Christian Ethics Notes

Legacy International Bible College
Changing Lives Through the Word of God
CHRISTIAN ETHICS

P.O. Box 895
Liberty, SC 29657
Email: globalem2017@gmail.com
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CHRISTIAN ETHICS

Changing Lives Through the Word of God
All rights are reserved. These materials, in part or in the whole, are not to be reproduced in any form without the
written permission of the Copyright holder.
Copyright © 2006
Source of Light Ministries International
Madison, GA.
Dr. Bill Shade - Dr. Shade is a native of Altoona, Pennsylvania. He completed studies at Philadelphia College
of the Bible and Wheaton College (Illinois), receiving his doctorate from Toledo Bible College and Seminary in
Evansville, Indiana. He has served as a pastor, an evangelist, and Bible teacher throughout the United States and
abroad. He currently serves as General Director of Source of Light Ministries International.
AUTHOR Dr. Bill Shade

EDITOR Ruby Shade
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CONTENTS
PART I
GLOSSARY 5
THE MEANING OF ETHICS 5
MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS 6
THE FOUNDATION FOR AN ABSOLUTE ETHIC 10
ACTING ETHICALLY 15
PART II
GLOSSARY 26
INTRODUCTION 26
DEFINING SIN 27
BASIC ETHICAL VIRTUES 34
WHEN ETHICAL DEMANDS COLLIDE 39
PART III
GLOSSARY 52
INTRODUCTION 52
THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION 53
INTRODUCTION 62
AN EXAMINATION OF ABORTION 62
PART IV
GLOSSARY 81
INTRODUCTION 81
EUTHANASIA 82
SUICIDE 90
THE DILEMMA OF WAR 97
PLAN YOUR WEEK: We highly recommend that the student schedule study time on a routine, daily basis, as
though he were actually attending classes. A systematic schedule is the only way to ensure completing all the
materials on time as required. The biggest problem with taking correspondence work is the possibility of
waiting until the “last minute” to complete the work.
PRAY over your study of the Word. Human ability is not enough; the energies of the human mind are not
sufficient in themselves. The Christian student requires the ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to understand the
sense of the Word, and whereby proper application can be made to one's personal life. Pray that God will
translate your studies into life and activity for Christ.
BE PATIENT AND PERSISTENT: You will not learn it all at once. You will learn truth by truth, lesson by
lesson. Do not be discouraged if a portion of the study seems to be more difficult than another. Be patient and
stick to it. You will master the lesson in due time, and as you progress in the Word, you will be happy that you
persisted in your program of study. Study pays rich dividends in terms of knowledge, personal experience, and
usefulness to God.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bane / Kutscher / Neale / Reeves, Death and Ministry, New York, The Seabury Press, 1975.
Blackburn, Bill, What You Should Know About Suicide, Texas, Word Books, 1982
Davis, John Jefferson, Evangelical Ethics: New Jersey, Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing, 1993.
Geisler, Norman L., Christian Ethics: Options and Issues, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1989.
Glasser, William, Reality Therapy: New York, Harper & Row, 1965.
Jones, David Clyde, Biblical Christian Ethics: Michigan, Baker Book House, 1994.
McQuilkin, Robertson, An Introduction To Biblical Ethics: Illinois, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1995.
Morris, Henry M., The Long War Against God: Michigan, Baker Book House, 1989.
Solomon, Charles R. The Ins and Outs of Rejection: Heritage House Publications, 1976.
Thomas, Cal, The Death of Ethics in America: Texas, Word Books Publisher, 1988.
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Wilkerson, David, Christian Maturity Manual: California, Regal Books Div., G/L Publications
CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I

THE MEANING OF ETHICS
The completion of Christian Ethics: Part I you should enable you to:
* To define what is meant by the term, "Christian Ethics.”
* To identify the two major schools of ethical thought.
* To explain and defend the basis of believing in an absolute ethic.
* To describe the "Ethical Standard" which the Bible sets before us.
* To explain what resources the believer has to measure up to that standard.
* To counter the arguments of those who hold relativistic views of ethics.
* To apply scriptural rules for discerning the "lawful" use of the Law.
GLOSSARY FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I
1. Concupiscence: Evil desire, generally in the sense of indwelling sin; an inflamed desire for sexual
gratification beyond what is normal.
2. Ethics: From the Greek ethos, meaning "character." (1) The study of a standard of behavior and moral
conduct. (2) The search for what constitutes the ultimate "good" for the individual and for society, i.e.
standards of behavior.
3. Morals: From the Greek mores meaning "custom." Manners of behavior that are considered right and proper
for the "good" of society.
4. Mores: Folkways that are considered conducive to the welfare of society, which are then developed into a
code for behavior. It is from the Greek mores meaning “custom.”
5. Good: Any action conforming to the moral order of the universe.
6. Relative: That which depends upon its relation to something else. Not absolute.
7. Antinomian: Anti (against) Nomia (law), hence the word describes a denial of absolute moral law.
8. Absolutism: Not qualified or diminished in any way. Not relative or restricted. Unchanging, universal and
without exception.
I. THE MEANING OF ETHICS
A. Introduction
This is a different kind of course than those which have preceded it. Up until now we have dealt largely with
understanding the Scriptures and defining scriptural teaching or doctrine. We have addressed the question,
"What should I believe"? In this course we address a different question but one closely related, "How should I
behave"? Everywhere Scripture teaches us that what we believe, we become. In other words, as the old divines
used to say, "belief behaves." The New Testament Epistle of James declares unequivocally that faith without
works is dead. This course on Ethics then, deals with the questions of behavior: What is right? – What is
wrong? - What is good?
(1) This course on Ethics deals with how we _______________________________________.
B. Defining Ethics
Questions about how people act toward themselves and one another are dealt with in a field of study called
Ethics. Another name for ethics is morality. One word is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning "character,"
and the other from the Latin mores, meaning "custom." Ethics is primarily concerned with attempting to define
what is good for the individual and for society. It also tries to establish the nature of obligations, or duties, that
people owe themselves and each other.
(2) What two words are used for describing how people should act?
(a) __________________________ (b) __________________________
(3) Ethics seeks to define what is ___________ for the individual and for society.
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Philosophers have said for thousands of years that people do not willingly do what is bad for themselves but
may do what is bad for others if it appears that good for themselves will result. It has always been difficult to
define what is good and how one should act to achieve it.
Some teachers have said that pleasure is the greatest good. These were known in New Testament times as
Epicureans. Others believed that duty was the chief virtue and the greatest good. To achieve it great personal
sacrifice had to be made. These were called Stoics. Both are found in Acts 17 where Paul addresses them on
Mars Hill.
Still others have pointed to knowledge, personal virtue, or service to one's fellow human being. The writer of
the book of Ecclesiastes wrestles with these questions as he writes, I sought. . . to give myself. . .till I might see
what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life
(Ecclesiastes 2:3).
The importance of finding an answer to the ethical dilemma should be evident. Individuals and whole societies
have performed outrageous criminal acts on people, and they have found ways to justify doing so on the basis of
some greater "good." It is imperative therefore that "good" be clearly defined and that is the task of Ethics.
(4) People may do what is (a)___________for others if it appears to be (b) ________________ for themselves.
(5) List at least five things which men have thought to be "the greatest good."
(a) __________________________ (d) ___________________________
(b) __________________________ (e) ___________________________
(c) __________________________
(6) What question did the writer of Ecclesiastes try to answer? _______________________________________
(7) The problem of defining (a) ____________ is the task of (b) ______________.
II. MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS

The difficulty in deciding what is good and what obligations are binding has led moral philosophers to divide
into two camps. One camp says that there are no definite, objective standards that apply to everyone. People
must decide what their duties are in each new situation. Since such a position necessarily denies the existence of
any established universal moral law, it is also called Antinomianism (against law). The other has said that there
are established standards that apply to everyone (i.e. are universal), that what is good can generally be known. If
the good is known, the obligation to pursue it becomes clear. The position that insists there are universal ethical
standards is called Ethical Absolutism.
(8) Name the two major philosophical schools in the field of Ethics.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
A. The Absolutist Position
Absolutism believes that we live in a moral universe. It believes that there are norms of behavior that are right
for everyone at all times and that wrong can be clearly defined. Many of the world's major religions teach some
kind of moral absolutism. Now while those who claim loyalty to Scripture fall mostly within this category, it is
not restricted to them alone.
(9) Name three things moral absolutists believe.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
Immanuel Kant was agnostic in his view of the Scriptures themselves but a moral absolutist. Kant argued for
what he called the "categorical imperative" which he believed became the universal moral obligation. For
example, we may all agree that lying is wrong in most situations, but Kant taught that if you say lying may be
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right in any circumstance, you must be prepared to will lying as a universal moral obligation. Since that would
be unthinkable, lying is universally wrong and truth is the universal moral obligation or categorical imperative.
For the Biblical Absolutist the problem of ethics rests on the revelation which God has given us of right and
wrong. The Biblical Absolutist appeals to the Scripture for the final resolution of any ethical or moral question.
Still, within Biblical circles, there are a number of different approaches to resolving ethical problems which
reflect different understandings of what Scripture teaches. We will examine these various approaches further
along in our study.
(10) Immanuel Kant was an Ethical Absolutist. (True or False)_____________
(11) Kant believed that if you approved lying in any situation, you must (a) _______________ lying as a
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________.
(12) For the Biblical Absolutist the problem of ethics rests upon______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
B. The Antinomian Position
As we have seen, Antinomians do not believe that there are self-evident moral principles in the universe. There
is no pre-determined "right and wrong" for any situation. There are only good outcomes, i.e. that which results
in an outcome which is perceived to bring the greatest amount of good to all concerned. While Antinomian is
more of a theological word, the more common contemporary word for this position is Relativism.
(13) One who does not believe that there are self-evident moral principles in the universe is called an ________.
(14) Antinomians believe there is no predetermined "good" but only good _____________________________.
(15) A contemporary word for Antinomian is ______________________________.
Relativists say that people's moral judgments are determined by the customs and traditions of the society in
which they live. We call these customs and traditions “mores”. These may have been handed down for
centuries, but relativists argue that their age does not mean they are true standards. They are simply norms that a
certain society has developed for itself. What is right is what society says is right, and whatever is considered
good for society must be right.
The classic example of this approach can be seen in the work of anthropologist and author Dr. Ruth Benedict. In
her book, Patterns of Culture, she argues for the "rightness" of any cultural norm within that given culture.
Hence head hunting and cannibalism should be considered right and proper for the culture which practices these
things, if they are part of the accepted norms of that culture. Several generations of college students have been
deeply influenced by Ms. Benedict's position.
(16) Relativists believe moral judgments are determined by customs and traditions. (True or False) __________
(17) Name the book and the author which has most influenced college students toward ethical relativism.
(a) _________________________________________
(b) _________________________________________
Within the relativist camp there are also a number of subgroups, each group having certain distinguishing
characteristics, but all of them holding in common the Antinomian, Relativistic philosophy.
1. Pragmatism
Pragmatism teaches that each individual problem must be viewed in the light of the actions necessary to solve
it, with some understanding of the consequences that follow the actions. A choice is right if it leads to a solution
of the specific conflict, but there is no absolute right or good, as every successful solution gives rise to new
problems that must be evaluated on their own terms. Moral rules are only hypotheses, or tentative assumptions,
that have been found to work in certain circumstances. One of the leading pragmatists of the last century was
John Dewey, sometimes called "the father of modern education." Since Dewey was the single most influential
person in the American system of public education, it is not difficult to trace his influence in American thought
today.
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(18) A leading pragmatist of the last century was ______________________________________.
(19) To a pragmatist, a choice is "right" if it leads to _______________________________________________.
2. Existentialism
Existentialism also proclaims moral relativism. All individuals, it says, have their own life situations. No two
are identical, for everyone else is part of the environment in which decisions must be made. All choices involve
risk. There are no principles or standards that are right for all people at all times. New situations demand new
approaches. What was once valid may be inappropriate now. In this past century - with its rapid changes,
endless wars, and moral upheaval - the ideas of existentialism have been imbibed, consciously or
unconsciously, by many people.
Some existentialists base their position on religion. But since all reject the full inspiration and authority of
Scripture, they say it is impossible to fall back on the moral laws or principles found there in making decisions.
Choices must be made on the basis of blind faith, often in conflict with traditional moral guidelines.
Individuals trust that what they are doing is right, but they can be entirely wrong. They commit themselves to
the unknown, and the decision can often be an agonizing problem. Soren Kierkegaard is generally recognized as
the father of modern religious existentialism. For a thorough discussion of religious existential thought, please
refer to the course on Christian Evidences, PART II.
(20) For the existentialist, what was right yesterday may not be right today. (True or False) _____________
(21) Religious existentialists reject the authority of Scripture, but base their choices of right and wrong on
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
(22) Name the father of religious existentialism. _________________________________________.
3. Situation Ethics
Situation Ethics teaches that "Love" is the only norm or right in every situation. Although it avows that it is in
the middle between Antinomianism and Absolutism, it is, in practice, wholly relativistic and therefore
antinomian. Famous proponents of this view are such men as Emil Brunner (The Divine Imperative), Reinhold
Niebuhr (Moral Man and Immoral Society), and A.T. Robinson (Honest to God). But its more well known
proponent is Joseph Fletcher, author of Situation Ethics. Situation Ethics claims that the only absolute norm is
love. Therefore when a solution of love is applied pragmatically to any given situation, the outcome is the best
possible "good." In truth, this position does have some scriptural support from the New Testament, both in the
words of Christ and most decisively in the writings of Paul (Romans 13:8-10). Both reduced the entire moral
code of the Old Testament to the simple command of "love." But please note, this "love" did not abrogate the
law, it fulfilled it. The love commended by the Scripture is defined by the Scripture and this is what Situation
Ethicists fail to do. Situation Ethics is simply another very esoteric form of Antinomianism.
(23) Situation Ethics teaches that ___________ is the only "right" in every situation.
(24) Because Situation Ethics fails to define Love by scriptural standards, we call it a form of ______________.
(25) The best known proponent of Situation Ethics is (a) ___________________________________ who wrote
the book called (b) ______________________.
4. Generalism
Generalists believe that there are some general rules, but no absolute ones. At best there are only general norms
that may be broken if the occasion calls for it. Generalists take their norms from what has been called "the fund
of human experience" (Geisler, p. 73). In other words, Generalists look to what society has tested and utilized in
the past to produce the greatest good and these are employed as norms. However it must be noted that these
norms are utilitarian only and not absolute. In other words, they may be employed as long as they work for what
is perceived as the greatest good for the present, but if this perceived good changes, the norms must also be
changed. Hence chastity may be a general norm as long as a society values the results of chastity, i.e. marital
harmony and family stability. But if these desired ends are no longer deemed necessary or desirable, then
chastity must be discarded as a valid norm or ethical principle. Hence it can be seen that, while the Generalist
begs that he is not a true antinomian, that is, he holds to certain general norms, he must be regarded as such, just
as Situation Ethicists are, for both are completely relativistic.
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(26) Generalism believes there are only (a) _______________ rules but no (b) _____________________ rules.
(27) Generalism teaches that chastity is always right. (True or False) __________
(28) Generalists claim that they are not truly (a) ___________________________ but since their moral
standards may change with norms, they are completely ______________________________.
C. SUMMARY
In summary then it can be said that there are two general categories into which ethical theory falls. One believes
that ethics rest upon some form of moral and universal absolutes. The other believes that there are no real
absolutes and every problem must be decided upon its own merit using such various subjective standards as
Pragmatism, Generalism, or Love to reach a decision.
Understanding these two very opposite approaches to Ethics, we may further analyze these differences
categorizing them as "duty-centered" and "end-centered" approaches. The Absolutist moves from what he
believes to be a clearly defined duty and acts upon it, believing that the end (the result) will be good because the
action taken was right. The Relativist attempts to anticipate the end result of several possible actions and, based
upon what he perceives as the one resulting in the greater good, makes his choice without reference to any
established code of conduct. Thus, while killing helpless, innocent people may be generally regarded as not
achieving a worthy end, if the person is apparently suffering, or severely handicapped, or lacks what may be
perceived as a proper "quality of life," killing may be a very viable option to bring about what is then
considered a desirable result.
I think you can clearly see that it is precisely these two very different approaches which have framed, in large
measure, the great ethical debate in our time. If the position of antinomian relativism seems inadequate to
provide ethical guidance, what evidence is there for an ethical absolute?
(29) There are ___________ great categories into which ethical theory falls.
(30) These may also be categorized as (a) _________- centered and (b) _________-centered approaches.
(31) The Absolutist moves from (a) __________ and believes the end will be good because the action was right,
while the Relativist attempts to anticipate the (b) _____________ without reference to an established code.
(32) These two very different approaches have framed the ethical debate in our time. (True or False) _________
Review Questions: The review questions should be answered with care. They are supplied for the purpose of
testing your understanding of the section just studied. Restudy the section if your score is under 90%. If your
score is 90% or above, restudy all that you did not understand.
Each answer is worth 4.5 points

1. Ethics deals with how we behave. (True or False) ________________________
2. Ethics is concerned with finding what is ___________ for a person or a society.
3. People do not do willingly what is (a) ___________for themselves, but they may do what is
(b) _______________ for others if they think it will be (c) __________ for themselves.
4. List five things which men have thought to be the greatest "good."
(a) ___________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________
(d) ___________________________________________________
(e) ___________________________________________________
5. Name the two major philosophical schools in the field of ethical debate.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
6. According to the Glossary, Antinomianism means _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
7. Name three things Absolutists believe.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
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(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Name four sub-groups of ethical opinion which fall into the general category of Antinomian.
(a) _____________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________
9. The Absolutist moves from (a) ________________and believes that the end will be
(b) ____________________ because the action was (c) _______________.
10. The Relativist resolves the ethical question by trying to determine the ____________________.
(Check your answers on page 23)
III. FOUNDATION FOR AN ABSOLUTE ETHIC
From our discussion thus far, we have determined that the basis for ethical action is not, and dare not be,
cultural mores or some subjective concept of love or what we, or someone else, may perceive to be a good
result or desired end. If this is indeed a moral universe in which we live, and if we are not to be thrown into the
quicksand of moral relativism, then we must discover and define the existence and source of those moral
absolutes which we affirm and which form the basis of our moral decision making. What then, is the evidence
for such absolute and universal norms?
(1) If this is a moral universe, we must (a) ________________ and (b) _________________ the
(c) _________________________ and (d) ________________of those moral absolutes we affirm.
A. Evidence from Creation

The heavens declare the glory of God; writes the Psalmist, and the firmament (the universe) shows his
handiwork (Psalm 19:1). In this Psalm, the writer traces the source of all things back to God. The creation itself
testifies forcefully of both His existence and His power. Though no speech is uttered, the visible evidence is
irrefutable. Behind it all stands an intelligent Creator, Who, by His wisdom and power, not only brought it into
being, but sustains it so that it functions as it was designed to function. Such recognition also implies purpose,
for if wisdom designed it and power created it, then certainly purpose must intend to direct it.
And taking that one step further, we may reason that if indeed God had a sovereignly designed purpose for this
universe and everything in it, then that purpose must certainly include man, and if the Creator designed man for
a purpose, it is most reasonable that man will be held accountable to fulfill that purpose. Furthermore, the
Psalmist implies that God's purpose and knowledge penetrates to every corner of the creation, so that there is no
escaping it. If, for instance, it can be said of a created entity like the sun, there is nothing hid from the heat
thereof, then what can be hidden from the One Who created the sun?
(2) Psalm 19 traces the source of all things back to ____________.

