Christian Ethics 101: What Makes Ethics “Christian”?

From Patheos-

I am teaching a five-week course at my Episcopal church on Christian ethics. In tandem with the class, I’m going to post a “Christian Ethics 101″ column on the blog once a week, reflecting on what my class participants and I discussed the previous Sunday.

What do we mean by “Christian ethics”? Ethics in general is a discipline that people of all religious backgrounds, and none, can participate in. In our diverse and pluralistic culture, we frequently call upon very general principles—principles that are not unique to a particular religious or philosophical world view—to help us figure out what actions are and are not “ethical.”

To kick off my Christian ethics class, I asked participants to list principles that the secular culture uses in ethical decision-making, and contrast that list with principles that are explicitly Christian. 

Here are our two lists:

Secular Principles
Fairness
Reason (We ask, “Is this reasonable?” about a particular ethical stance.)
Cultural norms
Level of harm to self and others (We ask, “What leads to the greatest good/the least harm?”)
Parental values and guidance (“What would my mom/dad do?”)
Autonomy (independence, freedom of choice)
Duty (What allegiance or actions we owe to family, community, nation)
Avoiding or preventing suffering

Christian Principles
Stewardship (caring for what God has entrusted to us)
Sacrifice — putting others ahead of self, doing the right thing even when it means our needs might go unmet
Valuing both self and others as made in God’s image
Respecting self and others because we belong to God
Dignity of all people (every person is valuable because they are made in God’s image)
Community/communal values over individual values
The Baptismal Covenant — staying true to all that we profess when we commit and re-commit to our Baptismal Covenant
The broader idea of “covenant” with God and others — allegiance not just to ourselves and our families, but to God and our community
Compassion (responding to suffering when we see it)

To me, the two principles that best illuminate the difference between how we discuss ethics in a democratic, pluralistic context, and how we discuss ethics in a Christian context, are autonomy and suffering.

More here-

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ellenpainterdollar/2012/09/christian-ethics-101-what-makes-ethics-christian/