St. Thomas

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St. Thomas Episcopal ChurchVicars
ForumNovember 2, 2008

• Christianity 101
• What Would Jesus Do?
• A Bit on Christian Ethics

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Some Basics

• What Would Jesus Do? introduces the basic
  question of moral theology what is right and
  wrong behavior?
• For Christians, in general, right behavior is
  doing that which is Gods will for us
  individually and in community
• Doing that which is not Gods will for us is
  wrong behavior and is often called sin

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What is Sin?

• The seeking of our own will instead of the will
  of God, thus distorting our relationship with
  God, with other people, and with all creation.
  BCP p. 848
• Fr. Bobs addition and our relationship to our
  own selves
• How do we know what Gods will is for us?
• The Great Commandment Love God as hard as you
  can and love your neighbor as your self.
  (Matthew, Mark, Luke)
• Love one another as I have loved you. (John)

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Sources of Moral Advice

• We hold that not only Holy Scripture, but also
  the Tradition of the Church and our own Reason
  are sources of authority
• The three-legged stool!
• Holy Scripture The Bible and good commentaries
• Tradition The Book of Common Prayer is a good
  start
• Reason our own conscience, informed by
  Scripture and Tradition,
• Other Sources too

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Some Other Sources

• Other Christians, including parents, spouses,
  clergy
• Online and offline sources
• Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (online)
• Dictionary of Theology (online)
• For Episcopalians, our first goal is to gain some
  understanding of the issue at hand from all
  perspectives
• An informed conscience is ultimately is the final
  decider - no one else can decide for you.

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So how to decide?

• Start with the Bible
• Jesus own words and parables
• Advice from the NT writings
• The Ten Commandments and other OT writings
• Does the BCP say anything about it?
• Ash Wednesday confession p. 267
• Regular Sunday and daily confession, p. 360
• Do some reading include science, technology,
  anything relevant
• Talk with other people!!!
• Try not to decide quickly (unless you have to)

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So, What Would Jesus Do?

• Most modern issues would have been unknown to
  Jesus
• Very few absolute statements, except on divorce
  and money
• He was not hung up on technical details
• He looked for the whole person, not just their
  life but their quality of life
• He seemed to have a bias against wealth and
  toward the poor and outcasts
• He hated hypocrisy
• He healed others and taught them about Gods
  acceptance and love
• Intent was important to him
• He was constantly forgiving and showing mercy