(3) Which of the following can be reasoned by looking at the Universe? _____________
(a) God's existence (c) God's wisdom (b) God's power
(d) God's purpose (e) man's responsibility toward God (f) all of the above.
It is precisely this line of reason that St. Paul employs in the opening chapter of Romans, where he affirms,
"Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the
invisible things of him are clearly seen from (looking at) the creation of the world, being understood by the
things which are made, even His eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse" (paraphrase).
There are actually several lines of reasoning here. First, God has provided man with a revelation of His power
and wisdom and purpose through creation. That makes man responsible and accountable to God. But Paul goes
on to press the point that there is even evidence for the nature of the Godhead itself. This is another whole
dimension and one might be tempted to ask how Paul can affirm such a thing. Dr. Henry Morris explains, "the
basic structure of the physical universe is actually that of a tri-universe, consisting of space, time, and matter, no
more, no less. This is not a trio (three entities combined together to make a whole) but a true trinity (three
distinct entities, each of which is the whole).
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"The universe is not part space, part time, and part matter. All of it is space, all is time, and all is matter,
permeating all space-time. This system is clearly the same type of system as the divine Trinity of the Godhead,
'Father, Son, and Spirit,' each of whom is equally and always the One God Who created all things, sustains all
things, and will reconcile all things.
"And this is not all. The Bible reveals that the Father is the invisible, omnipresent foundation of the Godhead;
the Son is the manifestation of the Godhead, eternally proceeding from the Father; the invisible, omnipresent
Spirit comes from the Father through the Son, to interpret the Godhead in human experience.
"In similar fashion, space is the omnipresent basis of all physical reality, manifested in the phenomena of
matter, interpreted and experienced through time. In the foregoing sentence, one can substitute Father, Son, and
Spirit for space, matter, and time, and the sentence is equally true. Thus the tri-universe is a remarkable model
of the Triune Godhead” (Morris, p. 275).
(4) The Universe consists of (a) ____________, (b) ____________ and (c) __________________.
(5) Each of these three is not part of, but the whole of the universe. (True or False) _______
(6) The universe thus reflects the nature of the Godhead. (True or False) ______
So the first witness to an absolute universal ethic is the evidence in the created universe for a Supreme, All-
wise, Triune and Sovereign God Who both created and governs this universe. If He rules it with purpose, then
that purpose, or purposes, must form some kind of absolute moral framework. But while creation may give me a
basis for reasoning that there exists a moral universe, it gives me little help in defining that morality in practical
terms. Something more is certainly required.
(7) The first witness to an absolute ethic is _______________________________________________________.
(8) The created universe can bear witness to a moral framework, but can do little to define it. (True or False)___
B. Evidence from Conscience
The second indication that we may observe that teaches us that there is a universal code of conduct for all men
is the fact that all men have some concept, be it ever so distorted, that there is such a thing as right and wrong.
Paul employs this fact as a part of his indictment against sin. Once again we go to his Epistle to the Romans;
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not
the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience
also
bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another (Romans 2:14-15).
Here the evidence is that even those who have never been exposed to God's revelation of righteous behavior as
set forth in the Mosaic law nevertheless actually follow many of the same rules that are prescribed by that law,
thus showing an innate knowledge of good and evil. And Paul was not alone in acknowledging this.
David Jones cites the writings of Cicero from about 54 B.C. as follows: "True law is right reason in agreement
with Nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands,
and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good
men in vain, though neither have any effect on the wicked. It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to
attempt to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its
obligations . . ." (Jones, p. 80). Thus even a pagan philosopher recognized the innate moral law written in the
heart of man.
So the existence of universal moral law is written internally by man's conscience. And there is no mystery about
why that is or how that occurred. Scripture reveals that Man, who was created innocent, could obey a command,
but could not reason to moral issues of right and wrong. It was precisely this that man reached for in partaking
of the forbidden fruit, for what other possible meaning could there be to the title, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil? The knowledge of good and evil is our working definition of conscience, and that is what man
was promised: you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5). It was that knowledge he sought and
it was that knowledge he got, for as soon as he had partaken, he had a consciousness that he was naked. He
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immediately made an attempt to remedy something which before had been of no concern to him. It is this
universal sense of "ought," this knowledge of right and wrong which we call conscience which makes man
responsible before God. It is an internal witness to a universal moral code and it is to some degree in every man.
However, to affirm that conscience can guide us toward a rightly defined morality is quite another matter.
McQuilkin says, "the human mind is like a computer of inadequate capacity, programmed with misinformation
and short-circuited" (McQuilkin, p. 42). Jones treats it only slightly better. He says, "The biblical ethic does not
give the conscience the role of a one justice supreme court" (Jones; p. 73). Since the Scripture itself refers to a
seared conscience and a defiled conscience, it is obvious that conscience alone is not a sufficient guide for a
moral ethic.
(9) Romans 2:14-15 shows that all men have some concept of________________________________________.
(10) What pagan philosopher argued that true law was written in man's reason? ______________________
(11) Is the human conscience a sufficient guide for morals? (Yes/No) __________
C. Evidence from the Old Testament Law
God was pleased in time to reveal His will for man's behavior in a prescribed code of conduct. We find that
code recorded in Exodus 20-31.
But the question is rightly raised, is this code of conduct intended for all men and for all time, or did it have a
far more limited application? Since this discussion is so very vital to the entire subject before us, I want to take
the liberty of reiterating in part, and at length, an analysis of the law which I did in the discussion of the
Dispensation of Law in the course, God's Plan of the Ages.
"The law was given as a revelation. As a revelation it uncovered three things, all of which are found in Romans
chapter seven.
"First, the law revealed what sin is. Paul writes, I had not known sin, but by the law (Romans 7:7). The law
defined sin and gave it its character. . . Plainly then, by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20).
"Secondly, the law revealed what man is. Paul says, But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought
in me all manner of concupiscence [inflamed desire] (Romans 7:8). Here we see that the law actually
aggravated the sinful nature in man. It was like telling a child that he could not have a certain toy. Suddenly it
was the only toy in the world he really wanted. So the law forbade; and man's nature responded by desiring the
forbidden. The law thus revealed a sinful heart.
"Thirdly, the law revealed what God is like. What kind of God was this that brought Israel out of Egypt? Was
He like the gods of the other nations - sensual, immoral, greedy, cruel? The law was God's answer to this
question. Romans 7:12 says, Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. Thus
the law was a revelation of sin, man, and God. But it is important that we understand not only what the law was,
but what its function was.
(12) Name three things the Law revealed.
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
"The law was not just a revelation; it was an obligation. The law was never intended simply for information,
but for obedience, and that obedience had to be perfect (James 2:10).
"And not only did the law demand perfect obedience, but it cursed and condemned disobedience. It knew no
mercy. It was justice - pure and unremitting (See Numbers 15:32-36; Hebrews 10:28). Since all sinned and
disobeyed the law (Romans 3:23; Acts 7:53), all are under its curse (Galatians 3:10). The law strips man of any
pretension to self-righteousness and reveals him before God to be utterly condemned and so guilty that he is
without excuse and speechless (Romans 3:19).
(13) The law was not simply a revelation, it was also an _______________________.
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"Finally, the law shuts man up to faith as the only possible way of salvation (Galatians 3:23). The law
offered absolutely no hope (Galatians 2:16). There was only one recourse. Man could look to God for mercy,
and trust Him to provide a way of forgiveness by faith. God intended the law to lead Israel to Christ as their
only hope for salvation (Galatians 3:24). Instead, they justified themselves in their own sight by an external
fulfillment of the law, without any heart change, and failed of the righteousness really required (Read:
Romans 9:31-10:4). They therefore remained under the curse, for, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
"The simple fact is that the law was never meant to provide justification, and is therefore helpless to save us. So
writes Bunyan, in his wonderful tale of The Pilgrim's Progress: "This legality, (the Law), is not able to set thee
free from thy burden. No man was as yet ever rid of his burden by him; no, nor ever is like to be: ye cannot be
justified by the works of the Law; for by the deeds of the law no man living can be rid of his burden." The sense
of Bunyan's words are easily discernable. The Law cannot save and was never intended to do so."
(14) The law demonstrates that the only way of salvation is through____________________________.
(15) Keeping the law sets me free from the burden of sin. (True or False) _______
However, in the discussion of ethics, while nearly all evangelical writers admit that the law cannot save us, the
conflict comes in defining the role which the law is intended to play in our sanctification. It is precisely here
that we must grapple with the Christian's relationship to the law as it affects his behavior right now. It is
interesting that this is the part of the discussion that reformed writers like to avoid. Robertson McQuilkin
explains his reticence to delve into this area like this: "That is another subject, the doctrine of sanctification.
Ethics does not answer the question how. Before the how of Christian growth comes the what of biblical
ethics" (McQuilkin; pg. xv). Very well, but sanctification is all about how we act and what produces that action
and if we divorce ourselves from any discussion of the biblical pattern for sanctification, then we divorce
ourselves from that which defines most clearly for us our relation to Old Testament law. That is why we will
not avoid that discussion but will take it up thoroughly as we move along. Suffice it to say here that the
Scripture makes clear that not even the law is the highest answer to the question of a defining moral ethic.
(16) Should we discuss the "how" of Ethics as well as the "what" ? (Yes/No) _____
(17) If we are to understand our proper relation to the Mosaic Law, we must understand the biblical pattern for
____________________________________________.
D. Evidence from the Life of Jesus Christ

We come now to the final and ultimate revelation of morality, that which is revealed in the life of Jesus Christ.
John says of Him, In him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1:4). Jesus Christ was and is God's
grand exposition of the righteousness God seeks and in fact, the righteousness God is. God, Who provided a
witness to His moral nature in the structure of the universe, and in the innate sense of moral judgment we call
conscience, and Who defined His moral statutes in the revelation of the Law, has given us one final and
unmistakable revelation of His moral perfection in His Son, Jesus Christ. Hear what the writers of the New
Testament say of Him:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14). No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him i.e. shown Him forth (John 1:18).
He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. . . (John 14:9). Who (Christ) is the image of the invisible God. . .
(Colossians 1:15).
For in him dwelleth all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). God was manifest in the flesh . . .
(1 Timothy 3:16). This is the true God, and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
(18) God's one final and unmistakable revelation of His moral perfection is found in _____________________.
If the Old Testament Law was meant to be a reflection of the character of God, then the coming of the Son
brought that character into full and glorious focus and showcased it in infinite beauty. And there can be no
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question that Christ thus became and is the final standard of moral perfection for every man. The brilliant blaze
of divine glory which we see in Him is the unmistakable standard to which the Christian is called.
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should
follow his steps (1 Peter 2:21).
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1).
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death; . . .Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not
myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:10-14). For Paul, and for the apostles, and for us, the high calling of God is, in the
final analysis, nothing less than Christ Jesus Himself. Our goal is to come unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). It is to this measure that we are called and to this that we have been
predestined.
For whom He did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29). It is the image of his Son which pleases and satisfies God,
nothing less and nothing else. And His revealed plan for every believer is to one day conform him to that image.
Christ is, therefore, without any question, the final and ultimate revelation of the Divine moral standard by
which all are measured. And please remember what is said of Him:
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22).
I do always those things that please him (the Father) (John 8:29).
I find no fault in this man (Luke 23:4).
The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed. . . (Revelation 5:5).
The Standard is indeed a perfect standard, and the standard is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. David
Clyde Jones says, "The apostolic witness points us to Christ, the definitive embodiment of moral excellence"
(Jones, p. 16). And again he writes, "The Christian life has a definite shape, as Christ is formed in us"
(Jones, p. 24).
The Absolutist therefore points to Jesus Christ as the final and complete expression of the moral standard of the
universe.
(19) Who pleases and satisfies God? _____________________________________
(20) We are called to the measure of the (a) ___________________ of the (b) _________________of Christ
(Ephesians 4:13).
(21) Plainly, the ethical standard by which all men are to be measured is _______________________________.
(22) To what are we predestined according to Romans 8:29? _________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
E. Conclusion
We have seen then that God has not left us to find our own way morally, but has provided a moral standard for
us, reflected in creation, internalized in conscience, formalized in the Law and modeled (literally "fleshed out")
by the incarnate God-Man, Jesus Christ. All of this should lead us to a biblical definition of ethics:
Ethics is a reproduction of the character of God.
Now if our definition is correct, then there are certain things which flow naturally from that definition. First, we
may note that since God is unchanging, so the standard of ethical behavior must be unchanging as well. Jesus
Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). It is therefore good for all time. Second,
since this God is none other than the universal creator God, the standard must be a universal standard applicable
to all. It is, therefore, good for every person and in every place.
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Finally therefore, since there can be no higher standard and no exception, we have that Absolute moral ethic
which confirms our position as moral absolutists. Having now discovered and defined the ethical standard, how
can we follow it? Or as Frances Shaeffer has asked, "How shall we then live?"
(23) Ethics is a ____________________ _____ _____________________________ _______ _____________.
(24) What three things flow from that definition?
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(25) Having discovered the ethical standard, the question now is ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
1. Absolutists believe that we live in a moral universe governed by universal laws. (True or False) ___________
2. Name four sources of evidence which we may appeal to in order to show that this view is correct.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________________________________
3. Name five propositions which can be reasoned by looking at the universe.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) _____________________________________________________________________________________
4. The physical universe consists of (a) ______________, (b) ________________, and (c) ________________.
5. These three components each constitute the whole of the universe and thus correspond to the nature of the
_________________as revealed in Scripture.
6. Conscience demonstrates that there is a sense of (a) _________________ and (b) ___________________
written in man's heart.
7. Name the three things which the Old Testament Law reveals.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
8. The Old Testament Mosaic Law provides the highest and final answer to defining an Absolute Moral Ethic.
(True or False) _____________
9. The "Absolute Standard" to which we are called to conform is _______________________________.
10. Ethics is really a _________________ ________ ______ ______________________ ________.
IV. ACTING ETHICALLY
We have established that there is a universal ethical moral standard. But before we go further in detailing the
substance of that standard, we have to deal with the scriptural teaching on how we are to reach it. Reform
writers like to insist that this is the subject of sanctification and that ethics deals only with what we are to do and
not how we are to do it. The problem with that position is that in avoiding the scriptural teaching on how we
reach the goal we avoid the one source of clear revelation concerning our relationship to the Law and
conscience. If we do that, we may very well find ourselves pursuing the right goal by the wrong means. It is
imperative therefore that we know what Scripture teaches about this important matter.
(1) If we do not define the scriptural teaching on how we must reach the goal, we may find ourselves pursuing
______________________________________________________________________________________.
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A. Our Relationship to the Law
One of the most poignant passages of Scripture dealing with this may be found in Paul's Epistle to the Romans.
In actual fact, the apostle spends the first four and a half chapters dealing with the great theme of justification.
How can a man be right with God? And having explored the failure of Natural law, and the law of conscience,
and finally the Mosaic law, he concludes grandly, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. . .and again, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ (Romans 3:28; 5:1). Paul has demonstrated the principle that none of the above (i.e. law, conscience,
etc.), were effective for man's salvation; it would come by grace alone, through faith alone.
(2) Paul demonstrated that salvation would come by (a) _________ alone, through (b) ____________
________________.
But it is just at this point that Paul moves into the issue before us. The pivotal verse is Romans 5:10. He has
declared our total reconciliation to God on the basis of the death of Christ. He will now declare how that
reconciliation should affect our lives, and this, he proclaims, depends on Christ's life, For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by
his life. Paul is not talking about Christ's life on earth, but the life He now lives for us before the throne and in
us by the Holy Spirit. It is this that alone can produce the desired goal. . . the reproduction of the character of
Jesus Christ.
(3) We are saved from the penalty of sin by the (a) _____________ of Christ, and we are now being saved from the
power
of sin by the (b) ___________ of Christ.
(4) The Life which saves us is His present life interceding at God's throne and empowering us by the Holy Spirit who
dwells
within. (True or False) ________
Romans 6 deals primarily with the multiple changes which have taken place as a result of Christ's death, which
was substitutional (in our place), and in which we were legally reckoned to also have died. Therefore in that
death our relationship to sin changed, we are dead to sin. Our relationship before God changed; we are risen
with Christ. The purpose for all of this is that we might live the lives God has called us to live. The heart of
Paul's argument is chapter 6:14, For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but
under grace. Grace has an affect upon the heart of man that can resolve the ethical dilemma. Grace makes us
see our own unworthiness and God's great sacrifice of love and conquers the heart, the seat of the affection and
will. It transforms us from God-hating rebels to God-loving saints. It creates in us a new heart so that we do the
will of God from the heart (Ephesians 6:6). But how does this fact help us to reach the goal? It is that question
Paul addresses in chapter seven.
(5) Legally being reckoned to have died with Christ changed all of our former relationships. (True or False) ___________
As Romans 6 closed, Paul had reminded his readers that they had experienced no success in bringing forth the
fruits of righteousness. In chapter seven he explains why. The illustration drawn from the law of marriage was
not meant to teach anything new about marriage or divorce, but rather it is used as a case illustration of our
present condition. Just as a woman is bound by law to her husband, so Paul argues we were bound by the same
principle to the law. But while there was nothing wrong with our husband (the law), all the fruit of our
relationship was fruit unto death, i.e. dead fruit. No living fruit could be produced by that relationship. But
when Christ died and I legally died with him, I became, at the same time, legally dead to my former husband,
the law, that I might be joined, that is, married to Christ, and that relationship Paul promises will bring forth
fruit unto God, i.e. living fruit. The whole point Paul is making is that a relationship with the Law will not
produce the living spiritual fruit of righteousness, but a relationship with Christ will. The former
relationship had to be broken before the new relationship could be formed. When we are saved, we not only die
to the law and its jurisdiction over us, but we are made alive to Christ (Romans 6:8-11). We become united to
Him forever, and it is then wrong to ever return to the old husband, the law. Therefore we as believers are not
under the law (Romans 6:14). We are dead to the law. Our new husband is Christ, not the law.
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(6) All attempts at bearing fruit with the law as our "husband" resulted in __________ fruit.
(7) If we have died to the former husband (the law) and are now married to our new husband (Christ), is it right for us to
return to the former husband (the law) and seek to bear fruit by him? (Yes/No) ________
In the remainder of Romans 7, Paul records his own failures under the law concluding that although he had a
changed heart which delighted in the law, his own weaknesses continued to cause him to fail until he cried out
over his own wretched state. Then he explains what he began to tell us in Romans 5:11. The law (or principle)
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, says Paul in Romans 8:2 has made him free from the never ending routine of
sin and death. And what the Mosaic law could never do (i.e., produce righteousness), the Life of the Spirit
within now does. God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. . . (Galatians 4:6). The Spirit of
God's Son is the Spirit which can say, I do always those things that please him [the Father]. It can say, My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. It is that spirit which is well pleasing to God. And
the rest of chapter eight is victory - victory now and victory forever.
(8) Even the Apostle Paul found that trying to keep the law to be holy, led only to failure. (True or False) _____
(9) What law or principle frees us from the endless routine of sin and death?_____________________________
(10) That new life in Christ does only what pleases ____________.
Now this is the same message we get in 2 Corinthians 3. The old ministry of the Mosaic law was glorious, but it
has been replaced by a new ministry of the Spirit. The righteousness of the law, once written in stone, is now
written on our hearts. The contrast drawn by verse 9 is amazing. Paul says that if the administration which
condemned us was glorious (that is the Mosaic law), the administration which produces righteousness in us
(that is of the Holy Spirit) is much more glorious. The Old Testament law pointed to Christ, but there was a veil
that kept men from seeing it. But once we came to Christ, the veil was removed. We now see Him the absolute
and complete fulfillment of the law, and thus looking at Him are changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). Note: we are changed into the image of Christ.
That is God's program and that is His goal. Our focus then must be Christ, not the law. What then is the
believer's proper relationship to the law? The present relationship of the believer toward the law principle may
be seen by a simple illustration. The law of the civil government may forbid me to commit adultery under
penalty of fine and imprisonment. But I have no need for such a law. My love for my wife teaches me the same
thing far more effectively. The civil law may leave me with the desire and strong temptation to evil, but love
makes me dead to its appeal. Now the believer lives for Christ out of love for Him. Read carefully Galatians
5:22-23. The Spirit of God's Son produces only those things which no law of man or of God would forbid.
(11) As we look at Christ, through His Word, the Holy Spirit is changing us into whose image?
_______________________
(12) The new principle of operation is not a code or set of rules, it is not law but _________________.
B. Our Relationship to the Spirit
Now if we are no longer under law but under grace, and righteousness is being produced, not by following a set
of law rules, but by the indwelling Spirit, how does this work in practice? The New Testament certainly makes
clear that this does not happen automatically. There are certain things which are required of the believer. First,
there must be a recognition of dependence, not on a code of rules, but upon the Spirit who lives within. That
dependence may be seen in at least three ways. I will not quench the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19); I will not
grieve the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30); and, I will yield to the Spirit that I might be filled with the Spirit
(Ephesians 5:18); in order that I might walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). And when I do these in a conscious
and consistent manner, the resulting fruit of righteousness (the ultimate ethic) will be produced. And what
exactly will that look like? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
(13) In what three ways do I show my dependence upon the Holy Spirit?
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
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Nor is yielding to the Spirit some sort of abstract ethereal matter. It simply boils down to obedience, and
obedience to the Spirit is always closely related to obedience to the Word. For instance, in the command to be
filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) the ensuing results are said to be, speaking to yourselves in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; . . . It is difficult to imagine
how we might "speak to ourselves in Psalms," unless we know some Psalms to speak to ourselves in, and that
requires spending time in the Word and committing the Word to memory. And compare Paul's words in
Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. . . Paul describes the results as, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the
Lord. If those words sound familiar it is because they are almost identical to what was described as the result of
being filled with the Spirit. Identical results demand an identical cause. The fullness of the Holy Spirit is
achieved by filling ourselves with the Word of God, illuminated and energized by the Spirit. We can never
divorce the effective work of sanctification and righteousness in our lives from the Word of God. The Spirit of
God is the One Who does the work, but the Word of God is always His instrument in the work done.
(14) The fullness of the Spirit comes about as we fill ourselves with___________________________________.
C. The New Testament Commandments
Often at the heart of the conflict between those who insist that the law is God's instrument for sanctification and
those who argue that it is not, is a definition of the word law. If we conceive the term law to include all of the
moral precepts found in Scripture, whether in the New Testament or in the Old, then the matter can become
quite confused. There are many, if not all, of the moral precepts found in the Old Testament Mosaic system that
one can find repeated or reflected in the New Testament. So aren't they really the same? We answer, no. When
we speak of law we speak strictly of the Old Testament economy which was clearly done away in Christ.
It is here that Dispensational distinctions become so very important. Of course those moral absolutes which are
either defined or implied by Mosaic law will reappear wherever God speaks on the subject of morality, since the
same Absolute God delivered both the Old Covenant and the New. But the New Covenant is expressly said to
be written upon the heart. The commandments of the New Covenant are not so much lists of duties to be
followed as they are lists of descriptions of how the new life of the New Covenant will express itself. They are
essential so that the Holy Spirit may, through the Word, define those characteristics of character which He is
developing in us.
(15) The New Covenant is not written on tablets of stone, but it is written ______________________________.
The frequent New Testament injunction to keep His commandments is from two ideas in the original. The first
comes from the word tereo translated "keep". Its force is to fulfill a command. The second is from the word
entole which means an injunction, or authoritative prescription or precept. Hence taken together the phrase
suggests fulfilling what has been prescribed. That is exactly what walking in the Spirit is. Those who walk in
the Spirit fulfill what God has prescribed and thus keep His commandments. As Paul so forcefully expresses it,
the righteousness of the law. . . fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:4).
Those specific commandments found in the New Testament will become important as we seek to define the
Christian ethic in further pursuit of this subject.
D. The Law of Love
In Romans 13:8-10, Paul writes, Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt
not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended
in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore
love is the fulfilling of the law. In essence Paul reduced the entire law down to the single requirement of love.
But isn't that just what Jesus Himself did? When asked, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus replied, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:36-40). So Jesus taught that all
that the law required would be fulfilled when love is perfected. Notice Jesus also tied the command to Be ye
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therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect to the demand love your enemies
(Matthew 5:44-48). And James called love the royal law and said if it was done, we had performed well.
In Galatians Paul says, For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to
the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself (Galatians 5:13-14). Then immediately Paul explains how to do it, Walk in the Spirit. . . In
Galatians, Paul specifically forbids any further obligatory relation to the law. The law was like a schoolmaster
to guide us as children, but we are now adult sons. We do not need a schoolmaster to tell us what to do. We
have the Spirit of his Son in our hearts.
(16) All of the moral commands of God may be reduced to one. Write out that commandment. _____________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(17) We are forbidden to have any obligatory relation to our old "schoolmaster" for we are now adult sons.
(True or False) __________
In this dispensation, love produced, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit who lives in the heart of every
believer is the Christian's "rule of life.” All that the law demanded, the love of God shed . . . abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5) fulfills. Love will do only that which is helpful and profitable and so,
while the believer is under no restriction as such (all things are lawful for me. . .) he is to be governed by the
Spirit within which has made him a new creature. Now obviously there is a danger here. Love must never be a
subjective idea, left to the whims of each individual. That is exactly where Situation Ethics fails. Love must be
defined, and that is what the New Testament does so effectively. Love may be, and often is, misguided.
Therefore, love needs guidance. It needs more than that - It needs power to act. Love must be expressed in
practice and must therefore have the ability to express itself. Now God has provided all of that through the
indwelling Spirit of God. The Spirit produces love (Galatians 5:22), guides love (Galatians 5:16), and empowers
love (Romans 8:3-4). Love is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10). Love is described in 1 Corinthians 13
and is exemplified in Romans 5:6-8. It is the "Royal Law" and “The law of Christ” and is the believer's rule of
life. Therefore, while all things are lawful for the believer, he is under the scripturally defined law of love, and
he is therefore not lawless!
(18) All that the law demanded, the ______________________________________________________ fulfills.

