Re: bible ethics
Bjoern Moeller (dj_mic20@yahoo.com)
Thu, 9 Dec 1999 04:59:38 -0800 (PST)
--- Tom Pearson <pearson@panam1.panam.edu> wrote:
> At 08:47 PM 12/08/1999 +0900, Wayne Dawson wrote:
>
> >Are the ethics that Jesus taught such as "love your
> enemies",
> >forgiveness, judgement, being the servent rather
> than the served, the
> >good Samaritian etc. a uniquely Hebrew
> contribution to Western
> >civilization? At least, in the form of a unified
> set of principles,
> >can we consider it a Hebrew original?
>
> With a few qualifications, the answer, in my
> judgement, is a firm "No."
>
> Nearly everything with an ethical content that Jesus
> taught is derivative;
> those teachings are not original with Jesus. Most
> of them were likely
> commonplace notions of ethical rectitude that were
> "in the air" in ancient
> Israel, drawn from Greek or oriental thought. The
> Golden Rule, as is well
> known, has several antecedents in cultures outside
> of Hebraic culture, and
> are prior to the time of Jesus. When it comes to
> ethical teaching, Jesus
> seems to rely on the same principles as the
> Pharisees and scribes, but He
> pushes those principles to their logical extreme,
> while the others appear
> to modify them.
>
> One of the qualifications would have to do with the
> virtue of "humility,"
> which appears to be unique to the Hebrews.
> Certainly the Greeks considered
> meekness and modesty to be character flaws, not
> virtues. Neither the
> Persians nor the Egyptians, nor other oriental
> semitic cultures, appear to
> cherish humility as a virtue. Only the Hebrews do.
> So this might be a
> uniquely Hebraic contribution to the development of
> western moral theory.
>
> Most of the folks I know who work the field of
> biblical ethics do not
> consider Jesus' moral teachings to be "a unified set
> of principles."
> Rather, the principles Jesus draws on are variously
> applied and emphasized.
> They appear to comprise more of a moral smorgasbord
> than an ethical
> system. It was the early church that is most
> responsible for making Jesus
> look like a teacher of an original and unified
> system.
>
> In short, then, I would say that it is not because
> Jesus provides us with a
> assortment of ethical sayings that we worship him as
> Lord and Savior of
> mankind, but because of the cross and resurrection.
> That's where the work
> of Jesus Christ makes an original contribution to
> western civilization, and
> to the whole creation.
>
> Tom Pearson
>
_______________________________________________________
>
_______________________________________________________
>
> Thomas D. Pearson
> Department of History & Philosophy
> The University of Texas-Pan American
> Edinburg, Texas
> e-mail: pearson@panam1.panam.edu
>
Tom, Wayne and others,
As a young forthcoming philosopher I can't boast about
my total knowledge in the area, but even though I
would like to add to this debate.
When it comes to
> ethical teaching, Jesus
> seems to rely on the same principles as the
> Pharisees and scribes, but He
> pushes those principles to their logical extreme,
Tom wrote this, and I can only consent. I believe this
is essential to the ethics of Jesus; that he taught
the law, that is, the ethical parts of it, as it was
handed over to Moses. That was what he declared
himself; that he had come to fulfill the law, and that
includes the whole law. I have an idea about Jesus
being the perfect virtuous man, but I'll leave that
for another time.
Besides, I think the theologians should deal with the
biblical parts of the answer Wayne demands.
Certainly the Greeks considered
> meekness and modesty to be character flaws, not
> virtues.
Again, this is Tom writing. But this is not correct.
Both Aristotle, and later on roman stoic philosophers
(e.g. Cicero and Seneca), mentions modesty as a
virtue. Not only do they mention it, they emphasize
it. I can't come up with detailed references here, but
if requested I can look it up. So, actually this is
not a unique Hebrew contribution to Jesus' ethics.
It is difficult to decide if Jesus' moral teaching was
a mere Hebrew ethical revival, or if it was a
compilation of contemporary ethical ideas from all
around the Mediterranean area. I think most scholars
are apt to deduce that Jesus' ethics was a synthesis
of many ethical theories, because that gives the best
explanation of his ideas, and answers the question;
why did Jesus teach as he did ?
Maybe the ethics of Jesus is not of unique Hebrew
heritage, at least not as a unified set of principles,
but great parts of Jesus' ethics are certainly of
Hebrew origin.
the cross and resurrection.
> That's where the work
> of Jesus Christ makes an original contribution to
> western civilization, and
> to the whole creation.
Tom, you are absolutely right !
God bless you,
Bjoern Moeller
BA-student in philosophy, Copenhagen University
Mathildevej 24, 1.t.v.
2000 Frederiksberg
Denmark
e-post: dj_mic20@yahoo.com
__________________________________________________
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