? Middle Ages – unified thought
Renaissance (new birth) (1450) – Encouraged men to abandon the
restraints of the church and to develop modern interests,
enthusiasm and ideals. Revival of Learning, an awakening of mind
and a thirst after the new knowledge. Result – numerous
investigations of natural events, in a widespread study of art and
literature
Scientific Revolution (1500) – Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, DaVinci
Enlightenment (1700) – Its purpose was to reform society using
reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and advance
knowledge through the scientific method. It promoted scientific
thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange. Science is the sole
source of knowledge.
Dualism
Rene Decartes (1600’s) –◦ “I think, therefore I am”.
Material world is a vast machine.
◦ He separated mind (spirit, mind, emotion, will, thought) and matter (a machine subject to reason, laws, rules)
Romanticism
Humanities and
Religion
Enlightenment
Science and
Reason
What happened to our culture in the 1800’s?
(Romanticism or Secular Revolution)
In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s there was drive to “professionalize” all fields◦ Secular approach
◦ Scientific
◦ Value-free
Colleges moved from a “general Protestant worldview and morality” to a “secular, a-religious, irreligious pursuit and transmission of knowledge”
Affected every area of culture – public schools, politics, psychology, media
So, What happened to take God
out of Harvard? Motto in 1636 – “Veritas pro Christo et Ecclesia;” (Truth for Christ
and Church)
Motto today – “Veritas”
“Rules and Precepts” (1646) – “the main end of life and studies is, to
know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life…the only foundation
of all sound knowledge and Learning.”
President Charles W. Eliot (1869) – drawing on Unitarian and
Emersonian ideals, “The worthy fruit of academic culture is an open
mind trained to careful thinking, instructed in the methods of
philosophic investigation, acquainted in a general way with the
accumulated thought of past generations, and penetrated with humility.
It is thus that the University in our day serves Christ and the church”
Dualism entrenched
Immanuel Kant (1700’s) –◦ Moral Law was no longer
determined by God, but by man
◦ He made “reason into God”
◦ Act “as if we are free”
Lyell and Darwin (1800’s)◦ Lyell – Earth evolved
◦ Darwin – Life evolved
Dualism complete
Freedom:
The
Autonomous
Self –Values
Nature:
Newtonian
World
Machine -
Facts
Some believe they can be
separate… “I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to
reason and is in conflict with morality” – Mahatma Gandhi
“In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into
contact with reality at any point” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Academe, n.: An ancient school where morality and
philosophy were taught.” “Academy, n.: A modern school
where football is taught” – Ambrose Bierce
“The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the
hijacking of morality by religion” – Arthur C. Clarke
But, not all agreed at the time on
Morality and Religion “Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of
public liberty and happiness” – Samuel Adams letter to John
Trumbull (October 16, 1778)
“If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be if
without it?” – Benjamin Franklin to Thomas Paine
“The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the word of God
and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the
next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life
by its precepts.” - John Jay letter to Peter Augustus Jay (April
9, 1784)
Morality and Religion “Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom” – Benjamin Franklin
Letter to the Abbes Chalut and Arnoux (1787)
“Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to
expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle”
– George Washington
“The Christian religion, [when] brought to the original purity and simplicity
of its benevolent institutor, is a religion of all others most friendly to
liberty.” – Thomas Jefferson Sheridan, Liberty and Virtue (Thomas Jefferson
Draft for a Bill to Establish Religious Freedom in Virginia
“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without
faith” – Alexis de Tocqueville from Democracy in America (1835)
What are the basic theories of
morality and ethics today?
1. Human beings are capable of morals without God
2. Humans are neither good nor bad3. Consequentialism – Moral or ethical
decision is based on the results or outcome of that decision (i.e. relative)
4. Deontology – Moral or ethical decision is based on a founding set of rules or principles (i.e. absolute)
“…belief in god is a universal
obsessional neurosis” –
Sigmund Freud
What is consequentialism?1. Moral or ethical decision is based on the
results or outcome of that decision (i.e. relative)
◦ “Start not with moral rules, but with goals. They assess
actions by the extent to which they further those
goals.” – Peter Singer
◦ “The ends justify the means”
2. Types:
◦ State Consequentialism – what is best for the State
◦ Utilitarianism – goal of happiness (hedonism) or
functional
◦ Ethical egoism – best for me
◦ Ethical altruism – best for other
What is deontology?1. Moral or ethical decision is based on a
founding set of rules or principles◦ Adherence to a given set of rules
◦ Driven by duty
◦ Does not consider results or consequences
2. Types ◦ Moral Absolutism
◦ Divine Command – God said, “don’t steal”
◦ Permissible Harm – “Good of the many”
◦ Kantism - absolute truths based on “pure practical reason” by Kant
Kant’s “Categorical Imperative” (1785) First formulation – “Act only according to that maxim
whereby you can at the same time will that it should become
a universal law without contradiction.”
◦ “Do unto others….”
Second formulation – “Act in such a way that you treat
humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of
any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at
the same time as an end.”
◦ Motives not consequences are the judge. Means justify the ends
Third formulation – “Therefore, every rational being must so
act as if he were through his maxim always a legislating
member in the universal kingdom of ends.”
◦ Combines 1 and 2
• 34% of adults believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected
by the circumstances (46% of born again adults).
• 50% of adults firmly believe that the Bible is accurate in all the
principles it teaches (79% of born again adults).
• 27% of adults are convinced that Satan is a real force (40% of born
again adults).
• 28% of adults believe that it is impossible for someone to earn
their way into Heaven through good behavior (47% of born again
adults).
• 40% of adults are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life
while He was on earth (62% of born again adults)
• 70% of adults say that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator
of the universe who still rules it today (93% of born again adults)
- Barna Survey 2009
What are current American Views on Morality?
Are there shared morals worldwide?
1. Don't kill
2. Don't cause pain or suffering to others
3. Prevent evil or harm from occurring
4. Rescue persons in danger
5. Tell the truth
6. Nurture the young and dependent
7. Keep your promises
8. Don't steal
9. Don't punish the innocent
10. Treat all persons with equal moral consideration
“Principles of Biomedical Ethics” – Beauchamp (2003)
Where do these morals originate? Evolution? Consensus? Created in the image of God (conscience)
and conviction by the Holy Spirit and written in the Bible◦ “Do unto others as you would have them do
to you” (Matt 7:12)
◦ “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 19:19)
◦ “They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them”. (Rom 2:15)
◦