(19) The believer is not "lawless." He is under what law? ___________________________________________
E. The Dispensational View of Law
What do Dispensationalists believe about the place of the Law? Does it still have any value? The Reformed
camp claims that Dispensationalists believe that there is no further use of the Law at all. I quote again from
Robertson McQuilkin. "they reject all law as law and view scriptural standards as merely helpful instruction,
not binding the conscience" (McQuilkin; p. xii). He calls this view "extreme" and then proves that it is in
variance with the views of Augustine, the Westminster Confession, the Articles of Religion of the Church of
England, and the Lutheran Formula of Concord. With all due respect, I have never been aware that we were
called upon to accept any of the above as infallible or inerrant. Further, I believe that he argues too much to say
that Dispensationalists believe that the Law is "not binding upon conscience" as I will indicate later.
But let's examine the charge. We have shown that the Law cannot bring salvation. Instead it brings
condemnation. Not because of any fault in the Law, but because, as Paul writes, what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh. . . i.e. because it depended upon human effort for its success, the Law was a
total failure, though perfect in itself.
Furthermore, we will see that the Law will fail for the same reason in the task of the sanctification of the
believer. The Law demands that I do right, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (Romans 7:23). To depend on
the Law to bring me sanctification is to end up crying out with Paul, O wretched man that I am! . . .
Thus the Dispensationalist does reject Law both as a means of salvation and sanctification. But that does not
mean he believes the Law has no further value.
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(20) The Dispensationalist rejects Law either as a means of (a) _________________ or of (b) ______________.
There are at least three things which the Law does and in which it may be used "lawfully." (We speak of that
moral aspect of the Law which most reflects the character of God).
The Law may define righteousness for the believer. The Law acts as a defining standard to answer the question;
what will righteousness look like? It will look like the righteousness of the law . . . fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:4). Notice, not the Law itself, but the righteous character which
the Law sought to produce (but could not because of the weakness of the flesh), is now fulfilled by walking in
the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit accomplished the goal (i.e. righteous conduct), the righteousness in the Law is
thus fulfilled because against such (deeds) there is no law (Galatians 5:23). The emphasis of the New
Testament is definitely upon the dynamic of producing positive fruit, which, by the nature of the actions
produced, automatically cancels the possibility of the actions forbidden in the Law. It is a question of a negative
or a positive approach. Shall I try not to do this or that, or shall I in the power and energy of the Spirit produce
the works of the Spirit, thus nullifying the works which the Law condemns. It is the challenge of Romans 12:21,
not only to Be not overcome of evil, but to actually overcome evil with good. It is not a lesser standard, but a
higher that is enjoined.
Secondly, the Law defines sin. The Law is still the most potent weapon in the hands of the Holy Spirit to
convince a sinner that he is a sinner who desperately needs the grace and forgiveness of God. Sin, by the
commandment (the Law) thus becomes to the sinner, exceeding sinful. It is precisely this which Paul tells us is
the lawful use of the Law; the law is not made for a righteous man (to sanctify him), but for the lawless and
disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners . . .
Finally, the Law defines guilt. . . as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law. Those who have
known the Law revealed in Scripture, will face the Law at the Judgment. For it had been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment
delivered unto them (2 Peter 2:21).
The Dispensationalist therefore does not despise or reject the Law for its proper uses. But he will not admit of
its ability to either justify a sinner or sanctify a saint. The Law has its proper place, but the Law must be used
lawfully (1 Timothy 1:8). The place of the Holy Spirit in the believer is not to help the believer obey a set of
rules, but to produce a life that fulfills all that the Law demands.
(21) The Law may be used lawfully to define three things. Name them.
(a) __________________________ (b) __________________________(c) _________________________
(22) The Law cannot (a) _______________ a sinner, or (b) _____________ a saint.
(23) The Holy Spirit can produce a life that fulfills __________________________.
1. Why do we argue that we must consider the Scriptural teaching on sanctification when we discuss the subject
of Ethics? ______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Write out and memorize Romans 3:28. ________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Write out and memorize Romans 8:2 _________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
4. According to Romans 8:4, how does Paul say that the righteousness of the Law will be produced in us?
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Former attempts to produce righteousness by our union with the Law produced only "fruit
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_________________ _______________________.”
6. We have died to our old husband, the (a) ____________________, that we might be married to
(b) ____________ ______________ and bring forth (c) ________ unto God.
7. What three things must I do (or not do) in order to be controlled by the Holy Spirit?
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
8. God's "Law" and standard of righteousness has now been written (where) ____________________________________.
9. Write out the one commandment which fulfills the many commandments of the Law. ___________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
10. If we use the Law (a)_____________________, we will not use it to attain either (b) _________________or
(c) _______________________________.
PRE-TEST
PREPARE YOURSELF! Turn to page 5, and carefully review the objectives. Then review each section of the
course, and give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. It is a good
practice to rewrite every incorrect question in this course. With this done, study the reviews again. Try to take
the Pre-test without looking in the notes. For the Pre-test, you may look in the notes if you cannot remember an
answer. When you are finished with the Pre-test, check your answers with the answer key in the back of the
syllabus.
Each answer is worth 2.6 points.
1. The philosophical discipline which deals with how we are to behave is called_________________________.
2. People sometimes do what is bad for others if they think it will be good for themselves.(True or False)______
3. Solomon sought to know what was that _________________ which every man should do during his life.
4. Name the two major schools of ethical debate.

(a) _________________________________________ (b) ________________________________________
5. The ethical school which teaches that there are no absolute laws or standards we call
(a) _______________________ or (b) ___________________________.
6. Define Absolutism. _______________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________
7 Name three presuppositions which Absolutists hold.

(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
8. Name four sub-groups which hold to Antinomian or Relativistic thought.

(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________________________________
9. The Absolutist decides upon his course of action by looking to (a) ___________ while the Relativist decides
on his course of action by trying to determine the (b) ______________________.
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10. What four evidences do we have for believing in an absolute ethic?
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
11. In what ways does the physical universe reflect the nature of the Godhead?___________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
12. Name five things which can be reasoned by looking at the created universe.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________________________
13. What three things does the Old Testament Law reveal?
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
14. Ethics can really be defined as a ________________________ ____ _______

____________________________ _______ __________.
15. The Mosaic Law, though a revelation of the character of God, can neither (a) ______________________us,
nor (b) _______________________us.
16. Write a verse reference which proves the Law does not save us. _____________________
17. Write a verse reference from Romans 8:1-4 which shows why the Law cannot sanctify us (i.e. make us
righteous). ______________________
18. What one commandment fulfills all of the others? ______________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
19. Dispensationalists do not reject the Law but insist that it be used _________________________.
20. God's ethical goal in our lives is to conform us to _________________ ________________.

PREPARE FOR THE TEST
Turn to page 5 again, and carefully review the objectives. Then review the sections over “Christian Ethics: Part
I.” and give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. Review the
answers to the pre-test. When you believe you know the material well, you are ready to take the test. Find the
Test titled “Christian Ethics: Part I.” You may NOT use your notes or the Bible when taking the test. The
tests may be mailed individually, in groups, or altogether when you finish the Unit. Please mail the tests in the
way that is cheapest and most convenient for you.
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ANSWER KEY: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I
THE MEANING OF ETHICS
I. THE MEANING OF ETHICS
(1) behave
(2) (a) Ethics (b) morality
(3) good
(4) (a) bad (b) good
(5) (a) pleasure (b) duty (c) knowledge (d) personal virtue (e) service
(6) What is that good which men should do all their days?
(7) (a) good (b) Ethics
II. MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS
(8) (a) Antinomianism (b) Ethical Absolutism
(9) (a) We live in a moral universe (b) There are universal norms of behavior that are right for everyone
(c) Wrong can be clearly defined
(10) true
(11) (a) will (b) universal moral obligation
(12) the revelation which God has given us
(13) Antinomian
(14) outcomes
(15) Relativism
(16) true
(17) (a) Patterns of Culture (b) Ruth Benedict
(18) John Dewey
(19) a solution to the specific conflict
(20) true
(21) blind faith
(22) Soren Kierkegaard
(23) love
(24) Relativism (or) Antinomianism
(25) (a) Joseph Fletcher (b) Situation Ethics
(26) (a) general (b) absolute
(27) false
(28) (a) Antinomian (b) relativistic
(29) two
(30) (a) duty (b) end
(31) (a) duty (b) end
(32) true
REVIEW
(1) true
(2) good
(3) (a) bad (b) bad (c) good
(4) (a) pleasure (b) duty (c) knowledge (d) personal virtue (e) service
(5) (a) Antinomianism (b) Absolutism
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(6) Anti (against) Nomia (law) hence the word describes a denial of absolute moral law
(8) (a) Pragmatism (b) Existentialism (c) Situation Ethics (d) Generalism
(9) (a) duty (b) good (c) right
(10) end-result (or) outcome
III. THE FOUNDATION FOR AN ABSOLUTE ETHIC

(1) (a) discover (b) define (c) existence (d) source
(2) God
(3) f
(4) (a) space (b) matter (c) time
(5) true
(6) true
(7) the created universe
(8) true
(9) right and wrong
(10) Cicero
(11) no
(12) (a) what sin is (b) what man is (c) what God is like
(13) obligation
(14) faith
(15) false
(16) yes
(17) sanctification
(18) Jesus Christ
(19) Jesus Christ
(20) (a) stature (b) fullness
(21) Jesus Christ
(22) to be conformed to the image of his (God's) Son
(23) a reproduction of the character of God
(24) (a) Ethical standards are unchanging (b) Ethical standards are for everyone (universal)
(c) There are no higher standards and no exceptions
(25) How can we follow it?
REVIEW
(1) true
(2) (a) Creation (b) Conscience (c) Old Testament Law (d) Life of Jesus Christ
(3) (a) God's existence (b) God's power (c) God's wisdom (d) God's purpose (e) man's responsibility to God
(4) (a) space (b) matter (c) time
(5) Godhead
(6) (a) right (b) wrong
(8) false
(9) Jesus Christ
(10) reproduction of the character of God
IV. ACTING ETHICALLY
(1) the right goal by the wrong means
(2) (a) grace (b) faith alone
(3) (a) death (b) life
(4) true
(5) true
(6) dead
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(7) no
(8) true
(9) the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
(10) God
(11) Christ’s
(12) Christ
(13) (a) I will not quench (b) I will not grieve (c) I will yield to be filled and walk in the Spirit
(14) the Word of God
(15) on our hearts
(16) Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself
(17) true
(18) love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
(19) law of love
(20) (a) salvation (b) sanctification
(21) (a) righteousness (or right conduct) (b) sin (c) guilt
(22) (a) justify (or) save (b) sanctify
(23) all the law demands
REVIEW
(1) We may pursue the right goal by the wrong means
(2) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
(3) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
(4) by walking after the Spirit and not after the flesh
(5) unto death
(6) (a) Law (b) Jesus Christ (c) fruit
(7) (a) I will not grieve the Spirit (b) I will not quench the Spirit
(c) I will yield to be filled and walk in the Spirit
(8) in our hearts
(10) (a) lawfully (b) salvation (c) sanctification
PRE-TEST
(1) Ethics
(2) true
(3) good
(4) (a) Antinomianism (b) Absolutism
(5) (a) Antinomianism (b) Relativism
(6) unchanging, universal, and without exception
(8) (a) Pragmatism (b) Existentialism (c) Situation Ethics (d) Generalism
(9) (a) duty (b) end-result (or) outcome
(10) (a) Creation (b) Conscience (c) Old Testament Law (d) Life of Jesus Christ
(11) Both are comprised of three distinct entities each of which is the whole
(12) (a) God's existence (b) God's power (c) Gods wisdom (d) God's purpose (e) Man's responsibility to God
(14) reproduction of the character of God
(15) (a) justify (or) save (b) sanctify
(16) Romans 3:28
(17) Romans 8:3a
(19) lawfully
(20) Jesus Christ
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CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART II
ETHICAL VIRTUES
The completion of Christian Ethics: Part II you should enable you to:
* To define sin according to scriptural definitions.
* To answer the question, "Are all sins equal"?
* To locate the various lists of sins in Scripture.
* To define virtue and to locate where Scripture describes it.
* To identify and define various kinds of ethical dilemmas.
* To analyze the weaknesses in various ethical theories.
* To identify the key to a valid, working ethical position.
* To show evidence from Scripture that we have employed the right answer for resolving ethical
dilemmas.
GLOSSARY FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART II

1. Absolutism: Not qualified or diminished in any way. Not relative or restricted. Unchanging, universal and
without exception.
2. Antinomian: Anti (against) Nomia (law), hence the word describes a denial of absolute moral law.
3. Dilemma: A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two conflicting alternatives.
4. Ethics: From the Greek ethos, meaning "character." (1) The study of a standard of behavior and moral
conduct. (2) The search for what constitutes the ultimate "good" for the individual and for society, i.e.
standards of behavior.
5. Hierarchal: Any system of ranking, ordered according to status, authority or relative importance.
6. Relativism: The doctrine that truth and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and
are not absolute.
7. Virtue: Behavior which shows the highest moral standards.
INTRODUCTION
In PART I, you were introduced to the subject of Ethics. Ethics was defined in a general way and various
ethical theories were summarized. We looked at the evidence for an absolute ethical standard in such places as
the created universe, man's inner sense of right and wrong, the revelation of God's character as set forth in the
Mosaic Law, and finally, the full revelation of God's perfections as found in the person of Jesus Christ, For in
him dwelleth all of fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). We discovered that indeed God has given
us a final, unchanging and absolute ethical standard which forms the basis for what we call Christian Ethics.
We then examined the subject of how we are to fulfill the obligation of living ethically. We examined the
failure of the Law as a code of conduct to produce that standard due to its dependence upon man to fulfill it. We
saw the dramatic way in which Paul demonstrates how Christ has changed our old relationship to the Law and
set us free. By dying in our place He has made us dead to our old husband (the Law) and set us free to a new
relationship with Himself which will bear fruit unto God. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to
the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead,
that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Romans 7:4).
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Finally, we saw how all of the righteousness of the law, commandments, percepts, whether Old or New
Testament, (every requirement by whatever name), is fulfilled in the two great commandments, Love to God
and Love for neighbor. It is the expression of the Divine Love itself, produced by the Holy Spirit and
expressed through the life of the believer. Christian Ethics then, is the reproduction of the character of God.
(Matthew 22:37-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8; 1 John 3:11-18).
(1) Define Christian Ethics. ___________________________________________________________________
(2) In what four places did we look for an ethical standard?

(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(3) We fulfill the whole obligation for ethical behavior when we ______.
(a) strive to keep the precepts of the law (b) allow the Holy Spirit to live Christ's life of love in us
Having established what a Christian Ethic is, we now must go on and define what that Ethic will look like in
practice. What is a reflection of the character of God and what is contrary to the character of God? And that is
the task and the ministry of the Word of God. We will begin looking at what God has revealed through the
Word and asking the question, what is contrary to the character of God, or simply, what is sin?
(4) Sin is anything that is contrary to the character of God. (True or False) __________
I. DEFINING SIN
When Christian Ethics is discussed we tend to talk, not about what is ethical and what is unethical, but rather
what is sinful and what is right. We do so because we understand Ethics as the reproduction of the Life of God
and of Christ. What is God-like is ethical and right; what is unlike God is sinful and wrong.
The very use of the word sin implies that we are dealing with ethics in terms of man's responsibility toward
God. Robertson McQuilkin remarks that "sin is an unpopular word, but a very popular activity” (McQuilkin:
p.85). Sin is not a word which is used in secular discussions of ethics in our time. But sin is precisely the issue
in the field of Christian Ethics. If indeed the ethical standard is conformity to the character of God and of Christ,
then sin is any deviation from that conformity. And if we are to define the Life we are to follow, we must be
aware of all which deviates from that standard, for to depart from that is sin.
(5) What does the use of the word sin imply? _____________________________________________________
(6) Sin is currently a popular word in secular ethical discussions. (True or False)___________
A. Is All Sin the Same?
The question is raised, "is all sin the same"? James says, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet
offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 2:10). Is James telling us then that sin is sin and it makes no
difference what sin is committed; all sin is the same? I think not. James is simply pointing out the plain fact that
any infraction of the Law makes me a law-breaker. It places me under pain of some form of punishment. What
form that takes depends upon what crime (or sin) is committed. One sin, any sin, is enough to make me guilty
before God and, apart from Christ's sacrifice, a lost sinner. But with equal force Jesus taught that the degree of
guilt and punishment will be determined by the particular sins committed and by the level of understanding and
enlightenment possessed by the sinner. Jesus said, . . .that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did
commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes (Luke 12:47-48). Clearly then, Jesus made a
distinction about sin.
So therefore, while God does look on the heart and while He judges according to the attitude of the heart, that is
not to say that sins of the heart or mind are as heinous as sins which are carried out. The man who is angry with
his brother may have committed murder in his heart, but his brother would much prefer that it stay at that level.
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If you are lusting for my wife, please keep it at that and do not molest her. Thus sins acted upon are worse than
those of the mind.
The point Scripture makes is that all sin begins in the mind and heart, therefore, Keep thy heart with all
diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). As we continue, we will examine the various
categories of sin, and we will see how certain sins of the heart lead to ever more serious expressions of sin. But
there is, in Scripture, a gradation of sin or what some have called a hierarchy of sin.
(7) James teaches that all sin is the same. (True or False) ___________
(8) Jesus taught that there were degrees of sin and therefore degrees of punishment. (True or False) __________
(9) Where does all sin begin? __________________________________________________________________
B. The Bible’s Description of Sin

For the sake of this study I want to look once again at the different words used in Scripture variously translated
sin, iniquity, transgression, disobedience, trespasses, etc. This is something we covered before in Doctrine 2, but
it bears repeating here.
1. Hamar'tia is the primary word for sin in the New Testament and is translated sin 158 times. Its literal
meaning is "missing the mark." Romans 3:23 is the key verse. It implies that God has set a mark, or a goal for
man and that man has failed to attain it. This failure is sin and is punishable by death and hell. God's mark is, of
course, perfection. All have "missed the mark," therefore, all are guilty of sin. Romans 6:23 says, For the wages
of hamar'tia is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2. Para'koe is the second of the Greek words which reveals the meaning of sin in the New Testament. It is
found in Hebrews 2:2 and is translated disobedience. It literally means "a failure to hear." The thought involved
is illustrated in Acts 7:57 and Jeremiah 35:17. It is a willful, stubborn, refusal to hear what God has to say.
Refusing to hear leads to disobedience which is sin. In Romans 5:19 we read, For as by one man's para'koe
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
3. Anomia is the next word we will consider. It is translated most frequently iniquity, but lawlessness is a
better translation. It is the characteristic of the human heart which refuses to obey God or let Him hold sway
over the life. It will come to full manifestation in the Lawless One (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Jesus said, depart
from me, ye that work anomian (Matthew 7:23). The remedy for anomia is found in Romans 4:1-8 (see verse 7).
4. Para'basis is the next word which reveals sin in the New Testament. It means to step over a recognized line
and is most often translated "transgression." 1 Timothy 2:14 illustrates the meaning of the word. Both Adam
and Eve transgressed a recognized command, both stepped over the line, but only Eve was deceived. Adam did
it with his eyes wide open. Hebrews 9:14-15 reveals the remedy for para'basis (the word is here translated
"transgression," verse 15).
5. Para'toma is the next word. It means a lapse or deviation and is translated by the word trespasses
(Matthew 6:14). In Romans 4:25 it is translated offences. The idea is not so much that of positive transgression
as that of neglecting to do what we are told to do (Matthew 21:28-31), as it is to do what we are told not to do.
The remedy for para'toma is found in Ephesians 1:7 where the word is translated sins.
6. Agnoeo is a word meaning "ignorance." It implies a wrong doing due to a lack of knowledge. This does not
lessen the seriousness of the wrong, however, as can be seen in Acts 3:17. The word is also found in verse 26 of
the same chapter where it is rendered iniquities. It literally means "ignorance" and should so be translated. Paul
says that Christ forgave him for his ignorance (1 Timothy 1:13). Read Paul's testimony and see how serious
were his crimes of ignorance.
7. Het'tema is the last word and it means a "falling short of duty." It implies a negative sin of not reaching the
expectations that might be held for one. It is found in 1 Corinthians 6:7 and is translated fault. Here, it expresses
Paul's disappointment that the Corinthians were not living up to expectations – they were falling short of duty.
(10) Match the Greek words to the ideas they express.
_____ Lawlessness a. Agnoeo
_____Transgression b. Harmar’tia
_____ Ignorance c. Anomia
_____ Trespass d. Para’basis
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_____ Missing the mark e. Para’toma
C. Are there Categories of Sins?

During medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church developed a list of what was known as, "The Seven Deadly
Sins." These were pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth or laziness. The list, when referred
to, usually contained all of the seven, but the various sins were sometimes placed in a slightly different order or
arrangement.
While it is certainly true that all of the seven sins are mentioned repeatedly in Scripture, it should be equally
evident that the list is far from comprehensive. Jesus had His own list. He revealed what was in man's heart
when He said, For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. . .
(Mark 7:21-22). These, Jesus said, defile us. A deeper look at what Jesus said reveals some interesting things.
For instance, in addition to those things which were quite evident, such as the moral sins of adultery and
fornication, Jesus traced sin back to evil (actually wicked) thoughts implying wicked purposes. In addition, the
phrase, an evil eye, is most instructive. The word translated evil is poneros, from which we get our word porno.
The phrase translated literally implies a desire to look at that which is obscene. Jesus called that sin.
(11) Name the "seven deadly sins."
(a) ______________________ (b) _______________________
(c) ______________________ (d) _______________________
(e) ______________________ (f) _______________________
(g) ______________________
(12) Give the reference where Jesus revealed what was in man's heart. ______________________
(13) What does the phrase, an evil eye, mean? ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
In the famous "Sermon on the Mount" Jesus again spoke of certain sins. Jesus spoke of anger, lust (mental
adultery), divorce, taking oaths, hypocrisy, covetousness, and judgment (in the sense of condemning others).
Beside those sins which Jesus enumerated, He also gave us the beatitudes which are a beautiful reflection of His
character. Which of the characteristics Jesus spoke of were not perfectly displayed in His life? Poor in Spirit,
mourner of that which is evil and wrong, meek, a deep hunger for God - the fountain of righteousness, merciful,
pure in heart, peacemaker, persecuted, the salt of the earth and the light of the world. If the Christian's ethical
standard is the reproduction of the life of Jesus Christ, here it is in all its radiant beauty.
(14) Name the seven sins Jesus mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount.
(a) _______________________ (b)______________________
(c) _______________________ (d) ______________________
(e) _______________________ (f) ______________________
(g) _______________________
(15) The Beatitudes are a reflection of the character of ______________________________.
The epistles, especially those of Paul, contain a treasury of revelation which clearly defines sin. In the epistles
of Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians, Paul gives at least eight
different "lists" of sins.* In Romans the list has no less than twenty-three separate items describing the character
and behavior of man apart from God. In the epistles to the Corinthians, Paul is addressing saints who are living
in an extreme environment of every kind of evil and he seeks to make the saints abundantly aware of what is
acceptable to God and what is not. In Galatians, Paul is describing what the flesh (that corrupt inner nature still
resident even in the redeemed) will produce when allowed control, and in Ephesians and Colossians, while not
ignoring the grosser sins, Paul seems to be focusing particular attention on sins of the spirit sometimes more
prominent and less detected among believers.
(16) Name the six Epistles in which there can be found lists of sins.
(a) ______________________ (b) _______________________ (c) ______________________
(d) ______________________ (e) _______________________ (f) _______________________
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* References are: Romans 1:29-31; 1 Corinthians 5:9-12; 6:9-10; 2 Corinthians 12:20-21; Galatians 5:17-21;
Ephesians 4:25-31; 5:3-5; Colossians 3:5-9.
When all of these various lists are combined it becomes evident that, while there is much repetition, there is also
a pattern of various categories of sins. For our purposes I have tried to break down those eight lists into five
major categories and incorporate all of the various sins listed in these six epistles without missing any. We will
examine them under the following headings: first, sins of the spirit (related to particular attitudes and the
actions they produce), secondly, sins of the flesh or sins of morality, thirdly, sins of avarice or greed for
material goods, fourthly, sins that particularly involve the use of the tongue, and fifthly, sins of violence.
1. Sins of the Spirit
The first category we will consider is that of the sins of the spirit.
What does that title imply? It implies the inner response of man to
God and, by extension, to what God has revealed as His will for
man's behavior. Although they appear in various different
arrangements in the major lists of Scripture, I have placed Pride at
the top of the list. It is found in Romans and in 2 Corinthians
where it is translated swelling. In Romans it follows quickly after
haters of God. Man always exalts something. If it is not God it is
inevitably self and therein lies the root of all other iniquity.
Strong, in his Systematic Theology (vol. 3, p. 567) expresses the
conviction that selfishness is the root cause of all sin. He writes, ". .
. that choice of self as the supreme end which constitutes the
antithesis of supreme love for God. . ."
Although debated by some, I believe this is indeed the heart of
the issue. Out of selfish pride comes boasting, jealousy, selfish
ambition, lack of affection or feeling for others, wrong opinion
and the condition of being "hard to persuade." Pride and
selfishness generate bitterness toward any who seem to get in the
way of our selfish schemes, and hatred of God, who forbids such self-adulation as idolatry.
These attitudes of the spirit that exalt self as supreme and denigrate
God, are the antitheses of the first and great commandment, thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. . . (Mark
12:30). If, as Christ taught us, this is the first and greatest
commandment, then to exalt self over God must be the first and
greatest sin, and indeed the root cause of all sin.
(17) Strong teaches that _______________ is the root cause of sin.
(18) Why do we call this category, "sins of the spirit."
______________________________________________
2. Sins of the Flesh
Sins of the flesh have such a prominent place in the biblical lists
that there is not a single place where they are omitted. Every list
contains some of those listed here and particular sins, such as
fornication, are found in all eight locations.
The general designation of uncleanness is from the Greek,
akatharsia and is used to denote impurity either in body or soul.
Evil concupiscence is a term largely unfamiliar to readers in our
time. It is translated from the word kakos, and implies an inflamed
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desire for sexual gratification beyond what is normal. When rightly understood, it helps to explain the
devastating effects of every form of pornographic expression which acts like a powerful stimulant to sexual
desire and lust, serving to inflame it into an uncontrollable passion.
Lasciviousness denotes an overall condition of lewdness in thought and action. It is often the result and
outworking of the inflamed desire discussed under the term evil concupiscence. In turn, it results in improper
desires, wicked depravity, the pursuit of ever increasing means of performing depraved and injurious acts,
leading to fornication, adultery, orgies and sodomy, and the sale and purchase of human flesh.
Please note how all of these wicked things are attempts to gratify Self. Such actions are entirely indifferent
toward the object of their gratification and are in fact often destructive of those they use to attempt to fulfill
their lust. They flow, not out of any sense of true love or affection, but simply from that exaltation of Self which
sees all of life's meaning as the fulfillment of whatever the Self desires, be it legitimate or perverse.
How different is the attitude of the lover of God. These view each individual as belonging to the Creator and
particularly precious in His sight. Out of reverence and fear of God we are careful for them.
When I was a small boy, my father had a dresser in his room with a top drawer in which he placed those things
which were most valued and prized by him. In it were precious treasures such as his gold pocket watch, tie pins,
and a harmonica brought from Germany. The drawer was off limits to small hands, but I confess that I
sometimes opened it to gaze on my father's treasures. However, out of a proper fear of the owner, I did not
presume to touch them.
What a difference it makes in our relation to others if we have love and respect to their Owner. And how
differently we guard our own hearts from the things that would defile and inflame them.
(19) Sins of the flesh are found in every list in Scripture. (True or False) _____________
(20) Define evil concupiscence. ________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(21) What effect can pornography have on the sins of the flesh? ______________________________________
(22) All of the wicked things listed are done to gratify ______________________.
(23) One who loves and fears God views every individual as belonging to (a) _________________________
and out of reverence for Him we are (b) ______________________ for them.
3. Sins of Avarice and Greed
When Self is enthroned it never ceases to seek ways of
satisfying itself, but it is a futile pursuit. Solomon says, the eyes
of man are never satisfied (Proverbs 27:20). Who would know
better than he? He said of his own experience, I made me great
works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards; I made me
gardens and orchards . . . I got me servants and maidens . . . I
had great possessions of great and small cattle . . . I gathered
me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and
of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and
the delights of the sons of men as musical instruments and that
of all sorts, . . . And whatsoever my eyes desired I kept not from
them, I withheld not my heart from any joy. . . Then I looked on
all the works that my hands had wrought . . .and, behold, all
was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under
the sun (Ecclesiastes 2:4- 11).
Nevertheless, the heart that does not have God to fill it is
characterized by covetous practices, the worship of things, the temptation to steal (notice the word in the Greek
is Klepto from which we get Kleptomaniac, the person who is controlled by the compulsion to steal. One sin
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leads to another until the whole life is consumed by the desire for more. As Paul so well describes it, they
worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:25).
When in power they will turn from direct stealing to extortion which uses the power of force to take away what
belongs to others. Our so-called "dog eat dog" society is a reflection of the rejection of God, the exaltation of
Self, and the lust for power, prestige and material gain.
The council of God is, And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall
into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and
perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows (1 Timothy 6:8-10).
(24) The word "Avarice" means _____________ for material goods.
(25) Covetousness is also Idolatry when used to refer to ____________________________________________.
(26) Solomon found that the accumulation of material things was vanity (empty and useless). (True or False) __
(27) Greedy people, when in power, will turn to ____________ to take by force what they want.
(28) With what things does Scripture teach us to be content? (a) ______________ and (b) ________________
(29) A greedy desire for money leads into all kinds of other sins. (True or False) ___________
4. Sins of the Tongue
When Self is enthroned and God is despised (and if the first is
true, the second is inevitable), Self will not only seek its own
gratification, but will deprecate any and all who oppose it. And
the chief means of this deprecation is through the use of the
tongue. The wise man of old expressed it well, Death and life
are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the
fruit thereof (Proverbs 18:21).
Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh
(Matthew 12:34). Therefore control of the tongue begins with
control of the heart. The undisciplined and unruly tongue will be
given to spreading rumor and gossip, slander and insult. All of
these are works of the flesh and abominations to God.
The unruly tongue will cause strife, speak abusively (even to
those it should hold in esteem, such as parents or other
authorities), spread falsehood and lies.
If left unchecked it will degenerate into a mouth full of cursing
and bitterness, and every vile and filthy expression. At last it will
even blaspheme God and all things good or holy. Such is the
tongue of those in which Self rules supreme. If it controls itself
in any of these things, it is only because of perceived advantage to Self in doing so.
How different is the Spirit controlled tongue. It is filled with praise and thanksgiving, and is a wellspring of life.
Of our Lord it is written, all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his
mouth (Luke 4:22).
When controlled by the Spirit the disciplined tongue guards even against such otherwise ignored expressions as
“The rebel sigh, the fret of care." James says that religion which does not bridle the tongue is useless
(James 1:26). In fact the strongest statement in all of Scripture is doubtless, the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of
nature; and it is set on fire of hell (James 3:6).
Thus Peter's advise, he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips
that they speak no guile. . . (1 Peter 3:10).
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(30) When Self is enthroned it will ___________________ any who oppose it.
(31) The control of the tongue begins with _______________________________.
(32) The Spirit controlled tongue will be filled with (a) __________________ and (b) _________________.
(33) What does James tell us sets on fire (i.e. inflames) a wicked tongue? ______
5. Sins of Violence
This final category we have called "Sins of Violence." That is
because each word either involves some form of violent behavior,
or describes an attitude which elicits violence.
The word anger is mentioned in 36 of the 66 books of the Bible,
and in some places (such as Proverbs) it appears many times. Of
anger the wise man said, anger resteth in the bosom of fools
(Ecclesiastes 7:9). While Scripture does describe a righteous anger
it is always that anger which is aroused when God, His cause, or
His people are wronged. Righteous anger never acts in its own
behalf. Sinful anger comes primarily from a perceived violation of
the rights of the all-important Self.
Out of a heart of anger comes the passion of wrath, the caustic
hostility of hatred, the depraved naughtiness of malice, and the
loud and pathetic outcry of clamor. Violent behavior is also
implied in contention, quarreling, and the tumult of commotion
and disorder. The word “implacable” literally refers to one who
will accept no peaceful solution, but demands his "pound of
flesh."
Closely associated with implacable is the word unmerciful. It describes one who refuses anything but some
form of punishment for those perceived as enemies. It is a short step from these ever increasing forms of rage to
the act of murder. The apostle John drew the connection in these words; Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer. . . (1 John 3:15).
(34) Righteous anger comes when (a) __________, His people, or His (b) ___________________ are wronged.
(35) Sinful anger comes from a ________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
(36) It is a short step from ever increasing rage to ______________________________.
(37) Implacable means __________________________________________________solution.
All of this is set in sharp contrast to the character of our Lord Who is described by Peter in these words, . . .
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: . . . (1 Peter 2:21-23). Notice the key
words, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps. This is how He responded; and if Christian
Ethics is nothing less than the reproduction of the character of Christ, then the words and acts of violence which
spring from being personally wronged or offended should have no place in our lives.
In addition to what is found in the major lists of sins, there are several passages where additional issues are
raised. For instance, Paul's Epistle to Titus where he instructed the young pastor to rebuke . . . sharply the
conduct of the Cretians described as liars, evil beasts, slow bellies (Titus 1:12). The words used by the
translators present a challenge to us. The phrase evil beasts literally means "vicious brutes." Born again people
are not to be vicious or brutal. They should never be "bullies" even in places of power.
Slow bellies can be best translated, "lazy gluttons." The New Testament work ethic - if any would not work,
neither should he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10) – is every bit as clear as that of the Old - He also that is slothful in
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his work is brother to him that is a great waster (Proverbs 18:9). Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an
idle soul shall suffer hunger (Proverbs 19:15). The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to
labor (Proverbs 21:25). As the door turneth upon his hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed (Proverbs 26:14).
Jesus Himself had stinging words for the lazy servant - Thou wicked and slothful servant. . . (Matthew 25:26).
And the Apostle exhorts, not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord (Romans 12:11).
(38) What place should words of violence have in the mouth of the believer? ____________________________
(39) Who does Peter say is "our example"? _______________________________________________________
(40) In Titus we are told that Christians should never be (a) __________________ or (b) __________________.
(41) A prominent sin spoken of in both the Old and New Testaments is ________________________________.
(42) In modern language, slothfulness is called ________________________________________.
(43) The Bible presents a strong "work ethic." (True or False) ________________
In the forgoing section we have seen that the Bible presents a strong picture of those things which should not be
part of the life of the believer. If Christ is our "ethical standard" and His love is our mode of operation, we need
merely apply these to any of those expressions of wickedness to see at once that they are a contradiction of His
character and His love. We are warned frequently not to deceive ourselves. These things have no place in the
conduct of the Christian.
1. Define sin._______________________________________________________________________________
2. Jesus taught that there are degrees of punishment because there are _________________________________.
3. Are there various categories of sins? (Yes/No) ____________
4. Name the six Epistles in which there can be found lists of sins.
(a)______________________________ (d) _____________________________
(b) _____________________________ (e) _____________________________
(c) _____________________________ (f) _____________________________
5. We have divided the various lists of sins into five categories. Name the five categories.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Define the term, an evil eye. ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Define: evil concupiscence . ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
8. Strong believes that the root of all sin is ___________________________________________.
9. How many "sins of the tongue" are found in that list? ________________________________
10. Where does sinful anger originate? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
II. BASIC ETHICAL VIRTUES
Having examined something of what sin is, can we with similar precision define virtue? If ethics is all about
doing right, do we have some definition of what is right? We have already seen that Christian Ethics views
Jesus Christ as the absolute ethical standard. What then is Jesus like and how does that translate into a pattern of
behavior for me?
Some years ago, Charles Sheldon wrote a book entitled, In His Steps. The story revolves around a pastor who
encouraged his people in every decision of life to raise the question, "What would Jesus do?” Then the pastor
asked them to act in a way that was in harmony with the answer to that question. The book tells the story, not
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only of a congregation, but of a whole city that was transformed by living out that practice. If we are to know
the answer to the question, "What Would Jesus Do?" we must know Jesus in an intimate way, and the only way
we can do that is through the study of the Scriptures. As we see Him revealed in all His glory and long to have
Him reproduced in our lives, we have the promise that we will be. . . changed into the same image from glory to
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).
(1) What question should be asked as we face ethical decisions?______________________________________
(2) The only way we can accurately answer that question is by knowing Jesus intimately through a study of the
Scriptures. (True or False) ______________
(3) What promise does God give us if we pursue knowing Christ? ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
A. The Moral Virtues of Christ

Jesus shines through on every page of the Gospels and is revealed further in the writings of the Epistles. But the
character and virtues of Jesus are also set forth in the pages of the Old Testament and one example of that is in
Isaiah chapter 11. Here the prophet has a vision of Messiah and he describes Him to us. He is fully controlled
by the Sprit of God, full of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might. He is full of understanding and
makes righteous judgments. Beside all of that, He is utterly faithful. (Read Isaiah 11:1-5).
We have already seen that Jesus' description of the "blessed man" in His Sermon on the Mount was really a
beautiful description of His own characteristics. Each of the characteristics Jesus spoke of were perfectly
displayed in His life. Poor in spirit, for He humbled Himself as no other man ever did. Mourner over that which
is evil and wrong, for He wept over rebellious Jerusalem and prayed for His enemies. Meek, for He said of
Himself, I am meek and lowly in heart. A deep Hunger for God - the fountain of righteousness, for no one
hungered to see righteousness more than He. Merciful, for He never failed to meet any need that was brought to
Him regardless of time or place or situation. He was utterly pure in heart, the ultimate peacemaker, making
peace between God and man. He was persecuted, despised, rejected and scorned. But He was the salt of the
earth and the light of the world. Let me say it again, if the Christian's
ethical standard is the reproduction of the life of Jesus Christ, here it
is in all its radiant beauty (Read Matthew 5:1-16).
(4) Cite the references for two passages of Scripture where our
Lord's moral glories are clearly revealed (a) _______________
(b) _____________________
B. Paul’s List of Virtues
Now it is these same characteristics which are set forth in the
Epistles for us to follow. A classic passage is Romans 12 and 13.
Just as Paul gives us various lists of sins, so here he develops a
veritable list of virtues.
The list actually begins in Romans 12:9. Here Paul says that the first
virtue is an unpretended love. The word really means “love without
hypocrisy.” And since the word Agape is used, the inference is
always that of an active love that seeks the benefit of another.
Next Paul tells us to cleave to what is good, that is, what produces
blessing for another. And besides this, we are to cherish one another with fraternal affection.
Rejoicing really means to be cheerful. And close by that is patient endurance through the trials we face.
The phrase distributing to the necessity of saints is simply the practical virtue of giving. This has nothing to do
with tithing. That is another thing altogether. This giving is beyond our giving to God and is directed to the
needs of others. We are to be characterized by that kind of giving. (Compare here Isaiah 58).
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When Paul says we are to provide things honest in the sight of all men, the implication is to take thought of the
appearance of what we do that it might not lead to the suspicion of dishonesty.
We are to avoid unnecessary conflict, but not by compromise or cowardice. On the other hand, we are exhorted
to feed your enemy. And we are to submit to authority in all things, that is obey all rightful laws and pay
whatever taxes we owe.
Finally Paul comes back to the all encompassing virtue of love and declares, as we have seen already, that when
properly employed, it fulfills all other demands upon us.
(5) Read thoughtfully Romans 12:9-13:10, and all of Isaiah chapter 58. I have completed the assignment.
(Yes/No) _____________
(6) Paul begins and ends this list with what virtue? ________________________
C. Peter’s List
Peter begins by saying that we are partakers of the Divine Nature,
and then describes how that nature should manifest itself in our
lives. Notice we must begin to build upon faith. Peter declares
faith as the foundation without which nothing can be built.
He then reminds us that these things do not come without effort on
our part. Giving all diligence, add to your faith. . . The word
implies eagerness. We must cultivate these things and allow the
Holy Spirit liberty to produce them in our lives.
Furthermore, I believe that there is implied here a growing order.
After faith comes a changed life. Old things pass away, all things
become new. It is called, virtue. But we must go on from there.
We must acquire knowledge. We cannot grow without the hard
work or study. Study (be diligent) to show thyself approved unto
God. . . (2 Timothy 2:15). And then comes the challenge of self-
control. As unsaved individuals we did not care about such things. But the Christian Ethic is supremely
characterized by self-control. Our Lord was never ruffled even when they arrested Him, abused Him and
crucified Him. Even when He acted in the righteous anger of cleansing His Father's house, He was in complete
control of His emotions.
Peter, like Paul, lists patience, that ability to endure under difficulty. And godliness, that dignity of piety which
is not haughty, but humble, and full of evident purity. And also, like Paul, Peter calls upon us to show brotherly
kindness. It is actually the same word translated “brotherly love" over in Romans. Again, it means a fraternal
affection and appreciation for our brothers especially in the faith. Finally, as with all others he concludes with
the crowning characteristic of agape' love, that charity which is active to meet the needs of others. This passage
is so important that it has been sometimes called "The Seven Steps To Maturity."
(7) What does Peter tell us is the foundation of all moral and spiritual growth? __________________
(8) These virtues just happen naturally in the Christian's life without any effort on his part. (True or False) ____
(9) List the seven characteristics which Peter names in this section.
(a) _________________________________ (b) _________________________________
(c) _________________________________ (d) __________________________________
(e) __________________________________ (f) ___________________________________
(g) ___________________________________
(10) This section has sometimes been called _____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
D. The Virtues (Fruit) of the Holy Spirit
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A third list of those characteristics of ethical behavior which reflect our Lord is found in what is commonly
called the fruit of the Spirit. The phrase comes from the truth that it is these characteristics which the Holy Spirit
will produce in the believer's life when that believer yields himself in obedience to the Spirit. They are, without
any argument, an exact photo of the life of Jesus Christ, that life and image which the Christian is enjoined to
reproduce.
Here the Apostle begins with the crown of love, leading to a countenance of joy and delight, a demeanor of
quiet restfulness, and an attitude of forbearance and patience.
The believer is to show a life of moral excellence, virtuous benevolence, and faith action based upon a settled
conviction of the truth and veracity of God. He will be characterized by gentle humility and demonstrate the
quality of self control.
This passage as much as any demonstrates the principle that Love is the fulfilling of the whole Law. There is no
just law against love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, or temperance. The
producing of these qualities rules out their opposites, Lust, greed, pride, envy, violence, and all the things they
produce. Therefore when these are present the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
(11) Explain why these characteristic are called, the fruit of the Spirit.__________________________________
(12) Is there any law against any of these things? (Yes/No) _________
(13) These things, produced by the Holy Spirit, are an exact photo of whom?____________________________
E. Other Passages
Now in addition to these lists, there is a continued theme throughout the Scripture which sets forth the highest
standard of Christian virtue and ethical behavior. Let me just mention a few places where such exhortation is
found. These are not exhaustive, but representative of the total teaching of the Word.
When discussing in Luke 10:25-37, the theme of the great commandments of love to God and love to neighbor,
Jesus' questioner showed that he knew the requirement but also that he lacked an understanding of what it
involved. Jesus answered his question, and who is my neighbor? by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. The
story reflects so perfectly our Lord's own character that many believe He intended it as an illustration of His
own work in redeeming mankind. Whether you believe that to be interpretationally valid or not, the final
exhortation is clear as crystal: Go, and do thou likewise. It is a beautiful picture of the way in which the virtues
found throughout the Scripture are meant to work in very practical ways.
(14) The answer to how to fulfill the commands of loving our neighbor can be found in what parable of our
Lord? ________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus had much to say about our attitude toward material things. Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth not rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matthew 6:20-21). In such places Jesus laid the basis for a proper
attitude toward all earthly things. Think of the sins that are automatically eliminated by such a view of things:
covetousness, greed, theft, extortion, envy, idolatry and many more.
(15) Where should we be laying up our treasure? _______________
(16) List some of the sins which are eliminated by the right attitude toward earthy things.
(a) __________________________________________________________________
(b) __________________________________________________________________
(c) __________________________________________________________________
(d) __________________________________________________________________
(e) __________________________________________________________________
(f) __________________________________________________________________
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In 1 Corinthians 4:11-16, Paul rehearses his own example of Christian behavior. What he preached, he also
lived. The things he placed on his list of Christian virtues, he lived out in his conduct. He concluded . . .
Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me. The recitation was not meant only as personal record, but
practical example.
(17) Paul recitation of his own way of life was meant to be a_________________________________________.
Of the many, many other places, perhaps John's first Epistle should be given priority. Both he and James
showed that they were very concerned that the faith professed would be the faith practiced. John particularly
focuses on that beginning in chapter three. He begins with the same message Paul gave in Romans 8:29. Paul
called it being predestined . . . to the image of his Son. John says . . . when he shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). Then on the basis of that truth he says that if we really have that
hope in us, we will purify ourselves even as he is pure (1 John 3:3). And immediately he characterized that
purity as manifesting itself in love. For the rest of his Epistle, John speaks mostly about how that love for God
and love for brother will act.
And so it is evident, that while we have not looked at a comprehensive number of Scripture passages,
nevertheless we have demonstrated that the same Scripture that defines sin, also defines and describes
righteousness - that reflection of the character of Jesus Christ which forms the basis for what we call the
Christian Ethic.
(18) Both James and John show that they are concerned that the (a) ______________we profess, will be the
(b) _____________ we (c) _____________________.
(19) In John, the characteristic of purity is expressed in the virtue of love. (True or False) ____________
(20) Scripture defines and describes the (a) ______________________________ which reflects the character of
(b) __________________ ________________ and forms the basis for what we call the
(c) ________________ __________.
1. What question is asked in the book, In His Steps? _______________________________________________
2. The "Beatitudes" are a reflection of the moral virtues of Christ. (True or False) _____________
3. There are three lists of virtues cited in this section. Write the reference where each is located.
(a) _________________________ (b) _________________________ (c) ___________________________
4. Peter says we must build maturity on a foundation of _____________________.
5. Paul begins and ends his list in Romans with what virtue? __________________
6. Name the nine fruits of the Spirit.
(a) ________________________ (b) ________________________ (c) ________________________
(d) ________________________ (e) ________________________ (f) _________________________
(g) ________________________ (h) ________________________ (i) _________________________
7 Name “The Seven Steps toward Maturity" given us by Peter.
(a) ________________________ (b) ________________________ (c) ________________________
(d) ________________________ (e) ________________________ (f) _________________________
(g) ________________________
8. Why does Paul rehearse his manner of life in 1 Corinthians 4:11-16? ________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Paul tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the ______________ of Christ.
10. John promises us that When he shall appear, we shall be ___________ ______.
III. WHEN ETHICAL DEMANDS COLLIDE
In our original discussion of ethical philosophy (review PART I), we discovered that there are basically two
opposing views of ethics: that of Absolutism and that of Relativism. We further determined that there is ample
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evidence that we live in a moral universe governed by a God Who is the epitome of moral perfection and Who
calls us to the same high standard. That settles the fact that the Christian Ethic must be an Absolute Ethic.
But that alone is not enough to give complete definition to what the Scriptures teach on the subject. Within the
camp of those who claim to be Absolutists there are three sub-groups of ethical opinion. It is essential that we
examine these, learn what they are, and understand what they believe.
But before we examine what these sub-groups are, we want to observe that they exist because of basic
disagreement over the question of whether absolute ethical demands ever collide and if they do, what course of
action is correct and what consequences that action will have. So to begin with, does an absolute ethic ever
create an ethical dilemma? There certainly seem to be abundant instances in Scripture that would affirm that it
can and does.
(1) Name the basic opposing views of ethics.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(2) How many sub-groups are there among those who claim ethical absolutism?_______________
(3) What is the central issue (question) that divides these camps? _____________________________________
A. Ethical Dilemmas in Scripture
1. The case of Abraham and Isaac as recorded in Genesis 22 presents a classic illustration of an ethical
dilemma. Abraham is called upon to offer his son as a burnt offering to God. While such vile practices were not
uncommon among the heathen (2 Kings 3:27), the people of Jehovah knew that such things were abominable to
their God. Yet here was the command, to take an innocent life and offer it as a blood offering and a burnt
offering to God. How was Abraham able to reconcile the apparent contradiction?
(4) What did God instruct Abraham to do? _______________________________________________________
(5) What ethical dilemma did this instruction pose? ________________________________________________
2. The Hebrew mid-wives of Exodus chapter 1, are another example. Jehovah is a God of truth. It is
foundational to His very nature. Yet these two mid-wives clearly lied to Pharaoh and God actually blessed them
because of their action (see Exodus 1:21).
3. And Moses’ parents were also culpable. Written in the nature of God is obedience to constituted authority.
Yet these parents of Moses disobeyed the king's command, deceived his authorities by hiding their baby, and
were praised by God for doing so (Exodus 2; Hebrews 11:23).
4. A classic case over which ethicists have long debated is that of Rahab the harlot (Joshua 2). Rahab clearly
lied, deceived, and plotted against her own authorities. Yet God places her in Faith's Hall of Fame
(Hebrew 11:31). Was she right to do so? Is lying sometimes the right thing to do?
5. Even the pious Samuel offers us an example of the ethical dilemma (1 Samuel 16). This particular instance
is a clear case of deception, and it is made more complex because Samuel is instructed by God just how he
should go about deceiving Saul. How do we reconcile a situation like this?
6. There are other Old Testament examples, such as David's deception to Ahimelech the priest which later
occasioned the death of eighty-five of the priests (see 1 Samuel 21-22). Is deception in time of war permissible?
(6) What possible ethical violations are involved in each of the above situations?
(a) ______________________________________ (b) ______________________________________
7. The book of Daniel offers a whole set of ethical dilemmas to those Hebrew boys thrust into a pagan
environment. To complicate matters, they were not even free, they were slaves. It would have been simple to
have rationalized that their condition excused them from any obligation to Jehovah's laws, especially his
ceremonial laws such as those concerning diet. But Daniel and his companions did not give way to such
rationalizations. Instead they used every proper channel to get permission to do the right thing, but when these
failed they choose to obey God rather than man (Daniel 3). We applaud them, but how can we hold to an
absolute ethic of submission to authority and still justify such disobedience?
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8. The ethical dilemma was very real in the life of our Lord as well. As early as twelve, Jesus encountered an
ethical dilemma of giving Himself to the work of His Heavenly Father, or subjecting Himself to His earthly
parents (Luke 2:41- 52). He brought the issue to the fore by simply staying behind and talking with the doctors
of the Law. But when confronted, He submitted Himself to the rule of obedience to parents. Nevertheless He
taught clearly that when the will of God is at issue, a man must hate . . . his father, and mother (Luke 14:26).
(7) In the case of Daniel and of Christ, the conflict came about over the issue of authority of
(a) ____________________________, and of (b) __________________________________________.
9. No Mosaic law was better established than that of the Sabbath. It was a part of the decalogue, the very heart
of the law. A man was stoned by command of God for simply gathering some sticks on the Sabbath
(Numbers 15:32-36). Yet Christ consistently performed acts on the Sabbath considered unlawful. Not only did
He heal on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-12; Luke 13:10-16; 14:3-6; John 5:9-18; 7:22-24; 9:14-16 ) but He
defended His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath and eating it (Matthew 12). How do we reconcile these
actions with His sinless character and life?
(8) What ethical principle did Christ come in conflict with during His ministry? _________________________
10. Finally, we have the case of the disciples themselves who were commanded not to speak any more in
Jesus' name, and the Apostles replied, Whether it is right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).
And again, We ought to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). Yet this is the same Peter who wrote, Submit
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. . . (1 Peter 2:13). Did he change his mind, or is
something more in play here?
(9) What did Peter tell us to do in regard to earthly ordinances? ______________________________________
(10) Did Peter and the other Apostles always follow that rule? (Yes/No) ________
B. Ethical Dilemmas in Our Time
Ethical dilemmas are not something that ended with the canon of Scripture. They are real issues for real people
today.
1. One classic example of the ethical dilemma is the well known story of Corrie ten Boom as told in her book,
The Hiding Place. As pious Christians her family had always obeyed the civil authorities. But after the Nazi
takeover, when all Jews were being rounded up and sent to death camps, her godly father determined not only
to disobey the law, but to risk his own life and the lives of his family to give refuge and aid to the Jewish
people. To do so involved lying to authorities about harboring Jews. It involved deception (building false walls
to create a hiding place). Does an absolute ethic condemn the action of Corrie's father? Does it condemn the lie
Corrie signed so that she could be released from the prison camp (in which both her father and sister had died),
which stated that she had been "treated humanly?” What does an absolute ethic have to say to people faced with
real life situations in such a fallen world?
(11) What ethical principles were violated by the ten Booms in harboring Jews?
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
2. Before the great Normandy invasion of World War II which began the final downfall of Nazism, that
scourge which had brought death and ruin to much of Europe, allied commanders used false radio messages,
diversionary troop movements and even inflated rubber tanks and guns (all of which appeared real to enemy
aircraft), to deceive and defeat the enemy. What does an absolute ethic have to say about such deceptive actions
taken during wartime?
3. If a man has two choices, either to submit to radical and expensive surgery followed by equally expensive
medications in order to extend his life for several months or years, or refuse surgery and medications and die
within a short time, is there an applied ethical principle which can help him make the right choice?
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4. What about Abortion, Euthanasia, Capitol Punishment, Suicide, Homosexuality, and a score of other issues.
How does ethics speak to these questions?
(12) Are there real ethical dilemmas involved in the cases we have cited? (Yes/No) __________
C. Three Ethical Alternatives
We have seen that the ultimate ethical standard is God Himself, and that, since He is unchangeable, universal
and eternal, ethical absolutes flowing from His very character are, of necessity, unchangeable (circumstances do
not alter them), universal (cultural and ethnic differences do not alter them), and eternal (the passage of time
does not alter them). But as we have seen, in a fallen sinful world there are real life situations which seem to
place certain of these "absolute" ethic principles at odds. Shall I obey the principle which says I should not lie,
or shall I obey the principle of showing mercy and protecting the helpless? Are there real conflicts here, or are
they only apparent? There are three views.
1. Non-Conflicting Absolutism
According to this view there are no real conflicts between absolute moral demands, only apparent ones. The
classic proponent of non-conflicting absolutism is St. Augustine. He wrote two entire books in order to prove
that lying is always wrong no matter what the circumstance. Thus when Rahab or the Hebrew mid-wives lied,
they committed sin. God's later blessing was not because of their sin, but because they also showed mercy and
faith. There is a strong acceptance of this position among many in the reformed tradition beginning with
Westminster Seminary professor of ethics, John Murray. They observe that since, no lie is of the truth (1 John
2:21), and since God is Truth and never lies - indeed cannot lie (Titus 1:2), therefore it is always wrong to lie
under any circumstance. Along with Augustine, these writers agree that the Hebrew midwives, Rahab, and all
other cases of "lying for a higher cause" were wrong and sinful.
(13) The first ethical view among Absolutists is called _____________________________________________.
(14) This group believes that there are no real conflicts between absolute moral demands. (True or False) _____
(15) They also believe that the action of the mid-wives and Rahab was (a) ______and (b) _________________.
There certainly is merit to this position in that it attempts to hold us to the very highest standard. It bases itself
upon the unchanging nature of God and that is proper since, as we have seen, that is the only and ultimate basis
for moral decision. It also relies heavily upon the Sovereign providences of God. For instance, Non-Conflicting
Absolutism argues that there is never a true moral dilemma because God will intervene in Providential ways to
create a third choice - another way of escape. The proof text is, of course,1 Corinthians 10:13 but while God
does promise in this text a way to escape sinning, He has not promised to create a special emergency exit in
order that we may do so. In other words, God has not promised that we will not have to face a moral dilemma
and choose between conflicting options. The Corinthian passage does not guarantee that God will remove
conflict from our moral choices.
(16) Non-Conflicting Absolutism argues that there is never a true moral dilemma because _________________.
(17) Does the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13 guarantee we will not have to make conflicting moral choices? (Yes/No)
____
The acid test of any ethical theory is whether it can be applied, not in some situations, nor indeed in most
situations, but rather in every situation without exception. Non-conflicting absolutism has, I believe, a difficult
time meeting that criteria. Since lying seems to be a major focus, non-conflicting absolutism finds itself
agonizing over the definition of a lie. To accomplish this it gets into a discussion of what the intent of the
person was in telling the lie. It excuses deception, particularly in wartime, as no lie at all. In other words, non-
conflicting absolutism finds itself trying to jump the hurdles of conflicting moral duties by doing an end-run
around the hurdle. While there are many honorable men and institutions represented in the non-conflicting
school, there are some very real problems that this position seems to attempt to side-step because it cannot
adequately meet the challenge of applying its theory to them in a satisfactory manner.
(18) What is the "acid test" of any ethical theory? ________________________________________________
(19) Does non-conflicting absolutism meet this criteria? (Yes/No) _____________
2. Conflicting Absolutism
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The second school of ethical theory is called Conflicting Absolutism. This theory, while holding to the position
that moral duties flow from the character of God and are therefore absolute, also holds that there are times when
two moral choices do conflict. This, it argues, is because although God is absolute and unchanging, we are a
fallen race living in a fallen sinful world and because we are, our relationship to moral problems is often one of
conflict between absolute moral options.
This view has somewhat double roots. It is related first to Greek thought which made a strict dichotomy
between the material world and the spiritual world, and secondly to Luther who taught that the believer lives
simultaneous in two worlds, one earthly and one heavenly. Since we have duties to each, and since these two
worlds are in conflict, there will necessarily be conflicting moral choices to make.
(20) Conflicting Absolutism holds that we do face conflicting moral choices because we live in a
_____________________.
However, the thing that makes Conflicting Absolutism unique is their teaching that in the ethical conflict, when
one must choose, the only options available are between what is termed “the lesser of two evils,” and therefore
sin is unavoidable. Back to the case of Rahab - when Rahab protected the lives of the Hebrew spies by lying and
deception, her lying and deception were sin. So although she wisely chose the "lesser of two evils," her choice
forced her to sin.
(21) According to this view, the only option available in moral conflict is _________________________________
and therefore moral conflict forces us to sin.
The redeeming tenet of Conflicting Absolutism is its strong emphasis on the teaching of grace. After sin there
can be confession, and after confession is forgiveness. So in summary it may be noted that there are four
premises that conflicting absolutism holds. First, moral obligations are based upon universal absolutes which
are nonnegotiable. Second, because we live in a fallen world we will inevitably face conflict between absolute
moral obligations. Third, when we do, we should do the "lesser of two evils" (which means that sinning is
inevitable), and finally, there is forgiveness when we repent and confess the sin.
(22) List the four tenets held by Conflicting Absolutism.

