The Ethics of Life

  • Introductions: Name
  • Restatement of theme:
    • “If this issue was the reason a non-believer gave as their obstacle to Christianity, what would we say to them?”
    • Theme verse: “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.” (Matthew 13:19)
  • Today’s Topic: The Ethics of Life
    • Do I want to put in something about the Dick Cheney shooting thing? Or about the war? Are these good intros?
    • There are a lot of different views about life that different parts of our culture hold.
      • What are some of these views?
        • War is never morally right.
        • We ought to uphold anyone’s life regardless of their “convenience”—human life is always valuable.
        • Capital punishment is an immoral barbaric act.
        • A person’s quality of life determines how happy they are.
        • Anything living (plants, animals, etc.) are equally valuable.
      • Read a couple samples of views from a variety of different people.
        • From “Consistent Life”:
          • “We are committed to the protection of life, which is threatened in today’s world by war, abortion, poverty, racism, capital punishment and euthanasia. We believe that these issues are linked under a ‘consistent ethic of life’. We challenge those working on all or some of these issues to maintain a cooperative spirit of peace, reconciliation, and respect in protecting the unprotected.”
        • From a quality of life perspective in an article “Against the Sanctity of Life”:
          • “But in general the QL view is easy to state. It is the view that the value of a life varies with its quality. That value might be absolute, infinite, or maximum, but only if circumstances permitted it; other circumstances can reduce that value. The value of a life is contingent. It follows directly that not all lives have equal value…In medical cases, relevant parameters of quality might include the imminence of death, the constancy and pitch of pain, the ability to think clearly, to enjoy life, to make rational choices (including a valid consent to treatment), and the independence of drugs, machines, or placentas. Outside the medical sphere a QL proponent might consider the desire to live, the level of satisfaction with one’s life and ability to change one’s situation, one’s contempt for the world or despair in one’s circumstances, and so on. Different QL proponents will write these lists differently.”
        • From a the proclamation of National Sanctity of Human Life Day 2006:
          • “National Sanctity of Human Life Day is an opportunity to strengthen our resolve in creating a society where every life has meaning and our most vulnerable members are protected and defended including unborn children, the sick and dying, and persons with disabilities and birth defects. This is an ideal that appeals to the noblest and most generous instincts within us, and this is the America we will achieve by working together.”
        • From others?
      • Some of these viewpoints try to cover a lot of different, uh, life forms and areas of life to think about. Some much less so. Are there other “areas of life” that you think they need to think about? Do you think some of these viewpoints are “stretching it”?
        • end-of-life/life support, mentally or otherwise handicapped, etc.
      • Why do you think these different people think these particular ways about life?
      • What does the Bible have to say about some of these different areas of life?
        • I think we all agree on abortion. Now, I suspect there are better ways to talk about abortion to our culture than what we usually do—for instance, I think we can make a good case against abortion without using Scripture, which I think we need to do in some degree for the many who won’t accept God’s Word—but we can talk about that some other time, if we’re interested.
        • Looking at capital punishment, war, poverty, euthanasia, end-of-life medical care, etc.
        • Capital Punishment
          • Well, the NIV uses the phrase “put to death” 91 times.
            • Ge 26:11; Ex 19:12; 21:12,15-17,29; 22:19; 31:14,15; 35:2; Le 19:20; 20:2,9-13,15,16,27; 24:16,17,21; 27:29; Nu 1:51; 3:10,38; 18:7; 25:5,15; 35:16-18,21,30,31; De 13:5; 17:6,12; 18:20; 21:22; 24:16; 32:39; Jos 1:18; Jud 6:31; 21:5; 1Sa 11:13; 14:45; 15:3; 19:6; 20:32; 2Sa 8:2; 19:21,22; 21:9; 1 Ki 2:24; 18:9; 19:17; 2 Ki 11:8,15,16; 14:6; 19:35; 2Ch 15:13; 22:9; 23:7; 25:4; Es 4:11; 9:15; Ps 78:31; Isa 37:36; Jer 18:21; 26:24; 38:4; Eze 18:13; Da 2:14; 5:19; Mt 10:21; 15:4; 24:9; Mr 7:10; 13:12; Ac 12:2; 26:10; Ro 8:13; Eph 2:16; Col 3:5; Heb 11:37; 1Pe 3:18; Re 2:13, if you are interested.
            • Not all of these references are referring to capital punishment, of course, but many are.
            • What are some examples of things that were punishable by death in the OT?
            • God even commanded specific deaths of people, such as in 1 Samuel 15:33.
          • I can’t think of capital punishment being promoted by the NT—but they were in a culture thick with it, and it (in and of itself) wasn’t condemned.
          • What was the purpose of capital punishment?
            • “You must purge the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:5)
            • Punishment. “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)
            • Not, as far as I can tell, for personal reform. Scripture never pretends that punishment of any sort will “fix” someone.
          • Also had cities of refuge to try prevent innocent folks from being killed. (See Numbers 25:9-34; especially verses 22-25)
          • Although the “avenger of blood” was close to personal retribution, most of the punishments were to be meted out by the official government—such as Moses or the priests or the people as a whole. Even the avengers of blood were held responsible if they “took the law into their own hands” beyond what they were given.
          • This isn’t a “formula” for proper government, necessarily, but probably not an all bad example.
          • Finally, interestingly, I heard a speaker once mention that there was no “jail” prescribed as punishment in the OT. I think that is true, and I suspect it might be because jail is a very dehumanizing sort of punishment. Or we try make it a “cure” rather than punishment. It could also be because jails made out of tents didn’t work very well. I’m really not convinced that a “life sentence” is an appropriate alternative to capital punishment—at least when the justice process is working correctly. Thoughts?
        • War
          • War is prescribed a whole lot in the OT.
          • War isn’t portrayed as a wonderful thing, exactly. “And the land had rest from war.” (Joshua 11:23, 14:15)
          • In the OT, with a theocracy, and under God’s leading, it is seen as a good and necessary thing.
          • Undertaking it lightly and without God’s guidance is foolish.
          • War is often used as a punishment by God. Not that he has nations say, “I’m going to punish you”, exactly, but he says that He directed nations that weren’t even aware of Him.
        • Poverty
        • Euthanasia
        • Life Support
        • Handicapped

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