In Search of Kingdom Living

Authority and Scripture

The question of authority for Christian ethics is a huge issue that still continues to be hotly debated today. I have always appreciated the Wesleyan Quadrilateral (Scripture, tradition, reason and experience) to make sense of a realistic and practical way of understanding authority. I have always felt uncomfortable with the sola scriptura Reformation position because of the abuse of using Scripture in unhealthy ways (in my context, I think especially of the asian parents who uphold the ‘honor your parents’ teachings as the highest ethic at the cost of degrading family relations). I feel comfortable if sola scriptura leads to a ”scripturally grounded encounter with the living Christ in the community of faith remains a legitimate source of authoirty for Christian ethics; Jesus is the living Word” (p. 89). Basically, the shift is from a conviction of the biblical witness of Christ, to Christ himself. Stassen and Gushee proposes a prophetic grid in interpreting Jesus’ actions. This will help set the basis of authority for the rest of the book as “Jesus had a prophetic rather than a legalistic understanding of the content of righteousness. for the prophets, true righteousness consisted of deeds of love, mercy and justice, especially to the most vulnerable” (p. 93).

The Form and Function of Moral Norms

I found this chapter which outlined four different levels of Christian ethics to be particularly helpful. Usually, conversations about an ethical issue is so frustrating because we are not speaking at the same level. By establishing this framework, the authors have done a service for all Christians to have good conversations about tough ethical issues.

The four levels of moral norms in Christian ethics are as follow: the particular/immediate judgment level, the rules level, the principles level, and the basic conviction level. Situationism, which is the particular level, states that moral judgments are unique foe every single case. Legalism, the rules level, states that specific rules are universally absolute for all cases. Principlism, the principles level, states that the overriding principle trumps any particular rule. Contextualism and narrative ethics, the basic conviction level, states that basic theological convictions and narrative contexts are the determining factor for ethical issues. The authors believe that the theological basic-conviction level is the most important one for Christian ethics. However, they “acknowledge that different ways of approaching theology, both in terms of methodology and substance, lead to radically different ethical outcomes” (p. 115). A problem that comes to light is what happens if Christians do not agree on the theological basis? History has demonstrated a variety of theological emphasis that makes such errors: dualism, doctrinalism, deism, etc. Thus, “the theological-narrative context that serves as our ultimate basic conviction for Christian ethics need to be spelled out in rules and principles in order to give us clear guidance” (p. 116-117). Orthodoxy goes hand-in-hand with orthopraxy. In other words, we shall be known by our fruits (Mt. 7:20).

The Transforming Initiatives of the Sermon on the Mount

The Sermon on the Mount has always been troublesome for Christians. We must acknowledge that the mistreatment and neglect of these key teachings of Jesus has left the modern church in quite the predicament. Whether we have relegated these teachings to high ideals, or feared a works based gospel, many Christians just skip over or misinterpret the Sermon on the Mount.

I found the authors threefold transforming intiatives approach to make sense compared to the typical twofold antithese approach. In the fourteen topical teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, there is remarkable consistency for the threefold approach. There is the traditional righteousness section with mainly future/subjunctive verbs – ie. you shall not kill (Mt. 5:21). Then the named vicious cycle listed mainly with continous verbs – ie. being angry (Mt. 5:22). Then lastly, the transforming intiatives are consistently command verbs – ie. be reconciled (Mt. 5:23-26). This approach corrects the high ideals perspective and “it shows that Jesus’ teachings engage us in transforming intiatives that participate in the reign of God, the presence of the gracious God who acts in Jesus” (p. 143).

I appreciated the author’s clarity in this last section. It sets the basis for the particular ethical issues found in the rest of the book.