(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Now I believe there are some serious problems with this position. By teaching that in moral dilemmas one
should choose "the lesser of two evils," conflicting absolutism teaches that it is right to do wrong. Geisler
confronts the proposition in these words, "A moral duty to sin is a moral absurdity" (Geisler, p.103).
Surely we cannot accept the position that Scripture enjoins us to do wrong under certain circumstances. And yet
that is the inevitable logic of this position. Beside that, an equal, if not more serious objection, is that if we
accept the premise that sin is unavoidable in a fallen world, and that the best we can do is to flee to the "lesser
of two evils," which means committing sin of a lesser degree, then we must conclude that Christ must have
sinned. Scripture affirms that He was in all points tempted like as we are. . . therefore He must have faced moral
conflict, and if so, when He acted He did the lesser of two sins. This of course in untenable and totally
unacceptable. The same passage which tells us that Christ was tempted in every way that we are, goes on to
assure us, yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
(23) What two serious problems does this position raise?
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(24) Write out the quote from Norman Geisler. ___________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Again Conflicting Absolutism fails the test of being consistently applicable in every situation. There must be
another alternative.
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3. Hierarchal Absolutism
The third major theory of ethical absolutism is one which I have chosen to call Hierarchal Absolutism. Geisler
refers to it as Graded Absolutism, but I do not believe the title accurately describes the position. Graded is a
term which I associate with farm products and measures the size and/or weight of the product. Perhaps those
ideas do come into play here, but I prefer the term Hierarchal because it unmistakably sets forth the concept of
greater or lesser importance. Hierarchal may be defined as a ranking system, ordered according to status,
authority or relative importance.
(25) This third and final view is called ____________________________________.
(26) Write out the definition of "Hierarchy." ______________________________________________________
Hierarchal Absolutism holds in common with the two previous views that the moral principles upon which this
universe rests are absolute, unchanging and universal. Therefore, all of those moral characteristics that we find
in God and saw to be revealed in Christ are valid obligations for our lives and conduct. However, hierarchal
absolutism also holds that not all moral obligations are of equal weight, status, authority or relative importance.
In other words, just as we saw that there were degrees of sin, so there is in Scripture a hierarchy of moral
obligation. For instance Christ said that love for God was the first and great commandment. Love for neighbor,
He said, was second, by implication therefore of lesser weight and authority. Let's observe how else Christ
made this principle clear.
(27) Write out the first tenet of Hierarchal Absolutism. _____________________________________________
(28) What is the second tenet of Hierarchal Absolutism? ____________________________________________
Sabbath keeping was a moral obligation under the Mosaic system. It was such an absolute that we have already
noted how one man was put to death by the direct order of God for breaking Sabbath observance. Christ was,
made of a woman, made under the law. . . (Galatians 4:4). He was obligated to the Sabbath observance. Yet He
healed on the Sabbath and defended His disciples for "harvesting grain" on the Sabbath. His doctrine was, The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath: and it is lawful to do well (good) on the Sabbath days.
Showing mercy to man's need took priority over Sabbath observance. He further observed that, the Son of man
is Lord even of the Sabbath, placing His own authority above Sabbath law.
And notice how He extended this principle. He reminded his critics that an animal could be pulled out of a pit
on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:11-12), or an ox could be led to water on the Sabbath (Luke 13:15), or a priest
could profane the Sabbath to carry out his temple duties (Matthew 12:5), and a child could be circumcised on
the Sabbath (John 7:22-23). In each instance the law of the Sabbath remained unchanged, but there was a higher
duty which took precedence over it.
(29) In each instant where Christ was accused of breaking the law of the Sabbath, He demonstrated that there
was _________________________________________________________________________________.
Jesus consistently taught that there is a hierarchy of moral duty and the right thing to do is always to perform
the higher duty. Hence, moral duty to parents was more important than the popular religious practice of
dedicating money to the use of God, so Christ condemned the law of Corbin. But absolute obedience to the will
of God is of greater importance, order, rank and authority than duty to parents. Therefore a man must hate his
father, and mother, . . . and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, whenever any of these conflict with
his duty to God. Jesus said to the Pharisees, . . .you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted
the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. . . (Matthew 23:23). So Jesus taught clearly that
certain matters of the law are weightier, and hold more authority than others.
(30) Jesus consistently taught that there is a (a) ________________ of moral duty, and the right thing to do is
always (b) ____________________________________________________________________________.
Having established that there is a hierarchy of moral duties in Scripture, what then does the hierarchal absolutist
do when confronted by conflicting moral duties? He reasons that two conflicting orders cannot be obeyed at the
same time. One must give way to the other. One therefore becomes obligatory and the other not applicable to
the situation at hand.
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The idea of hierarchy comes from the military and can be made clear by considering the following: as a private
in the army I am absolutely obligated to obey my corporal.
However, if I get an order from my corporal and my sergeant gives me a conflicting command, I have no
difficulty knowing which command I must obey. Obviously, the principle could be extended up the ladder of
authority to the commander in chief, but the point is clear. The rank and authority of the higher order, when
conflicting, must be obeyed, freeing me from the obligation of the previous order.
And this is what sets Hierarchal Absolutism apart from conflicting absolutism. It is not a question of the "lesser
of two evils" which forces me to commit a sin I must seek forgiveness for when choosing between two
alternatives, but the freedom to obey the higher command which is the right thing to do and absolves me from
obligation to a lesser responsibility.
(31) Hierarchal Absolutism reasons that two conflicting duties _______________ be obeyed at the same time.
(32) Obeying the duty of higher rank frees one from obligation to the lesser responsibility. (True or False) ____
One may object, but isn't that really just situation ethics? No, because situation ethics makes room for only one
absolute, the undefined absolute of love, left to the whim of the one involved to define and apply. Hierarchal
absolutism recognizes all moral duties as flowing from the character of God, and each particular duty as
absolute in its sphere and order of priority. But it takes one more step, it sees the order and hierarchy of moral
duties to be absolute as well, so that meeting human need is always above religious observance, mercy and
respect for human life is always prior to telling the truth, it is always right to obey God rather than man, and
love for God must always take precedence over love for parents. When any of these absolute duties come into
conflict so that one cannot obey the one without setting the other aside, hierarchal absolutism affirms that duties
of the highest rank become the only duty we are responsible to obey.
(33) Name three things Hierarchal Absolutism recognizes. (a) all moral duties flow from_____________,
(b) each particular duty is absolute _________________________________________________________
and, (c) the order and hierarchy of moral duties are ___________________________________.
D. Applying Theory to Actual Situations
Now let's simply try to apply our theory in actual conflicting situations, beginning with some of those scriptural
situations cited previously.
1. How can we resolve Abraham's dilemma? Non-conflicting absolutism answers that there is no conflict -
Abraham had only to obey God. While this is true it is easy to ignore the real moral dilemma that Abraham
wrestled with in his own heart. Hebrews tells us that he resolved it by an act of faith, believing that the God
Who had promised him that in Isaac shall thy seed be called: would in fact raise him up, even from the dead;
from whence also he received him in a figure (Hebrews 11:18-19). Applying the position of hierarchal
absolutism to Abraham's dilemma, does not deny the conflict, but demonstrates that Abraham acted under the
command of a higher obligation, his love and obedience to God, and was thus rewarded for it. The prohibition
against taking an innocent life was no longer relevant once God had spoken.
(34) Applying the theory of hierarchal absolutism to Abraham's dilemma demonstrates Abraham acted
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
2. Likewise with the case of the Hebrew mid-wives. Non-Conflicting Absolutism argues (1) that no real lie
was told because Pharaoh did not have a right to the information and therefore they exercised a simple
deception which is different than a lie (I have problems with such mental rationalizations), or, (2) the midwives
were wrong to lie and had they exercised real faith in God, they would have told Pharaoh the truth and God
would have found another way to spare the children. (By the way, Non-Conflicting Absolutism does not justify
Corrie ten Boom's family for lying to the Nazis to save Jewish lives either.) On the other hand, Conflicting
Absolutism says that in each case they followed "the lesser of two evils," but were culpable for sinning and
needed to seek forgiveness. The problem here is that forgiveness must be sought after repentance. Repentance
involves a change of mind about my action. How can I repent for doing "the lesser of two evils"? Shall I
promise God that next time I will do the greater evil? Conflicting Absolutism does not solve the problem, it
44
only digs a deeper pit. Hierarchal Absolutism says that, in each of the two cases cited, the greater obligation was
clearly the merciful sparing of human life and that the higher commandment made the lesser void.
(35) Conflicting Absolutism teaches that in each of the above cases, the individuals actually sinned, but committed the
lesser of two evils. (True or False) ___________
(36) Hierarchal Absolutism teaches that there is no sin involved in obeying the higher commandment.
(True or False) ___________
3. The case of Daniel and the three Hebrew children and later the Apostles and their conflict with religious
authorities are clear cases where the principle of hierarchal absolutism was applied. In neither instance was
there denial that a real authority existed and that there was an obligation to obey that authority. But in each case
appeal was made to a higher authority, namely God Himself. His command and authority took precedence,
therefore the lesser command was void. Even absolutists like Augustine and Charles Hodge recognize the
validity of this principle. Augustine reasoned that while our chief moral obligation was to love, yet this love had
to be exercised in an ordered priority with God being first, our neighbor next and ourselves and possessions at
the bottom of the hierarchal pyramid. What Augustine did was unwittingly confess a hierarchy of moral
obligation. Geisler quotes Hodge as saying, "the principle that a higher obligation absolves from a lower
(obligation) stands firm" (Geisler, p. 115). In like manner Christ placed the priority of showing mercy (healing),
the priority of meeting the hunger of His disciples, the priority of acting humanly toward animals, and even His
own personal authority (the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath) above the acknowledged absolute of
Sabbath obligation. Clearly, Christ followed a hierarchy of absolutes.
(37) In practice, both Augustine and Charles Hodge acknowledged the priority of a higher obligation.
(True or False) __________
(38) Clearly, Jesus Christ Himself followed (what) ________________________________________________.
E. Conclusion
There are many other situations in life that produce moral conflicts. Some of them are producing great social
and moral dilemmas in our time. We will seek to examine several in PART III and IV. There are others which
may be peculiar to certain cultures and which must be worked through by those who know and respect the
absolute authority of the Word of God and who, at the same time, understand the culture where these conflicts
exist. We will not, and cannot, resolve every ethical dilemma. That is not the purpose of this course. We want to
introduce you to the field of ethical debate, and equip you with basic biblical principles that can help you work
through those ethical dilemmas you face or will face in the future, whether for yourself or for those to whom
you minister.
1. Name the three sub-groups among those who hold to a position of Ethical Absolutism.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
2. Do ethical demands ever collide? (Yes/No) _______
3. Abraham faced an ethical dilemma when told to sacrifice his son. (True or False) _______________
4. What ethical principals were involved in what Rahab did?
(a) ______________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________
5. Name an illustration of an ethical dilemma in our time. _____________________
6. Non-conflicting Absolutism believes that there are no true moral dilemmas. (True or False) ____________
7 Conflicting Absolutism teaches that in a moral dilemma we should always ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________.
8. Hierarchal Absolutism teaches that in a moral dilemma we should always obey the
45
_______________________________________________________________________________________.
9. Having a "moral duty" to do the "lesser of two evils" would mean having a moral duty to _______________.
10. When Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath laws, He appealed to a____________________________.
PRE-TEST
PREPARE YOURSELF! Turn to page 26, and carefully review the objectives. Then review each section of
the course, and give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. It is a good
syllabus. Each question is worth 1.85 points.
1 Write out the definition which we have used for Christian Ethics.____________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. In what four places did we look for an ethical standard?
(a) ________________________________________ (b) ________________________________________
(c) ________________________________________ (d) ________________________________________
3. Define sin. ______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Jesus taught that there are degrees of punishment because there are _________________________________.
5. Are there various categories of sins? (Yes/No) ____________
6. Name the six Epistles in which there can be found lists of sins.
(a) ______________________ (b) ______________________ (c) ______________________
(d) ______________________ (e) ______________________ (f) ______________________
7. We have divided the various lists of sins into five categories. Name the five categories.
(a) _________________________ (b) _________________________ (c) _________________________
(d) _________________________ (e) _________________________
8. Define the term, an evil eye. ________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Define: evil concupiscence. _________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Strong believes that the root of all sin is _______________________________.
11. What question was raised in the book, In His Steps, which can help us decide the right answer to moral
problems? ___________________________________
12. The "Beatitudes" are a reflection of the moral virtues of Christ. (True or False) __________
13. Paul begins and ends his list in Romans with what virtue? __________________
14. Name the nine fruits of the Spirit.
(a) ________________________ (b) ________________________ (c) ________________________
(d) ________________________ (e) ________________________ (f) _________________________
(g) ________________________ (h) ________________________ (i) _________________________
15. Name the seven "Steps toward Maturity" given us in Peter's Epistle.
(a) _________________________ (b) _________________________ (c) _________________________
(d) _________________________ (e) _________________________ (f) _________________________
(g) _________________________
16. Paul tells us that we are predestined to be conformed to the ________________ of Christ.
17. Name the three sub-groups among those who hold to a position of Ethical Absolutism.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
18. Do ethical demands ever collide? (Yes/No) _________
19. Abraham faced an ethical dilemma when told to sacrifice his son. (True or False) ______________
20. Did Peter and the other Apostles always follow the rule to submit to earthy ordinances? (Yes/No) _______
21. What ethical principals were involved in what Rahab did?
46
(a) _______________________ (b) _______________________
22. Non-conflicting Absolutism believes that there are no true moral dilemmas. (True or False) ___________
23. Conflicting Absolutism teaches that in a moral dilemma we should always do
______________________________________________________________________________________.
24. Hierarchal Absolutism teaches that in a moral dilemma we should always obey the
_______________________________________________________________________________________
25. Having a "moral duty" to do the "lesser of two evils" would mean having a moral duty to _____________.

