CHRISTIAN ETHICS: ORIGIN, FOUNDATIONS, REPRESENTATIVES - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The Christian ethic is to practice good, performing positive works for man following the word of the prophet Jesus Christ expressed in the Gospel. It refers to fair and altruistic behavior. The morality assumed with spiritual maturity and under the knowledge, at least, of the basic aspects of the gospel is revealed.

The Catholic religion defines ethics as the norms that man must follow in order to live according to God's rules and thus achieve eternal happiness in paradise. According to the German philosopher and of great influence in the conception of the philosophy of religion, Max Scheler, Christian ethics is "the truth revealed by God and proposed by the Church as the principle of moral behavior."

Christian ethics is based on the word of God. Image by Free-Photos on Pixabay.com

Fundamentals

The foundation of Christian ethics is found in the Bible, in the word of God collected by the apostles. They are present in the ten commandments that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, being the most important bases for the behavior and compliance with religious morality.

Although it is true that over the years philosophers, theologians, priests have tried to give concepts and explanations about how man should assume ethics, the truth is that they all lead to the same point: the answers are in the word of the creator, so these are the fundamental bases.

Loving God above all things

The Christian religion is monotheistic and therefore worships only one God, being the main figure, the almighty. The first commandment exposes as a principle and moral value to believe and respect the presence of a creator father of the universe.

Don't take God's name in vain

According to Christian ethics, it is a sin to swear or blaspheme using the name of God. It refers to the way in which man uses the name of the omnipotent and respect is demanded towards him.

Sanctify the holidays

In the Christian religion there are specific dates and days where the name of the creative father should be honored, go to church and give man rest. Complying with it is one way of putting spiritual ethics into practice.

Honor father and mother

Not only is it one of the first commandments and foundations of Christian ethics, but it is repeated in several passages of the Bible, some of them Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Matthew 15: 4; Ephesians 6: 2, 3.

In other words, those who are the givers of life deserve to be treated by their children with respect, valued, accept their authority and as they age take care of them.

Do not kill

The man who follows the values ​​of the Church understands that life is sacred because from the beginning it is God who created it. Therefore, attacking another person with any act of violence is disobeying the rules. Only the almighty can decide when it ends.

According to the book of Genesis, the abuse against man's life is a consequence of original sin and taking justice into his hands is an act of rebellion against the supreme deity.

Do not commit impure acts

The Bible says in Matthew 5, 27-28 that “you shall not commit adultery (…), whoever looks at a woman with bad eyes has already committed adultery”. For Christianity, the body is sacred and committing acts of lust and pleasure is a way to defy the norms sent from heaven. Therefore, according to religion, it is forbidden to have relationships outside of marriage.

Do not steal

In a mass celebrated in the city of the Vatican in November 2018, Pope Francis explained the implications of the seventh commandment given to Moses and that until today governs Christian ethics.

The Supreme Pontiff said verbatim: “… The Lord calls us to be responsible stewards of his Providence, to learn to creatively multiply the goods we possess in order to use them generously in favor of our neighbors, and in this way grow in charity and in freedom"

He added that "… life is not a time to love and possess, but to love with our goods."

Do not give false testimony or lie

Spiritual ethics holds that by breaking the eighth commandment, love of neighbor is also broken.

An example of the importance of telling the truth is in the Bible in a passage from a conversation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate recorded in John 18:37 that says: “… Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to my voice”.

Do not indulge in impure thoughts or desires

Just as man must control his actions to comply with Christian ethics, he must also control his thoughts. The responsibility with God is also with the heart and this is what the biblical passages make known throughout the entire reading of the creator's word.

Do not covet the goods of others

In this commandment God asks man to get rid of material goods, not to have feelings of greed.

For Christian ethics, the overflowing desire for wealth takes man away from the true meaning of life and makes him see this when in the Bible Jesus asks his disciples to abandon everything to follow him.

Representatives

The words of the apostles were studied by man to build Christian ethics. Image by Thomas B. from Pixabay

The historical accounts give an account of three great representatives of Christian ethics

- Saint Augustine of Hippo

He is considered the greatest thinker of Christianity during the first millennium, he was one of the 36 doctors of the church, also being called "the patron of those who seek God." Saint Augustine's work contains more than 100 books, as well as letters, sermons, and correspondence.

Augustinian ethics is based on five aspects:

The virtue

For Saint Augustine, God had to be known by men as a source of eternal happiness. He considered the virtues faith, hope and charity superior to any other concept related to human behavior.

Love

As an exponent of the benefits of Christianity, Saint Augustine said that “my weight is my love; by the weight of my love I am carried wherever I go ”, therefore love was the most important feeling of men.

The distinction

It refers to the fact that there is no more true love than the love of God and considers it the only honest feeling.

The problem of evil

It exposes that in the world there are two creative principles in a constant struggle: the God of good or light and the God of evil or darkness. Creatures, even when created by the almighty, can be corrupted and that is when morals and ethics are affected.

Freedom, will and destiny

The main concern of Saint Augustine of Hippo was the destiny of man and he assured that only with faith, the human race could believe in the immortality of the soul. For happiness to be complete, this last dogma must be clear.

- St Thomas

His concept coincided with the Greek philosopher Aristotle, since he quotes verbatim "all action tends towards an end, and the end is the good of an action."

For this representative of the Church, happiness cannot coincide with having material goods, and since well-being does not end life but transcends other spiritual planes, man requires God's help to achieve the vision of good as a everything.

- Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Paraphrasing Aristotle, ethics had four fundamental principles: intelligence, courage, moderation and justice.

But the German theologian goes further, since he affirms that in every devout action there is also a selfish behavior, because man believes that with it he gains something. It recognizes that justice before God is not earned through actions, because it is a gift from the creator and man reaches it through faith.

Luther's thought goes hand in hand with the biblical passage Romans 3:20, which expresses textually: "We are not just because we do the right thing, but because we do the right thing we are just."

The theologian also refers to the importance of freedom in Christian ethics. In one of his writings from 1520 he states: “A Christian being is a free lord above all things, and subject to no one. A Christian being is a servant who serves all things and is subject to all. "

References

1. Emmanuel Buch (2014). Biblical Ethics: Foundations of Christian Morality
2. Ángel Rodríguez Luño (1982). Max Scheler and Christian Ethics
3. Opus Dei (2018) Pope explains the seventh commandment, “You shall not steal” Taken from opusdei.org.
4. Les Thompson (1960) The Ten Commandments
5. The Holy Bible for Latin America (1989)
6. Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2005)
7. Alessandro Reinares (2004) Philosophy of San Agustín.
8. Mauricio Beuchot (2004) Introduction to the philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas