{"id":545,"date":"2013-11-07T20:58:30","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T20:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=545"},"modified":"2014-08-13T21:32:04","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T21:32:04","slug":"what-is-the-right-thing-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-is-the-right-thing-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"What is The Right Thing to Do?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>How does one determine what is good? \u00a0Is it discovered, dictated, or determined? \u00a0Will it still be good tomorrow? \u00a0In another culture? \u00a0These and many more ethical questions and possible decision paths are the topic of Nullens and Michener\u2019s book\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Matrix of Christian Ethics<\/span>. \u00a0The purpose for the book is to promote \u201can embrace of responsible postmodern thought with a deep concern for justice and the well-being of the other. \u00a0W desire to engage in a deeply Christian ethical reflection that moves beyond a modernist ideal of individual rights due to our sameness as human beings to an acknowledgment of the wonder of our diversity and complexity.\u201d (pg. 45).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The authors take the reader on an historical journey through the development of moral argumentation which includes four basic approaches: consequentialism, principle ethics, virtue ethics, and value ethics. \u00a0They unpack the historical roots of each and present some philosophers who represented those approaches and who contributed to their notoriety. \u00a0Without apology the authors then turn to the God of the Bible and his relationship to ethics. \u00a0They use Micah 6:8 as a key verse delineating what God deems to be \u2018good.\u2019 \u00a0\u201cHe has showed you, O man, what is good. \u00a0And what does the Lord require of you? \u00a0To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.\u201d<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I particularly appreciated how the authors related ethics to community and did so by using as a foundation the Trinity. \u00a0I agree with them that \u201cChristian Trinitarian ethics, then is social ethics. \u00a0There is no individual Christian ethics per se; it is always social.\u201d (Pg. 157). \u00a0This is important in western, North American culture where unbridled individualism can neglect societal need in order to satisfy personal preferences or desires. \u00a0I cannot think of a decision that impacts only oneself.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Another appreciated topic is that of the Kingdom of God. \u00a0The authors made a very important statement relating to Matthew 6:33 regarding the demand to seek his righteousness and his Kingdom. \u00a0They write, \u201cRighteousness is a summary of God\u2019s will as it i and will be manifested in his kingdom.\u201d \u00a0(pg. 169). \u00a0This is an important clarification for the often misused application (in my opinion). \u00a0Too often, people expect Kingdom righteousness to be appreciated in this world and even to win benefit. \u00a0But, it does not always have this effect and can even be rejected and demeaned. \u00a0This is not to say that the follower of Christ should not seek and reflect Kingdom righteousness! \u00a0It is to say, however, that one may not escape negative response from this world\u2019s kingdom.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In the last chapter the authors provide a very practical format for thinking through ethical dilemmas one may face. \u00a0The format includes the following phases: 1) Collect Relevant Information, 2) Formulate the Particular Ethical Problem(s), 3) Consider the Problem in View of the Matrix of Commandments, Values, Character, and Consequences, 4) Consider Alternate Solutions, 5) Make a Decision, and 6) Evaluate. \u00a0I believe this format will be very useful in almost any ethical situation and I plan to use it. \u00a0In fact, there is an issue in a church that I am consulting which is a prime candidate for using this format.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>How about you? \u00a0Are you facing any ethical issues which could be helped using the above format?<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The Matrix of Christian Ethics by Patrick Nullens &amp; Ronald T. Michener<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How does one determine what is good? \u00a0Is it discovered, dictated, or determined? \u00a0Will it still be good tomorrow? \u00a0In another culture? \u00a0These and many more ethical questions and possible decision paths are the topic of Nullens and Michener\u2019s book\u00a0The Matrix of Christian Ethics. \u00a0The purpose for the book is to promote \u201can embrace of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,109,212],"class_list":["post-545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-lgp","tag-nullens","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=545"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}