Turn to page 26 again, and carefully review the objectives. Then review the sections over “Christian Ethics:
Part II.” and give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. Review the
Test titled “Christian Ethics: Part II.” You may NOT use your notes or the Bible when taking the test. The
ANSWER KEY: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I
47
ETHICAL VIRTUES
INTRODUCTION
(1) the reproduction of the character of God
(2) (a) created universe (b) man's inner sense of right and wrong
(c) the character of God set forth in the Mosaic Law (d) the person of Jesus Christ
(3) b
(4) true
I. DEFINING SIN
(5) We are dealing with ethics in terms of man's responsibility toward God.
(6) false
(7) false
(8) true
(9) in the mind and heart
(10) c, d, a, e, b
(11) (a) pride (b) covetousness (c) lust (d) anger (e) gluttony (f) envy (g) sloth or laziness
(12) Mark 7:21-22
(13) a desire to look at that which is obscene
(14) (a) anger (b) lust (c) divorce (d) taking oaths (e) hypocrisy (f) covetousness (g) judgment
(15) Jesus
(16) (a) Romans (b) 1 Corinthians (c) 2 Corinthians (d) Galatians (e) Ephesians (f) Colossians
(17) selfishness
(18) because they imply the inner response of man to God
(19) true
(20) an inflamed desire for sexual gratification beyond what is normal
(21) pornography acts like a powerful stimulant to sexual drive and lust
(22) self
(23) (a) the creator (b) careful
(24) greed
(25) the love of material possessions
(26) true
(27) extortion
(28) (a) food (b) raiment
(29) true
(30) deprecate
(31) control of the heart
(32) (a) praise (b) thanksgiving
(33) Hell
(34) (a) God (b) cause
(35) perceived violation of the rights of the all important self
(36) murder
(37) one who will accept no peaceful
(38) no place
(39) Christ
(40) any two of the following: (a) liars (b) vicious brutes (c) lazy gluttons
(41) slothfulness
(42) laziness
(43) true
REVIEW
48
(1) any deviation from conformity to the character of God
(2) degrees of sin
(3) yes
(5) (a) the spirit (b) the flesh (c) avarice (d) the tongue (e) violence
(8) selfishness
(9) 13
(10) a perceived violation of the rights of the all important self.
II. BASIC ETHICAL VIRTUES

(1) What would Jesus do?
(2) true
(3) We will be changed into His Image.
(4) (a) Isaiah 11:1-5
(b) Matthew 5:1-16
(5) yes
(6) love
(7) faith
(8) false
(9) (a) virtue (b) knowledge (c) temperance (d) patience (e) godliness (f) brotherly kindness (g) charity
(10) The Seven Steps to Maturity
(11) They are produced by the Spirit.
(12) no
(13) Jesus Christ
(14) The Good Samaritan
(15) in heaven
(16) (a) covetousness (b) greed (c) theft (d) extortion (e) envy (f) idolatry
(17) practical example
(18) (a) faith (b) faith (c) practice
(19) true
(20) (a) righteousness (b) Jesus Christ (c) Christian Ethic
REVIEW
(1) What would Jesus do?
(2) true
(3) (a) Romans 12-13 (b) 2 Peter 1:5-7 (c) Galatians 5:22-23
(4) faith
(5) love
(6) (a) love (b) joy (c) peace (d) long-suffering (e) gentleness (f) goodness (g) faith (h) meekness (i) temperance
(8) to give us a practical example
(9) image
(10) like Him
III. WHEN ETHICAL DEMANDS COLLIDE

(1) (a) Absolutism (b) Relativism
(2) three
(3) Do ethical demands ever collide?
(4) sacrifice Isaac
(5) killing an innocent person
49
(6) (a) lying (b) deception
(7) (a) man (b) parents
(8) Law of the Sabbath
(9) submit
(10) no
(11) (a) lying (b) deception (c) disobedience of the law
(12) yes
(13) Non-conflicting Absolutism
(14) true
(15) (a) wrong (b) sinful
(16) God will provide a way of escape
(17) no
(18) can it be applied in every situation without exception
(19) no
(20) fallen world
(21) the lesser of two evils
(22) (a) Moral obligations are based on universal absolutes. (b) There will be moral conflict in a fallen world.
(c) We have a moral duty to do "the lesser of two evils."
(d) There is forgiveness when we repent and confess.
(23) (a) teaches that it is right to do wrong (b) makes Christ a sinner
(24) “A moral duty to sin is a moral absurdity.”
(25) Hierarchal Absolutism
(26) A ranking system, ordered according to status, authority or relative importance
(27) moral principles are absolute
(28) not all moral duties are of equal weight, status or importance
(29) a higher duty which took precedence
(30) (a) hierarchy (b) the higher duty
(31) cannot
(32) true
(33) (a) God (b) in its sphere and order of priority (c) absolute as well
(34) under the command of a higher obligation
(35) true
(36) true
(37) true
(38) a hierarchy of absolutes
REVIEW
(1) (a) Non-Conflicting Absolutism (b) Conflicting Absolutism (c) Hierarchal Absolutism
(2) yes
(3) true
(5) Corrie ten Boom
(6) true
(7) choose the lesser of two evils
(8) higher command
(9) sin
(10) higher obligation (or) command
PRE TEST
(1) the reproduction of the character of God
(2) (a) created universe (b) man's inner sense of right and wrong
(c) the character of God set forth in the Mosaic Law (d) the person of Jesus Christ
50
(3) any deviation from conformity to the character of God
(4) degrees of sin
(5) yes
(7) (a) the spirit (b) the flesh (c) avarice (d) the tongue (e) violence
(10) selfishness
(11) What would Jesus do?'
(12) true
(13) love
(14) (a) love (b) joy (c) peace (d) long-suffering (e) gentleness (f) goodness (g) faith
(h) meekness (i) temperance
(16) image
(17) (a) Non-Conflicting Absolutism (b) Conflicting Absolutism (c) Hierarchal Absolutism
(18) yes
(19) true
(20) no
(22) true
(23) the lesser of two evils
(24) higher command (or) obligation
(25) sin
CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART III

51
SEXUAL AND ABORTION ETHICS
The completion of Christian Ethics: Part III you should enable you to:
* To identify the philosophical roots that produced the sexual revolution and the effects which followed.
* To trace the effects of breaking God's moral laws.
* To explain how a moral collapse has effected the health of the entire world.
* To trace how homosexual behavior has become a major force for evil in today's society.
* To identify the connection between immoral behavior and the demand for abortion.
* To describe the different methods of abortion.
* To defend a biblical position regarding when life begins.
* To give an authoritative answer to questions about abortion.
* To counsel those who are confused on these issues.
GLOSSARY FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART III
1. Abortion: For purposes of this discussion, abortion is understood to mean the deliberate termination of a
human pregnancy which results in the death of the baby.
2. Homosexual: The word as used in this study describes certain deviant sexual behavior between persons of
the same sex.
3. Pansexual: The belief that sex is amoral and may be conducted between any variety of partners, whether
human or animal.
4. Philosophical Evolution: The approach to human behavior which is based on the belief that humans have
emerged from the lower species so that behavior which is normal among animal species is an acceptable
norm for humans.
5. Pragmatism: A view of ethics which judges right and wrong on the basis of what produces apparent success.
"If it works, do it!"
6. Sexual Revolution: That social revolt against accepted norms and standards which occurred during the
1960’s in which any and all forms of sexual expression were deemed acceptable and desirable.
7. Situational: The philosophy that actions may be judged right or wrong depending upon the circumstances.
INTRODUCTION
A leading news magazine, writing during the last century, splashed across its cover the following line: "The
morals of America have deteriorated more in the last twelve months, than in the last fifty years" (Newsweek,
1969). Although shocking, the line was not surprising. These were the decades when the seeds of Pragmatism,
Existentialism and Situationalism had come to fruition. Antinomian and Relativistic philosophies had been
taught as wisdom to several generations of American youth. These fallacious and faulty philosophies had first
been espoused in colleges which were built years before with Christian finances for noble purposes, where once
faith in God had reigned, but where the corrosive acid of liberalism and unbelief had eroded away all but the
skeleton of religious belief. Once the seeds of unbelief were planted at the college level, within the next
generation, the deadly teachings (all based on a foundation of philosophical evolution), reached the lower
schools, and the inevitable outcome of their noxious poison exploded in the lawlessness of the sexual revolution
of the 1960's and beyond.
(1) Name three philosophies which were taught in colleges during the first half of the 20th Century.
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________
(2) After a generation of acceptance in colleges, these philosophies began to be taught in
______________________________________________________________________________________.
(3) In 1969 Newsweek Magazine reported; "______________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.”
Today, we live in an "anything goes" environment where sex, violence and greed are the virtues of the hour. As
a result what was condemned, outlawed, and considered outrageously unthinkable, has become the usual, if you
52
please, the norm - the accepted standard of conduct. For those who believe in an absolute ethic which finds its
foundation in the character of God, the situation is intolerable. Like Lot of old, many today vex their righteous
souls from day to day with the filthy conversation (life-style) of the wicked. And yet, like Lot, for the sake of
material gain, many remain silent and raise no cry against the iniquity all around them. It is a silence
condemned by God (Leviticus 5:1; 19:17; Proverbs 24:11-12), which makes us, who maintain it, co-
conspirators with those who actually commit the crimes.
If we accept the ethical standard of the character of God as absolute and universal, it is imperative that we
consider the ethical issues that are upon us in these days. With that in mind, we have chosen five issues that
confront us in contemporary society. They are for the most part issues that cross the boundaries of most cultural
contexts of our time. We want to examine each in the light of the revelation of the righteous character of God
given us in Scripture, and make those necessary judgments which flow from that examination. We will begin
with looking at the Sexual Revolution, then proceed to something which has largely emerged as a result of that
revolution, the subject of Abortion. Next we will examine Euthanasia and Suicide. Finally we will examine the
issue of War. At the close of this PART you will be encouraged to examine a current ethical problem peculiar to
your culture and determine what your ethical position should be.
(4) An Old Testament example of a man who lived in a corrupt environment like our own is _______________.
(5) There are five issues which we will consider. List them.
(a) _________________________________ (d) _________________________________
(b) _________________________________ (e) __________________________________
(c) _________________________________
I. THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION

A. Safe Sex - A Civilization in Crisis
He (God) hath made every thing beautiful in his time (Ecclesiastes 3:11). That is the way it works when God's
creative purposes are allowed to function as they were intended. But man has a long history of perverting God's
intentions and running ahead of His timing. Robert Burns said it succinctly, "Pleasures are as poppies spread,
you seize the flower, the bloom is shed." Reginald Heber once wrote, that in all of God's creation, "only man is
vile."
The sexual revolution in America began in the early 1960's. By 1969, Newsweek Magazine had reported, "The
morals of America have deteriorated more in the last 12 months than in the last 50 years."
Obviously something was wrong. Behavior which would have been thought scandalous and unthinkable a
generation before had become popular and accepted. But as Norman Geisler observes, "Morality does not
change. Basic moral principles do not change; what changes is our understanding of them and our performance
of them. To affirm that moral laws themselves change is misinformed for many reasons. It confuses unchanging
moral values with changing moral practices. That is, it confuses morals and mores. It confuses an absolute
moral command with our relative comprehension of it" (Geisler, p.266).
Teens, in the 1960’s, ran away from home, away from parental restraints and did just what their peers and their
college professors told them to do. Defrocked college professor Timothy Leary preached, "turn on; tune in; drop
out." The slogan was meant to imply that real "truth" could be best learned, not in school, but in an altered state
of consciousness produced by hallucinogenic drugs. With their senses dulled by drugs and with the protection
of the family lost through rebellion, they soon expressed themselves in "free love" and "free sex", neither of
which have ever been free.
(6) The sex-revolution began in America in what decade? ________

(7) Timothy Leary preached "________________________________________________________________.”
(8) How did such individuals believe that "truth" could best be learned? ________________________________
(9) With senses dulled by (a) _______________and family protection lost by (b) _____________________,
they expressed themselves in (c) ____________________ and (d) _________________________________.
53
(10) Free sex is not free because there is a high price to be paid. (True or False) _______________
(11) Give the reference where God declares that everything He has made (including sex) is beautiful. ________
If there was a particular point at which everything seemed to change, perhaps it was the publication of Alfred C.
Kinsey's shocking book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Kinsey, though a popular icon, was, by training,
not even a sociologist, but actually an insect biologist, who produced a documented disclosure of sexual
behavior in tune with his own evolutionary and pansexual bias. In contrast to Kinsey and his ideas, God's word
lists twelve different categories of sexual expression which were forbidden under Mosaic Law, most all of them
still considered out of bounds by most societies (see Leviticus 18).
Hardly had sex hit the spotlight, when Hugh Heffner created Playboy Magazine and flushed out his fantasy
world of sex in his Bunny and Playboy clubs. Heffner claimed, "What I am doing is making money out of
people's dreams." Perhaps he really meant "other people’s fantasies," and if so, maybe he knew more about us
than we would like to admit.
Soon there were so-called "adult bookstores" springing up everywhere, where for as little as a quarter you could
see and experience that world of which the Apostle Paul wrote when he said, It is a shame even to speak of
those things which are done of them in secret (Ephesians 5:12). And as we sat passively by, sex and nudity
became rampant and went on public display. Apparently we need to be reminded that, "Sex was not intended to
be a spectator sport."
(12) At what point did the view of sex begin to change in western society? _____________________________
(13) What credentials did Kinsey have for writing this book? ________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(14) In Ephesians, Paul tells us concerning such acts that it is ________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
As the 1960's roared to a close, everything seemed to break loose, from topless dancers and avant-garde theater,
to naked performers standing front-on in the Broadway hippy play, "Hair." And self-styled philosopher and
columnist Lawrence Lipton encouraged his audiences to go even further. Lipton, a regular lecturer on liberal
college campuses, preached, "What could be more scientific than the new morality? Its principle tenant is trial
and error. Try it and see. If it doesn't do for you, don't do it." - advice akin to saying, "put a little arsenic in your
tea to spark it up, and if you don't like it, just don't do it again!" Have we forgotten that actions have
consequences? But Lipton was right about one thing. He would boldly declare, "Who instituted these
laws. . .these sexual laws? God did!" But then he would go on to sneer, "But nobody believes in God anymore.
God is dead . . . and He's stinking up the whole western world in refusing to get buried." And with that he would
encourage his impressionable audiences to go ahead and break whatever laws they wished. Well, Lipton is no
longer with us. I wonder what he thinks now? But unfortunately the revolution which he helped to spawn is
very much alive and fast coming to maturity.
Dr. John Jefferson Davis cites some disturbing figures: "According to Dr. Aaron Hass, supervisor of UCLA's
Human Sexuality Clinic, 43 percent of the boys and 31 percent of the girls in the U.S. lose their virginity by age
16. Teenage girls account for 18 percent of the sexually experienced women in the country, but are responsible
for 46 percent of out-of-wedlock births and 31 percent of all abortions. Teen promiscuity clearly constitutes one
of our society's major problems" (Davis, p. 43).
Davis goes on to lay much of the responsibility for all of this at the feet of a liberal media which sees everything
through the eyes of a relativistic code of non-ethics. Davis says, "The language routinely used in the media and
in educational circles makes its own value judgments: teens are no longer ‘promiscuous,' much less engaging in
‘fornication,' but rather have chosen to become 'sexually active.' Such language is neither neutral nor objective,
but implies the legitimacy of sex outside of marriage. 'Active' is such a strong and positive word that the
'sexually inactive' must be unhealthy or abnormal or 'hung up,' or so it would seem" (Davis, p. 43). And this
trend is not confined to America either. It is a world-wide phenomena. Mission Network News (a news service
of Cornerstone College), reported recently that according to Sergey Rakhuba, because of abortion, drugs and
54
other issues, the death rate is outpacing the birth rate in Russia. He went on to say that sexual promiscuity could
mean the end of Russia as we know it today.
(15) According to John Jefferson Davis, the media tends to be morally neutral. (True or False) _____________
(16) Lawrence Lipton understood that all law has its basis in God, but told his young audiences that, " God
_________________________.”
(17) The sex-revolution and its accompanying problems is confined to America. (True or False) ____________
As the 1970's dawned, however, a new wave of sexual expression went public. In San Francisco liberal
preachers gave a ball for homosexuals and 600 of them came out of the closet to attend. In a recent book
entitled After the Ball, homosexual activists actually date the beginning of their revolution to this event. It is
difficult to believe it in our days when homosexuality has become a legal "civil right," but back then, those
apostate ministers were arrested for their conduct. Although the event generated little attention at the time, it
became the "shot heard round the world" for homosexual activism. In their book, After the Ball: How America
Will Conquer Its Fear and Hatred of Gays, Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen combined psychiatric and public
relations expertise in devising a strategy to change the perception of society toward the Gay community. Has it
worked? At the Ball, those who participated were arrested. Today, you could be arrested for opposing it.
(18) What form of sexual expression went public in the 1970's?_______________________________________
(19) What happened to the liberal preachers who sponsored the event? _________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(20) Name the book that made the Ball a pivotal event. _____________________________________________
B. The Wages of Sin
God said it long ago, but we continue to prove its truth, They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the
whirlwind (Hosea 8:7).
1. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
How safe is free uninhibited sex? Before I even try to answer that question, let me reflect that in the late 1940's
and 1950's Syphilis and Gonorrhea were almost non-existent except in the red-light districts of some of our
larger cities. Diseases like Herpes, Chlamydia, and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease were simply unknown. But we
sowed to the wind, and look what we have reaped! Genital Herpes which was first diagnosed in the 1960's had
grown to epidemic proportions by the early 80's. Says Dr. Walter E. Stamm of the University of Washington,
"of the 25 or so diseases now known to be spread through sexual contact, it is estimated that genital Herpes has
infected one-half million new victims annually for the past several years."
In 1985 sexually transmitted diseases had reached proportions that were never known before in the 20th
century. Old diseases like Syphilis and Gonorrhea were on the increase. Gonorrhea struck some 2 million
Americans in 1984, and Syphilis 90 thousand. Perhaps the fastest growing STD was an infection most of its
victims have never heard of before - Chlamydia. This disorder now strikes about 3-4 million Americans each
year, causing sterility in 11 thousand women annually. Former Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, said
"Chlamydia has replaced Gonorrhea as the most frequently sexually transmitted bacterial infection. Up to 40%
of some adolescent populations are infected with this organism."
Down at the very bottom of the list was a new disease we had never heard of before. We called it AIDS. Almost
at once we knew that this was something different. At that time AIDS had the fewest victims of any of the
sexually transmitted diseases, but the media reported, "Very few victims survive."
(21) Name five sexually transmitted diseases that became prominent in the 1980's.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________
(22) What new disease began to get attention about this time? ______________
(23) Write out Hosea 8:7. _____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
55
2. The Introduction of AIDS Virus Infection to the United States
Although not recognized as such at the time, cases of AIDS virus infection in the United States first appeared
during the middle and late 1970's. The lengthy incubation period of the virus indicates that infection with the
AIDS virus had actually begun occurring several years previously, possibly around 1970 or before.
What is AIDS? As the name implies, the Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome is best known for producing
an inability of the body's immune system to ward off infections. The agent which causes AIDS is a retro-virus, a
tiny effective agent so small that 250 million of them could fit on the period at the end of a sentence.
Once inside the body, the virus attacks a particular kind of white cell, the helper T-cells. They are the ones
which, when they sense an advancing disease, send the message to other white cells that they must collectively
resist. They are a crucial element in the body's defense system. The virus then penetrates the T-cells, and
through a complicated genetic process forces the T-cells to manufacture copies of the virus itself.
In the process, the T-cell, this essential part of the immune system, dies, and in time, when enough T-cells are
penetrated, infected, and die, the body is no longer able to fight off the series of devastating infections that we
know as AIDS. Dr. C. Everett Koop, says, "HIV is a very unusual virus. Unlike viruses that cause more familiar
illnesses, HIV becomes a permanent part of the genetic material in the cells it attacks. The familiar flu virus is a
separate germ that the body's immune system can destroy; that's how you get over the flu. But the AID's virus
actually becomes a part of a common blood cell, and the body cannot destroy it. This means that a person who
has been infected by HIV carries the virus for life and potentially can infect other people even though he or she
may not show any signs of illness. Persons infected with the virus can be well for a long period, between the
time of infection and the time symptoms appear, from six months to seven years or more. Many people now
carrying the virus seem perfectly healthy and don't know that they have been infected."
(24) AIDS causes the inability of what? _________________________________________________________
(25) Once a body is infected with AIDS it is possible to eventually destroy the virus and regain complete health.
(True or False) _______________
3. How is AIDS Transmitted?
What are the primary modes for the transmission of AIDS? Basically AIDS is a sexually transmitted disease,
and originally that was the only way in which it was transmitted. Between 1976 and 1981, the Center for
Disease Control defined AIDS in the United States as linked almost exclusively with the practice of
homosexuality. The correlation between the practice of homosexuality and occurrence of this syndrome was so
strong that initially it was called GRID, the Gay Related Immunodeficiency Disease. In deference to intense
lobbying efforts by homosexual activists, and as the disease was spread to other groups, the title GRID was
replaced by the more generic acronym AIDS - Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome.
By 1982, the AIDS virus had spread out of its previous epidemiologic closet of confinement. Intravenous (IV)
drug abusers, infants, and hemophiliacs had been diagnosed with the full-blown syndrome. Before the danger
was even suspected, fully three-fourths of the 14,200 hemophiliacs in this country were infected by
contaminated blood through blood transfusions. That means that in that one category alone, approximately
10,650 innocent victims died of AIDS. Finally, and tragically, AIDS can be, and has been, transferred from the
mother to a child at birth.
(26) Name three ways in which the AIDS virus is transmitted.

