 |
|
Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
Ethical Christianity: A Reformation of the Protestant Church - Page 4
By Jeffrey C. Moon
Ethical Christianity fully agrees with Bishop Spong because Jesus taught that ethical behavior, ecumenical judgment, and open-heartedness is paramount to living a holy life. With Jesus, "the defining marks of the past - tribe, language, race, gender, or even sexual orientation - faded" (Spong 224). Therefore, some of Paul's conventional boundaries are not in accordance with what Jesus taught, so I return to Jesus as the paradigm Christian ethicist.
Jesus attempted to transcend the myopic Jewish laws of the Old Testament through his maxims, parables, and actions as detailed in the Gospels. "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to destroy them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5.17). The New Testament book of Matthew is the preeminent literary mine of ethical gems because it contains the lengthiest and most detailed account of Jesus' teachings. It is the earliest report of his repudiating the "eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth" ethic attributed to Jewish law. Jesus said, "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the [Judaic] Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7.12). First and foremost, Jesus preached the ethic of love. A Pharisee said to Jesus,
"Teacher, which commandment of the [Judaic] law is the greatest?" Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22.36-40)
This is not the love of a man and woman in a romantic relationship ( Eros in Greek) but the love and care a parent has for a child ( Agape in Greek), which is translated as "charity" in some Bible versions. Agape is manifested in the Christian's character, and its effects on the benevolent Christian are "the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5.22-23). Christians should practice agape , "not just of his wife and children. Do not even the tax collectors do the same? But love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 5.47). Believers of the Ethical Christianity denomination should not weather evil and retaliate, but return the evil with agape , for "I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5.44). Jesus suggests that his followers should not exclusively give money to widows and orphans but give their bodies, minds, and hearts to others with patience and wisdom. Ethical Christians should not only help friends and family, but they should extend helping hands to everyone, for this is the ethic of the Good Samaritan. Committing adultery is not only prohibited under Jesus' ethics, but having lust after another in one's heart is also immoral and thus unholy ( Ruse 294). Some New Testament scholars argue that Jesus broadened the ethical message of the Torah so much that an antithesis is present: forgive and love each other because moral perfection is impossible (Harris 45). The gospels, specifically Matthew's Sermon on the Mount and Luke's parables, contain the heart of Jesus' teachings.
Jesus' New Testament actions validate him as a practioner of his teachings (Harris 90). Jesus welcomed and conversed with lepers while his religious tradition condemned them as untouchable (Matthew and Mark). According to Jewish ritual law, Levi Matthew was unclean because of his tax collector profession and work for the Romans, yet Jesus called him to be one of his closest disciples (Luke). Although the Torah ordered him to condemn the woman taken to adultery, Jesus showed her love and encouraged her to live honestly. A multitude of other examples exist, and they all show the same message of Ethical Christianity. By having no boundaries to others and acting with true benevolence, Jesus lived a revered and godly life ¾ one that Christians might imitate. King Solomon says in Proverbs, "He who walks with the wise grows wise" (13.20). Jesus says in Matthew, "whoever does [my teachings] will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (5.19).