(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Why has this disease reached the epidemic proportions that it has and why have we not been able to get control
of it?
56
The first reason is the nature of the virus itself. A report from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, by the investigators
who originally isolated the virus, suggests that the AIDS virus might be pretty tough. The French study finds
that the virus can survive up to ten days at room temperature even when dried out in a Petri dish.
But a second and more important reason is that powerful political forces have resisted every attempt to deal
with the disease in the usual historic manner of quarantine or isolation. In a statement on the control of "classic"
Venereal Disease, Dr. Richard Restah says, "Many younger Americans may not recall that a few decades ago,
prior to the discovery of antibiotics, Syphilis was incurable and often resulted after many years in the gradual
but progressive destruction of the central nervous system, dementia (insanity), heart disease, crippling joint
disease, blindness and death. Syphilis was defeated by routine epidemiologic techniques. Everyone was tested
when hospitalized, married, or inducted into the armed forces until the affected were identified, counseled, and
all contacts followed."
(27) Give two reasons why the AIDS epidemic has not been stopped.
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(28) Describe how previous diseases like Syphilis had, in the past, been brought under control. _____________
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Militant Homosexuals
The National Coalition of Gay Organizations adopted what was called the "Gay Rights Platform." This platform
has been the manifesto undergirding homosexual political activism. Some of the stated goals are highly
pertinent in light of the AIDS epidemic.
Among the demands of this militant organization at the Federal level are, "Federal encouragement and support
for sex education courses, prepared and taught by gay women and men, presenting homosexuality as a valid,
healthy preference and lifestyle as a viable alternative to heterosexuality." At the state level the same
organization has fought to, "Repeal all state laws prohibiting private sexual acts involving consenting persons,"
and the "enactment of legislation so that child custody, adoption, visitation rights, foster parenting, and the like
shall not be denied because of sexual orientation." Summed up, the ongoing tenaciously held goal of the
homosexual movement is acceptance of homosexual acts as a normal variant of human behavior and of
homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle. Geisler observes, "There are no homosexual rights. Homosexuals have
rights as citizens but not as homosexuals. Homosexual acts are morally wrong, and there is no right to do a
wrong. That is moral nonsense. Neither are there any civil rights to do a moral wrong. Homosexuality is
morally wrong, and the civil law should not encourage what is morally wrong. Civil law should be based on
moral law” (Geisler, p. 266).
As this course is in preparation, two states have begun performing homosexual marriages and the Federal
Government has announced an attempt to write and pass an amendment to the constitution to define marriage as
being between one man and one woman. John Jefferson Davis has written, "The spread of homosexuality in a
society is in itself a sign of that society's apostacy and of the impending judgment of God" (Davis, p. 107).
(29) What is the "ongoing tenaciously held goal of the homosexual movement?" _________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(30) What did Dr. John Jefferson Davis say that the spread of homosexuality was a sign of?________________
(31) Civil law should be based upon ____________________________________________________________.
5. Religious Homosexuals
Homosexual activism is not confined to the secular world alone. There is a relatively small but vocal minority
which is attempting to legitimatize homosexuality within the Church. Claiming that God made homosexuals
what they are, and denying that a homosexual can ever change their "orientation," a religious denomination was
formed to minister to practicing homosexuals. It is known as the Metropolitan Community Church, and it has
become part of the militant army of gay activists. The founder and self-appointed leader of the Metropolitan
Community Church is Troy Perry.
57
A chief apologist for this movement is a writer by the name of Ralph Blair. Blair is president of a group known
as "Evangelicals Concerned" and publishes a newsletter known as "RECORD" where he defends homosexual
practice as normal and acceptable. Blair denies that conversion can change the "sexual orientation" of a
homosexual (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). In volume 12, #2 published in 1988, Blair writes, "A non-practicing
homosexual is still a homosexual." In other words Blair subscribes to the myth that homosexuality is an
inherited trait and not merely a manifestation of man's depraved nature. Blair is quoted by McQuilkin as
follows; "In a pamphlet entitled What Is EC? The answer is given to the question, What does EC believe? 'We
believe that Christian gay people are a part of God's kingdom and are bona fide disciples of Christ. . . .
Doctrinally, we are evangelical in the historic sense of believing the basics of Christianity as revealed in the
Word of God. Some Evangelicals and Charismatics say it's un-Christian and that homosexuals should 'get
delivered' and if that doesn't work, they should just sit and be quiet and forget about romance and sex for the
rest of their lives. People are swallowing this baloney.' "(McQuilkin, p.249)
In his paper, Blair frequently reinterprets Scripture and theology to justify acceptance of practicing
homosexuals in the fellowship of the Church. However, even Blair paused long enough to get honest on one
occasion. In that edition Blair, as quoted by the Christian Inquirer, wrote, "What if all our fancy footwork
finally means nothing against the plain fact we've suspected all along: that homosexuality is an abomination
against God? How in the world can it be that our critics have been wrong all these years and only we now are
right?" The question is indeed on the mark. With arguments that range from the claim that the sin of Sodom was
not homosexuality but "a lack of hospitality," to the denial that the New Testament passages ever refer to
"homosexual relationships," but rather always to "temple prostitution," these writers have made every attempt to
eliminate Scripture's condemnation of homosexuality. About all they have proven, however, is their own biases.
A group calling themselves 'Other Sheep' has published a pamphlet entitled Have You Heard about the Fifth
Spiritual 'Law' for Gay Men and Lesbians? That 'law' states, 'Your sexual orientation is a gift of God.' It
misinterprets and misapplies Paul's statement 'each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and
another in that.' It claims the passage at least in part refers to homosexuals. The context, however, clearly
addressed the married and single life.
From Genesis to Revelation the Bible condemns homosexual practices in all of its forms (Genesis 18:20;
19:1-28; Revelation 22:15. . .the term dogs referred to male prostitutes). (See also Leviticus 18:22;
Deuteronomy 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24; 15:12; 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11;
1 Timothy 1:10; 2 Peter 2:6-9; Jude verse 7).
Even the national news magazine "Time" asked the question pointedly, "How gay is gay?" (Time; April 23,
1979). Dr. Tim LaHaye attempted an insightful answer to that question in his revealing book, The Unhappy
Gays.
(32) What religious denomination was founded with the express purpose of embracing practicing homosexuals?
______________________________________________________________________________________
(33) Ralph Blair argues that homosexuals cannot change what? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
(34) What Scriptural reference specifically speaks of those who were once involved in homosexual conduct, but
have been cleansed? ______________
6. The Root of the Problem

David Wilkerson has worked with hundreds of individuals who have been involved in homosexual activity.
Wilkerson says of the homosexual . . . "Homosexuals are not born that way. There is very little evidence that
homosexual traits are inherited. There are many factors that contribute to the development of these tendencies
supporting the idea that homosexuals are made, not born. After interviewing hundreds of homosexuals, I have
concluded many have become that way from feeding their minds on homosexual pornography and from
experimenting to find out what it's like. Too late, some confess, ‘I was just curious; now I'm hooked.’
Homosexuality is not a result of chemical imbalance in the glands. It can, however, be a result of spiritual
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imbalance in the heart. Homosexuality is a life of self-torture, of unfulfilled desires, of inner conflicts, and of
feelings of inferiority and helplessness, but with God nothing is impossible. Whatever we ask the Father in
Christ's name, He will do it, and that includes healing the homosexual . . . They may still have moments of
sudden temptation, but God gives strength and victory" (Wilkerson, p. 47). Norman Geisler summarizes the
matter in his usual lucid manner.
"Homosexual tendencies are not inherited. Homosexual acts cannot be justified on the grounds that they are
inherited for several reasons. There is no undisputed scientific evidence to support the contention that
homosexual tendencies are genetic. It shows every evidence of being a learned behavior. People are recruited
into the movement and taught to perform homosexual acts. Even if there were an inherited tendency toward a
homosexual attitude, this would not justify homosexual acts. Some people seem to inherit a tendency toward
violence, but this does not justify violent acts. Some people are said to have an inherited tendency toward
alcohol abuse, but this does not justify drunkenness. The Bible declares that homosexuality is "unnatural" and
comes about only when someone "abandons" his or her natural inclinations (Romans 1:26-27). The Bible
teaches that we all inherit a tendency to sin (Psalms 51:4; Ephesians 2:3), but we are still responsible for
sinning" (Geisler, p. 266).
Dr. Bill Gothard has demonstrated that homosexual impurity, like all other moral impurity, can be tracked on a
discernible path of rationalization which leads to self-deception. Gothard claims that we begin in a state of
moral innocence, but that eventually the mind is awakened to natural curiosity about certain immoral practices.
As the pursuit of knowledge about those practices continues, the conscience is awakened and warns of danger.
But the heart of man has, what Gothard calls, "a sensual focus" which violates the conscience and pursues both
knowledge and experimentation, until at last the knowledge becomes experience. The result, says Gothard, is
feelings of guilt which we invariably attempt to relieve by half-hearted repentance or resolution that, "I am
never going to do that again."
However, Gothard continues his argument that by our experimentation, we have awakened new appetites, and
now these demand to be satisfied, which leads to frustration. Unable to cope with temptation and unable to
endure the weight of guilt, we rethink our moral convictions to rationalize our actions. This ultimately leads to a
rejection of God since God is the basis for all moral absolutes. We develop a militant readiness to defend our
actions and our new philosophy which leads ultimately to a reprobate mind with no moral sensitivity at all. I
think Gothard may have placed his finger on the exact point of the problem, and that is what is really behind the
loud affirmations of legitimacy within the gay community.
(35) David Wilkerson believes that God can heal the homosexual. (True or False) _____________
(36) Bill Gothard traces the problem to a sense of guilt and an attempt at self-justification. (True or False) ____
(37) Geisler argues that homosexual tendencies do not excuse homosexual acts. (True or False) ___________
C. What Must Be Our Response?
In the first place, we must have compassion on all people infected with AIDS. Several years ago I took a look at
what I called "The Faces of AIDS." There was a young man named Jay - a practicing homosexual. Most of his
friends were dead and Jay was dying. He has indeed since died. Then there was a teenager, Ryan White, who
was a hemophiliac and at thirteen became an innocent victim of AIDS through tainted blood. I found women
like Andre Walton who contracted AIDS through a medical procedure and who was forsaken by her husband
and left to face life and death alone. And I will never forget Kimberly Bergalis who got AIDS from a visit to her
dentist. She spent the rest of her brief life crusading for tighter restrictions and mandatory testing within the
medical community, but couldn't prevail against the militant gay community which invoked the issue of
"privacy" against her earnest appeals. She, too, is now dead.
Secondly, we must continue to reach out in love with the Gospel of redeeming grace to those who have been
caught in the homosexual trap as well as all forms of immorality. Homosexual practice leads to one of the
strongest emotional and spiritual forms of bondage known to man. But it is not beyond the power of God. If
indeed any form of homosexual activity is a sin as Scripture clearly teaches, then it must be equally true that,
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there hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to
be tempted above that ye are able: but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13). And please note that the way to escape is never by being overcome by the
temptation, but rather by overcoming through the power of God.
Third, we have a moral duty to give the truth to the most "endangered species" of all, our teen population. The
best advice the national media seems to be able to offer teens is, "use a condom." And this in spite of the fact
that condoms have about a 15% failure rate in controlling pregnancy (which can happen only about 36 days out
of a year). How safe are they, then, for controlling AIDS which you can get 365 days a year? I have compared it
to telling teens that it is okay to drive 90 miles per hour around a blind curve in the passing lane of the highway
- just as long as you are wearing your seat belt!
(38) What verse promises escape from every form of temptation?_____________________________________
(39) What three responses are we called upon to have?
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Several years ago ABC ran a 2-hour special program on the subject of AIDS - hosted by anchor-man Peter
Jennings. Along with scores of teens, some of whom were already infected by the HIV virus, were a galaxy of
authorities who spoke out on the danger of AIDS - among them the then serving United States Surgeon General,
Dr. Antonia Novello. Prominent throughout the discussion was the idea that safe sex can be practiced by
wearing a condom. Then, Peter Jennings asked, "How many of you don't talk to your parents about sex and
AIDS, etc.?" A young man on the show named Bryan said he did not, so Peter singled him out to ask why? -
Surely he wanted to . . . right? "No," said Bryan, "I believe in abstinence, so it just isn't a subject I have to
embarrass my mother with by talking to her about it!" It seems it took a teen to get it right. Remember, every 30
seconds a teen contracts a venereal disease; that's two a minute, 120 an hour, and over 1,000,000 a year!
According to the World Health Organization report for 2002, there are now 42 million people living with
HIV /AIDS world-wide. Of these, there are 980,000 people living in North America with HIV / AIDS. Five
million new infections occurred in 2002. A total of 3.1 million people died of HIV / AIDS related causes in
2002 alone. And that is only one of the dozen or so sexually transmitted diseases ravishing the world
population.
Bryan's answer, "I believe in abstinence," works! In Maryland they quit trying to teach so-called "safe sex" and
started teaching chastity instead. What happened? In two years Maryland's pregnancy rate among teens went
down by 2%, while the national average rose by 8%. And the reason chastity works is because God appointed it
that way. No population or society was ever decimated or wiped out by practicing Biblical morality!
(40) Finish the statement; "No population or society was ever decimated or wiped out by
_____________________________________________________________________________________.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:3 we read, For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from
fornication. God goes on to instruct us that His will for us is that every one of you should know how to possess
his vessel in sanctification and honor. . . The phrase, possess his vessel literally means "control his body." God
intends that we learn to control bodily appetites, not simply give in to them as animals do. Someone has well
said, "the body is created to be our servant, but it can become a terrible master." The whole line of biblical
teaching is toward our being able to master our bodies, and that includes the sex drive.
In 1 Corinthians 6:13 we read, Now the body is not for fornication. And in Ephesians 5:3 Scripture commands,
But fornication, and all uncleanness, . . . let it not be once named among you . . .
And again in 2 Timothy 2:22 we are commanded to Flee also youthful lusts . . . Let's face it. Society may call it
"love" but the Bible calls it "lust." Society calls it "making out," but the Bible calls it "fornication." Society calls
it being "sexually active," but the Bible calls it "sin!" And the price of sin is still death. . . he that committeth
fornication sinneth against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18). If you play - you pay!
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D. Conclusion
In twenty years of ministry to high school students I was able to confront hundreds of them on this issue on
many occasions. I frequently called upon them to make a vow to God to remain chaste until marriage. Hundreds
of them responded. God has an absolute ethic with regards to sex. In the marriage bedroom it is, honorable in
all, and the bed undefiled. Apart from that it is sinful and damaging to your body, your mind, and your spirit
and God does not have any secondary system for "adults." I know of few other sins that affect so much, so
deeply and whose consequences extend to so many. Remember the words of our Lord . . .Blessed are the pure
in heart: for they shall see God.
(41) Write down 5 verse references that call for moral purity.
(a) ______________________________ (b) ______________________________
(c) ______________________________ (d) ______________________________
(e) ______________________________
1 What three philosophies were consistently taught in colleges during the first half of the 20th Century?
(a) ___________________________________ (b) ____________________________________
(c) ___________________________________
2. What five ethical issues will be considered in our study?
(a) ______________________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________________
(c) ______________________________________________________________
(d) ______________________________________________________________
(e) ______________________________________________________________
3. Why is the term "free sex” an oxymoron? ______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
4. How did Timothy Leary propose that “truth" could best be perceived? _______________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What one book most greatly influenced the public view of sex in western society?______________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
6. In what decade of the last century did homosexuality first go public? __________
7. Name five sexually transmitted diseases that became prominent in the 1980's.
(a) _____________________________________ (d) ______________________________________
(b) _____________________________________ (e) ______________________________________
(c) _____________________________________
8. Name three ways in which the AIDS virus may be transmitted.

(a) __________________________________ (b) __________________________________
(c) __________________________________
9. What is the "ongoing tenaciously held goal of the homosexual movement”?___________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
10. Locate in your Bible and write out the verse which specifically speaks of those who were once involved in
homosexual conduct, but have been cleansed proving that repentant, converted homosexuals can and do
change their orientation.___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________Reference:______________________
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INTRODUCTION
"My mother did not want a seventh child, and so she planned to have me aborted before I was even born. Then
a wonderful thing happened. Her sister (my aunt) dissuaded her, and so I was permitted to be born. Think of it,
it was a miracle!" That statement would be gripping no matter who said it, but it becomes profound in the lips
of Arthur Rubinstein, by common consent, the world's greatest pianist. One cannot but wonder, in these days of
easy abortion how many world geniuses and greatly gifted individuals like Arthur Rubinstein have been
slaughtered by an abortionist's knife.
It is not without significance that the sexual revolution of the 1960's brought about the fight over abortion in the
1970's. Unbridled and uninhibited sex has it consequences.
(1) What phenomena brought about the fight over abortion?__________________________________________
(2) What famous individual barely escaped being aborted? __________________________________________
I became interested in the subject of Abortion as a result of a small news article in our local paper back in 1970,
which carried the heading, "50,000 Abortions in New York City!" As I read the article I found that abortion had
just been legalized in New York that year, and in the first four months, under the new laws, 50,000 babies had
been aborted. It didn't take too much skill to figure out that at that rate the numbers would translate into 150,000
in one year, and that number accounted for only one city. For the first time in my life, I asked myself what I
believed about abortion. My honest reply was, I had a gut feeling it was terribly wrong, but I knew nothing
about it. I had never even thought of abortion. And in 1970, it was a little harder to get the kind of hard medical
information that would help me reach an informed decision. However, long before I felt satisfied about the
biological and medical side of abortion, a study of the Scriptures convinced me about the biblical position on
abortion, something I have called the theology of abortion. In 1971 I published the first book on abortion from
an evangelical and biblical perspective. I called it, Murder, and How To Make It Legal: A Study of Abortion.
The book went through three printings in the following two years.
II. AN EXAMINATION OF ABORTION
As we begin to examine this most controversial of subjects, I want to consider it from four perspectives: (1) The
Mystery of Birth, (2) Abortion and the Law, (3) Abortion Methods and Morality, and (4) The Theology of
Abortion - Does the Bible really have anything to tell us about this subject?
A. The Mystery of Abortion
God has marvelously equipped the human body with life potentialities from creation. Each adult living creature
is given by God the power to reproduce after its kind. As one outstanding medical authority put it: "When the
male sperm and the female ovum unite, before the two pronuclei fuse, a process commences governed by the
DNA molecular pattern which determines all of the characteristics of the unborn individual, and this occurs
before the first division of the zygote." What that means in simple laymen's terminology is: life begins at the
very moment of conception, and left uninterrupted, it holds all of the potentialities of a fully developed mature
individual.
In 1964, LIFE magazine ran a series of articles in three successive issues in which they undertook to prove
conclusively that life begins at the moment of conception. The articles were the first of their kind and
tremendously convincing. Strangely enough, by the turn of the decade, the magazine wanted to forget that it had
proven so successfully that life begins long before birth, at the very instant of conception and at no other time.
(3) When does life begin? ____________________________________________________________________
The fact is that all life is a continuum, from the moment of conception, to the moment of birth, there is a gradual
development which is predictable and, with certain variations, is related to known time elements.
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In the first week, immediately after conception, the fertilized egg makes its way down the fallopian tube and
imbeds itself upon the lining of the mother's uterus. Here it is implanted in a small cluster of cells which
resembles a tiny cyst. However, there are present within that "cyst" all of the components which will soon
develop themselves into a fully functioning individual.
In the third week, some dramatic changes take place. By the time the baby is twenty days old, the two lobes of
the brain are clearly visible and have been photographed, along with the neutral groove which will soon form
the spinal column. "Somites" are also visible to the sides which will shortly become the rib cage. Along with
that, the pelvic region is already developing. Even at this early age, positive results have been gotten by electro-
cephlographic tests indicating that the baby's brain is already functional.
By the end of the eighth week, the baby has reached completion of form. What that means is that all the body
members are now present and accounted for; they need only to develop and grow. It is also at this time that the
scientific community has decided that the embryo now has to change its name - it is now no longer an embryo,
but a fetus. Frankly, I think one of the errors which we have fallen prey to in all of this is the temptation to adapt
to these arbitrary and humanistic designations. The words "embryo" and "fetus" sound very much like tonsils or
appendix.
The latter are, after all, just body organs, and if they give us trouble, we have them removed. So it is easy to
reason, what's the difference? Why not just remove an unwanted embryo or fetus? The difference is that these
are not organs of the mother's body; in fact, they are not a part of the mother's body at all. She must give it up in
birth or face death herself, and since it is not hers to keep, it is not hers to take. If we would begin our
discussion by calling it a human baby, at whatever stage of development, we would clarify the discussion
immensely. Orwellian words were, as everyone knows, meant to obscure and confuse us, and that is exactly
what they do.
(4) What does the scientific community call a baby before the end of the 8th week? (a) ____________________
After the end of the 8th week? (b) ________________
(5) What should we call it at any stage of development? ____________________________________________
By the time the baby is twelve weeks old (three months), he is becoming exceedingly active. He is doing flip-
flops, turnarounds, and all manner of movement in his mother's womb. He may, however, be still so small that
the mother is unaware of her pregnancy. He also develops another interesting characteristic. The sucking
instinct develops and he begins to be proficient at sucking his thumb.
About the 5th month, something takes place which is generally known as quickening. That, however, does not
mean that the baby is suddenly alive, whereas before he was not alive. It does mean that now he is large enough
to make his presence known. Now is the time when the young mother invites her anxious husband to lay his
hand upon her stomach and says, "put your hand right here, honey, and you can feel our baby move."
(6) "Quickening" means that the baby is now at last really alive. (True or False) __________
By the end of the fifth month, the baby is well developed. His fingernails have reached the end of his fingers,
and by the end of the seventh month, he is so strong that if he were to be born now, he could support his entire
weight with one hand.
Finally, the miracle of birth occurs. There comes at last that wonderful moment that mother and dad have been
anticipating for so long - the moment of birth. I'm glad that hospitals are inviting fathers into the delivery room
during the birthing procedure, because that is where they ought to be. Every father ought to have the privilege
and responsibility of seeing his child born. I believe it would make a great difference in his total attitude toward
his wife and toward his offspring. There is nothing as awesome as birth, and there is little in this life that can
bring greater joy than the birth of a baby.
It may have been upon such an occasion that the Psalmist David, leaving the birth event of one of his children in
the palace, walked out onto the veranda into a cool night and looking up into the stars wrote, When I consider
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the heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars, which thou has ordained; what is man, that thou art
mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalm 8:3-4). The phrase son of man in Hebrew is
interesting. It literally translates, "or man's little baby, that thou visitest him?" Think of it! Almighty God
present at every birth. The Lord Jesus Himself said, I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always
behold the face of my Father. . . (Matthew 18:10).
(7) Upon what occasion do we believe the words of Psalm 8 may have been written? _____________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
The tragedy is that, while man is the most intelligent of all of God's creatures, he can also be the most cruel. It
was Reginald Heber, missionary to the New Hebrides, who wrote the words;
"What though the balmy breezes blow soft o'er Ceylon's Isle,
And every prospect pleases, and only man is vile."
And how vile have we become? We now abort to the very last stages of development.
Early on in the argument, it used to be said that babies that were aborted in the first twenty weeks weren't really
alive anyway because they couldn't survive outside the womb. But that argument soon proved to be another
smoke-screen when babies like Marcus Richardson, delivered into this life just twenty weeks from conception,
not only survived but survived as a very healthy and promising child. The facts of life are simply these - Life in
its totality begins at the moment of conception.
B. Abortion and the Law
Another argument raised for abortion claimed that our system of laws (which outlawed abortion in nearly every
state in the union) were antiquated, and in the light of all of our new technology and understanding of things,
the laws should be changed (does this sound like Pragmatism, or Situation Ethics?). But think about that for a
moment. If the antiquity of a law means that it is no longer true or valid, then what about other laws and
documents that predate the laws abortionists were seeking to change; documents such as our Declaration of
Independence. It declares in its opening statement - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among the which is life. . ."
(8) The earliest historical document in the United States held that men were created with the right to ________.
But in 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States sat in judgment on that most sacred right to life, when the
court considered the now famous case of Roe vs. Wade, and in a tragic decision weighted heavily upon the side
of death, the court decided that the unborn child is not, in fact, a person and has indeed no rights protected under
the law. By 1974, one year after the liberalization of the abortion laws, the number of aborted children had
already grown to a shocking 700,000. Psychologists tell us that it is impossible for us to grasp such
astronomical figures. Had we read 700 children, or perhaps even 7,000, we might have had some concept, but
700,000 - what does that mean? It requires a comparable figure to begin to put it into focus. Such a comparable
is, indeed, available.
U. S. News and World Report totaled up the number of military dead who died in all the wars we have ever
fought, from the Revolutionary War through and including the Vietnam conflict, and found that there were less
soldiers, sailors, marines and other military personnel who died in action in all of those wars combined than the
number of children we aborted in the first full year of liberalized abortion (668,227 vs. 700,000). In 1966, there
was virtually no legal abortions performed in the United States. Today, in almost every state, abortion is
available upon demand, or at least upon the flimsiest of pretenses. The result is between 1 and 2 million
abortions in this country every year. National Center for Health reports that abortion outranks all other leading
causes of death in the United States, year after year.
(9) In Roe vs. Wade the high court decided that the unborn child is not a _____________ and therefore has no
protected rights.
(10) Was the court correct? (Yes/No) __________
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The question is sometimes asked, why has abortion grown to such tremendous proportions in so short a time? I
am persuaded that abortion, just like gambling, drugs, and every other form of vice that is destructive to man,
grows rapidly for two reasons. First, because human depravity revels in the license to sin and the liberty to have
unrestricted sex without facing the consequences of conception. And secondly, this illicit trade grows because
there is money in the abortion business, and abortion clinics, and more recently hospitals, are making money on
abortion!
(11) Give two reasons why abortion has grown so fast.

(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
Yet the wise Man of Old has written, If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that
are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it?
And he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? And shall not he render to every man according to his
works? (Proverbs 24:11-12).
After speaking on the subject of abortion to the ministers of York County, Pennsylvania, they formed a
committee that drew up, what is to my mind, one of the strongest statements that has ever been delivered on the
subject of abortion. It reads:
"We the ministers of York County Evangelistic Association, being convinced by both biological and
Biblical considerations, that bonafide human and immortal life does exist in the womb from the very
moment of conception, and that to terminate that life at any stage is, therefore, to commit the act of
murder, resolve therefore that we are opposed to the crime of abortion, and to any attempts made by
government to legalize it. We further believe that there is no situation for which God does not provide a
sufficient and superior solution to that of abortion and that abortion is therefore unjustified and a crime
against both God and man."
However fine and profound such statements are however, perhaps abortion can best be summed up in the simple
question asked by a child . . . "They kill babies, don't they"? The problem in America is that we have fled from
that very obvious fact.
C. Abortion: Methods and Morals
Many of us have buried our heads in the sand and refused to face the fact that abortion kills a living baby - and
it does so by a variety of methods.
1. Dilation and Curettage Abortion
The first common type of abortion is the dilation and curettage (or D and C) procedure. In it, the opening of the
cervix is dilated, and the physician takes a curette or surgical knife, inserts it into the womb, and literally cuts
the baby in pieces.
Once the baby is out of the womb, a nurse has to reassemble the parts, for if anything remains behind, the
mother will become infected and die. This, by the way, is one of the strongest arguments there is against
abortion and for the separate personage of an unborn child. Remember what we said: That tissue is simply not
the mother's tissue. It is not hers to keep. She must give it up in birth or die herself, and if it is not hers to keep,
then it most certainly is not hers to take.
2. Partial Birth Abortion
A recent variation of this method is called the "Partial Birth Abortion," and is applied to late term abortions.
Through the cervix, the abortionist grabs the baby's legs with forceps. Then the baby's legs are pulled out into
the birth canal. The abortionist next delivers the baby's entire body, except for the head. With only the base of
the skull showing the abortionist jams scissors into the base of the baby's skull. The scissors are then spread and
a suction tube is inserted. Finally, the baby's brains are sucked out causing the skull to collapse. The dead baby
is then completely removed from the mother. It was this form of violent and inhuman abortion that was
outlawed by congress but is still being held captive by the courts, and therefore continuing to occur.
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3. Suction Abortion
Another popular method of abortion is the suction method. The tragic fact is that the tools of the surgeon have
become instruments of death, rather than life. In this procedure a glass tube is attached to a strong suction
machine and inserted into the womb. The baby, along with the placenta, is simply pulled apart by the strength of
the suction, and travels down the tube into a jar that holds the contents. Bleeding is often profuse, and the parts
of baby are usually clearly visible in the affluent.
4. Saline Abortion
A fourth method of abortion is the saline method, in which a long needle is injected into the amniotic sack. The
sweet water, in which the baby lives and breathes during those formative months, is taken out. Then a strong
corrosive solution of salt water is injected into the sack. The subsequent reaction is a violent one. The baby
ingests the noxious fluid; its lungs are burned and finally collapse, and its eyes and all of its tissues are burned.
There is a particular picture of the results of this kind of procedure which is known popularly as "the candy
apple baby." Blisters the size of ping pong balls are visible over the flesh of the child. Imagine the agony of
such a death. The baby will struggle for hours before it finally dies, and then about 11 or 12 hours after the
procedure is performed, the mother ejects, sometimes upon her bathroom floor, a dead, shriveled-up baby. One
doctor has said, "My God, how can a woman do anything like that and not know that she has committed
murder!" Answer: She cannot! That's why we are dealing with severe guilt problems among women who have
had abortions.
5. Hysterotomy
And finally, there is the hysterotomy. This method of abortion nearly always delivers a living child. Shortly
after abortion was legalized, my files were filled with the responses of nurses and other medical personnel who
had to face this kind of abortion procedure and watch the newly-born child be allowed to die or have its life
summarily snuffed out by the attending physician. Such an experience has a life-long effect upon those who are
associated with it. I personally believe that one of the reasons for the high incidence of drug abuse, mental
illness, and cold professionalism among much of the nursing profession today is a result of nurses searing their
conscience when participating in this abuse of human life. It has been well said that, "when abortion comes in
through the door, morality goes out through the window." We are not segmented individuals who can separate
one part of our life and isolate it from every other. If we allow ourselves to be immoral in one area of our lives,
we will become immoral persons.
(12) Match the following methods of abortion to the correct description.
_____ D and C a. nearly always delivers a living baby
_____ Partial Birth b. burns the baby's lungs and flesh
_____ Suction Method c. the baby is cut in pieces
_____ Saline d. baby and placenta are pulled apart
_____ Hysterotomy e. scissors used to open the skull
There is a particular irony to all of this. Several years ago, a deadly fire occurred at the Philadelphia Zoo.
According to Zoo officials, killed in the fire were "six gorillas including a male, two females, two of their
infants, and an unborn fetus." Isn't it ironic that biologists at the zoo, concerned about the gene pool of the
primate community, counted the unborn fetus of a gorilla as an individual – but cannot consider an unborn
human baby as a legal person under the law?
D. The Theology of Abortion
In Genesis 1:27 we read that God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them. Of all of the creatures of God, only man was made in God's similitude. What all is
involved in that is difficult, if not impossible, to say, but this much we know. In some unique manner, man
reflected like no other creature the image of his Creator, the very glory of God. He was, indeed, the crown of all
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of God's creation, and among the living creatures he stood alone. He alone will continue to exist on into
eternity, a characteristic unique only to man, angels and God.
And the same God has told us that on an individual basis He knows men before they are even born. The classic
passage is found in Jeremiah chapter one, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). I believe
the inference is clear that God has a divine purpose for every single life.
Furthermore, not only does God have a divine plan for every life, but He begins His plan in that life before birth
even takes place. In Psalm 139, He says, For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my
mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that
my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book
all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How
precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
There can be no debating the Scriptural attitude toward unborn life. In Luke the first chapter, we are told that
when Mary the mother of Jesus visited her cousin Elizabeth, now great with child, the unborn baby, John the
Baptist, leaped in his mother's womb, and the Scripture specifically records John’s mother saying, the babe
leaped in my womb for joy. The experience of joy can only be had by humans who share in that unique thing
called "personhood." John the Baptist was as surely alive in his mother's womb as when he stood upon the
banks of the Jordan River and cried, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world!
(13) What inference can we make from Jeremiah 1:5? ______________________________________________
(14) What Bible passage reveals that God oversees the developments of the unborn child? _________________
(15) How can we know that John the Baptist had "personhood" in his mother's womb?
______________________________________________________________________________________
However, in Genesis five, we read that Adam had a son, in his own likeness, after his image. In Genesis chapter
three, we read that man rebelled against God and fell from his original state. The Scriptures make plain that, in a
profound way, all of the human race were bound up in that fall. The divine implication is, that man, like all
other creatures, brings forth after his kind in the totality of that life which he possesses. And so, David writes,
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalms. 51:5). Was he saying that he
was born out of wedlock? No, but rather that at the very moment of conception, he was constituted a sinner.
Why was David a sinner? Because his father was a sinner before him. Thus the Bible says, They go astray as
soon as they be born, speaking lies. So Moses writes that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart (man’s)
was only evil continually. And Job laments, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? And then
concludes, Not one.
The proof of all of this is evident. When did you ever have to teach a child to do wrong? He does that naturally.
The Apostle Paul stated the proposition like this, For as by one man's disobedience (that is, Adam's) many (that
is, all of the race of those who descended from him) were made sinners. In other words, man born of Adam is
constituted a sinner by virtue of a transmitted sin nature passed immediately from Adam to all of his posterity,
from father to child in every generation.
(16) Because Adam sinned and all men are descended from Adam therefore all men are __________________.
(17) We are each born with a sinful nature because our _____________________ before us were sinners.
Now if that is true, what does it teach us about abortion? It teaches us that the life-gift is transmitted through the
father to the children in each successive generation. In other words, our basic human and sinful nature
originates from our father and from his father, all the way back to Adam. And note that while women do not
transmit that sinful nature, they do partake of it, that is, unless they were born without a father.
So, if the Bible teaches that all of human nature is transmitted by the father in each generation, we need only
ask, "at what point is a father the active participant in the birth of any child," and the answer is obvious - only at
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the conception of that child. So that not only does mortal life begin biologically at the moment of conception,
but theology teaches that never-ending human life begins there, too. Abortion, then, not only stops a beating
heart; it takes the life of an immortal being made in the image of God, and although corrupted by the fall, is still
the object of Divine love. The study of abortion, as no other subject, drives us to the conclusion that life in all of
its totality begins at conception. But the study of abortion also leads us to take an in-depth look at man. Man is
lost and estranged from God, not because of what he does during his lifetime. He is estranged from God
because he was born that way, born in sin, and that is precisely why Jesus said, Ye must be born again
(John 3:7). Man was born wrong; he is a sinner by nature and by birth. He acts and thinks as he does because of
a corrupt human nature, and that must be changed. Nothing else will do. The Bible truth about abortion leads us,
not just to see the wrong of abortion, but the wrong in ourselves and our desperate need to be born again.
Now that is the key to understanding the ethical issue of abortion. If life, immortal human life, begins at the
moment of conception, then there can be no valid ethical reason for terminating that life and abortion is
therefore morally wrong and a crime against both God and man.
(18) The life-gift is transmitted in its entirety from the father to the children in each successive generation.
(True or False) ______
(19) What two kinds of life begin at conception?
(a) ________________________________________________________
(b) ________________________________________________________
(20) Man is lost and estranged from God because _________________________________________________.
E. Reasons for Abortion

According to the position of the American Medical Association as stated in a paper in 1967, abortions are to be
permitted for the following specific medical reasons: "These include a threat to the life or health of the mother,
proof that the infant may be born with an incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency, or a pregnancy
resulting from rape or incest." In this section we want to examine some of these justifications frequently offered
for abortion and discover if even the limited reasons, given by the medical community, are valid.
(21) Name the three reasons used by the medical community to justify the practice of abortion.
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ___________________________________________________________________________________
1. Rape
The first and one of the most powerful reasons given for abortion is a pregnancy resulting from rape. Rape and
incest are among the ugliest of crimes known to man. They frequently end in either the death of the victim or
such deep emotional and psychological reactions that the victim is in the state of unspeakable mental torment
for many years if not for life. Somehow the additional strain of bearing a child that is conceived by rape or
incest has been felt to be so great that no woman should have to endure that additional torment and therefore the
easy and seemingly obvious answer to the problem has been to abort the life that is conceived through rape. The
question now remains, is such a solution justifiable in light of the Biblical position that abortion is murder - the
forcible taking away of human life?
From a biblical point of view the only justification which God has given for taking human life is that of
personal responsibility for evil on the part of the person whose life is to be taken away, vis. Whoso sheddeth
man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man (Genesis 9:6). There are a
number of other reasons given for capital punishment in Scripture but all of these involve the personal guilt of
the individual whose life is to be taken away.
Now obviously the unborn infant, by whatever means conceived, is not guilty of anything and therefore there is
no Scriptural warrant for the taking away of its life. Such action, regardless of the circumstances of conception,
must therefore be considered murder for which the Scripture holds the murderer accountable and not the victim.
But what about the problem of rape and incest and its attendant emotional ills? If Biblical ethics rule out
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abortion, which they clearly do, has Scripture any answer for these problems? I believe that it does and that
those answers are far superior to any which man has devised.
(22) For what reason does God's law demand the taking of human life? ________________________________
(23) Is there any Scriptural warrant for taking the life of a child conceived by rape? (Yes / No) _____________
Now while we are not under Mosaic law in our time, it might be helpful to see what God instituted under that
system to get the Divine perspective. The beauty of the Scriptures is that it invariably goes back to the real and
not just the apparent problem. For all our vaunted brilliance, the best solution that we seem to be able to come
up with in face of the problem of some 15,000 forcible rapes over the period of the last year with a 15%
increase yearly is to avoid the accompanying emotional problems of the victim by abortion in cases where the
rape resulted in conception. The Mosaic Law went directly to the root of the problem and demanded that the
offending rapist be given the death penalty (in cases where the woman was married) or be forced to marry and
to support for life the woman that he has raped in cases where the victim was not married (see Deuteronomy
22:22-29). Thus the solution under Mosaic law was to deal with the offending rapist, not do away with the life
of the innocent child.
While it is not our intention here to get into the problem of crime and capital punishment, it is quite obvious that
the Bible's position of rapid and severe punishment upon evil doers is the best solution to solving many of our
present crime problems. Solomon's wisdom cannot be outdone, Because sentence against an evil work is not
executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
Is it not strange therefore that many of the same liberal voices, which are raised in support of loose abortion
laws which grant the taking away of the innocent unborn life, are the same voices who are heard to plead
against capital punishment which takes away the life of the offending criminal.
(24) Mosaic law demands the life of the (a) _______________________________ not the life of the innocent
(b) _______________.
Secondly, what about the emotional psychological problems of the victim? Let's begin by observing that, while
the act of forcible rape is never right, a woman does have some responsibility to dress and act in a manner that
will not deliberately stir the male instinct for sex to a fever pitch. Most societies have traditionally understood
this principle and tried to instill some degree of modesty into the dress and behavior of its girls. It is only
western civilization which has broken every mores of decency and then demanded that men control themselves
regardless of the woman's actions. While it may be legitimate to make such a demand, the question is, does it
deal with the reality of the way men are wired?
(25) Explain what responsibility women have to avoid aggravating sexual lust.___________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
But let's assume that the woman in the case is completely innocent. That she has conducted herself in such a
way as to be above reproach, and has dressed in a modest manner, and given no cause to any man to think that
she was available for sexual purposes. Nevertheless she has fallen victim to rape and the result of that crime is
that she has now conceived and is with child by the rapist. What should she do?
First, she should commit the entire matter to the Lord. Now recognizably this may not be easy, but it is
possible! God's Word absolutely guarantees to His tempted and tested children that the temptation is not beyond
that which we can bear and that God's grace is sufficient to see us through every trial (1 Corinthians 10:13;
2 Corinthians 12:9). Such traumatic episodes in the lives of some believers have been used of God to bring them
into closer fellowship with the Savior than ever before, with the result that they have experienced a great
comfort and assurance from the Lord in their trial of affliction, and are thereby enabled to be a comfort and a
spiritual help to others in similar circumstances (see 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Secondly, accept the child as a gift of God, recognizing that you yourself were guiltless in the situation and that
the child is guiltless and has become literally a gift from God. Once the whole matter is victoriously surrendered
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to the One Who has said, Your times are in my hands and indeed, all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose, the coming of a child even under these
circumstances can become a blessed experience in the anticipation of raising that little one for God. God is able
to bring triumph out of tragedy even in a situation like this, resulting in glory and honor being given to His
name and a sense of peace and blessing being given to the individual involved.
Finally, remember you can claim that tiny life for Jesus Christ before it is even born regardless of how it was
conceived. To abort a child conceived by rape is only to add guilt to the already emotion-strained mind of the
victim-mother and thus the problem becomes enlarged rather than lessened. To try to avoid facing reality by
abortion is part of the "run away from your problem" psychology of the world, but both mental health as well as
spiritual stamina results from facing and conquering our problems, not from running away from them! Jesus
Christ is capable of making us victorious in any circumstances including this one.
(26) List three attitudes which can bring victory out of a situation like conception as a result of rape.
(a) __________________________________________________________________________
(b) __________________________________________________________________________
(c) __________________________________________________________________________
But it may be objected that such a solution is only possible for a Christian – I agree. Well then, what is the
solution for the non-Christian? Frankly, there is no solution! God does not make up solutions for those who
accept His grace, and alternative solutions for those who reject it and remain unsaved and unconverted. God
only has one solution for any problem and His is the only right solution. The unsaved person has no solution but
to repent and accept God's grace.
(27) God does not make up solutions for those who (a) ______________ His grace, and alternative solutions for
those who (b) __________________________________________________________________________.
2. Birth Defects
Another reason given for abortion is that medical men now tell us that it is possible to determine in the early
stages of pregnancy through various methods of testing the probability of birth defects being present in the
unborn child. Where such defects are judged to exist, abortion is now recommended as the best solution;
otherwise it is argued either the child will die at birth or if he survives birth, will be mentally or physically
defective.
Now in the first place just how accurate, how certain can a doctor be about birth defects? I asked that question
of a pediatrician.
Q. "Is it possible to be really sure that a pregnancy will either endanger the mother's life or that the child will be
malformed during the first twenty-four weeks?"
A. "One can statistically predict certain dangers, and incidence also of malformation in early pregnancy, yes.
Exact predictions are doubtful just as exact responses to therapy or exact clinical courses vary."
The answer is that the doctor could be wrong. Now supposing that birth defects were legitimate grounds for
abortion, how tragic it would be to run the risk of murdering a normal child due to a doctor's error in judgment.
(28) The first reason not to abort a child when doctors predict birth defects is ___________________________.
However, assuming that the doctor's diagnosis that the child is going to be born defective is correct, can we
thereby justify taking away the unborn life? Let's attempt an answer by asking another question: Our institutions
are filled with people who are physically and mentally deficient and defective. If we follow through our logic
on the basis of present abortion practices, why shouldn't we just terminate the life of all defective individuals
saving millions in tax money and freeing thousands of medical personnel for other more productive labor? With
just a little thought and imagination, I'm sure an argument could be made based on the same logic for the
murder of all these individuals.
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After all, that is precisely what Hitler's Third Reich accomplished. Are we really ready to take that position? I
trust not. For when we do, human life becomes utterly worthless, and no one's life is really safe.
(29) If we accept abortion as a legitimate way of dealing with defective individuals, how will that effect our
view of human life?_____________________________________________________________________
In addition to all that we have said above, the fact is that the great increase of birth defects over the past several
years is largely attributable to the misuse of drugs in our society, particularly those associated with birth control,
but also various mind expansion drugs, hallucinogens and narcotics. If we are really so concerned about birth
defects, isn't the solution to clean up our society, outlaw the use of the drugs that are causing defects and
thereby cut back the number of defective births to a much smaller percentage?
But what about cases with severe birth defects? Can anything good come out of such a situation? Where nature
is allowed to take its course, frequently severely defective individuals either die at childbirth or sometime
shortly hereafter. They rarely obtain to full age, but they leave a profound effect, either for good or bad, upon
those whom they touch. That effect is completely determined by the spiritual condition of the individual
involved. It is God 's desire and design that the effect be a good one conforming us closer to His image and
bringing us closer to Himself.
(30) Name one reason for the high incidence of birth defects in recent years. ____________________________
(31) The effect that handicapped or defective people have on us is determined by________________________.
3. Danger to the Mother's Life

In conjunction with the discussion of birth defects, it would not be out of place to mention here the related
problem of danger to the mother's life. What should be done when a pregnancy endangers a woman's life and
may result in the death of the mother?
Actually any birth may result in the death of the mother. That is a chance that every woman takes when she
marries and becomes pregnant. The job of the medical world is to exert every effort to save both lives, not to
arbitrarily decide to take one.
(32) What is the proper task of the medical world when the life of the mother is in danger? _________________
What we are faced with obviously is a situation which, if allowed to continue, has absolutely no boundaries. It
is the same old story. The subjectivity of the humanistic philosophy which says that man is capable of deciding
in each individual case what is right or wrong or proper, ends up in the final analysis as Situation Ethics which
means ultimately doing as you please. The darkest period of Israel's history was written in the days of the
Judges when Situation Ethics became the prevailing philosophical rationale and according to the Scripture,
every man did that which was right in his own eyes. The result of the whole business was chaos, anarchy, and
until Jehovah's deliverance, servitude to the heathen nations about them.
Man may be more educated scientifically and technologically today, but he is still the same basically sinful
creature and is no more capable of handling Situation Ethics than he ever was. If the decision to abort or not to
abort the life of an unborn infant remains in the hands of a physician and the woman in whose womb that infant
life is conceived, the only predictable result will be a continuation of the genocidal trend evidenced in New
York City where 50,000 abortions took place in four months.
(33) Subjectively deciding the fate of the unborn is in the final analysis ________________________________.
4. Population Explosion
A final justification for abortion is raised in view of the vast population explosion of our time. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, the world population doubled from 1960 (three billion) to 2000
(six billion). The population of India alone has a net increase of over one million per month - thirteen million a
year - this in a nation that cannot feed its present population. The question is then raised by some, should
abortion not be used as a tool to limit the population growth of the race? Such a question has very interesting
genocidal ramifications. Somehow there seems to be certain specters of Pharaoh who limited Israel's population
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by casting every male baby into the Nile, or Haman who would have destroyed the entire race of the Jews in the
days of good Queen Esther, or Hitler's infamous "Final Solution." There seems always to be some demonic
pseudo-intellectual in high places somewhere that can callously suggest that the answer to all of his nation's
problems is in simply limiting its population by mass murder, a solution which historically has never failed to
bring down the judgment of God and will most certainly and inevitably do so again in our time.
The reason that the population problem appears to be so acute in India is that people are dying of famine every
day in a land that does not seem to be able to support its present population, much less a thirteen-million
population increase each year. However, a closer look at India's problem will expose some deep flaws in the
theories of the abortionists. India needs to develop greater technological skills to produce more food to feed its
growing population. But while this is true, the fact is that people are not starving because God has not supplied
sufficient food for India's vast population. India is starving because of a false and heartless religion. Hinduism
teaches that it must not eat meat which God has specifically declared in His Word to be lawful for human
consumption (Genesis 9:3 and Acts 10:11-15). In India's spiritual darkness, the very cattle which God has given
to them for food consume instead the food that God has provided for the people themselves, and the cattle
eventually die of old age or disease. Each day animal carcasses float down the Ganges River and out to the sea
to become shark food rather than feeding India's millions. At the same time, India worships the rat and as a
result billions of temple rats feed lavishly on tons of grain and milk each year while children continue to die in
the streets of starvation or live with twisted deformed bodies as a result of malnutrition. How brilliant in light of
all this is the solution of the abortionist. He says simply, to cure India's problems we must liberalize its abortion
laws and limit its population. God says to cure India's problems and the growing population problems of the
world, men must repent, turn from their spiritual darkness and use intelligently and gratefully the provision
which a kind and all-wise God has made for them to meet their physical demands.
Of course, it may be argued that such a solution is idealistic and unworkable because India would never repent
and change her religion. That is likely so, but let us who are believers not therefore be guilty of seeking other
more palatable solutions. When we do, we are rejecting God's counsel and siding with the world against Him.
The counsel of God is good. It is the only solution God has for individuals or nations. The whole message of the
Bible is "accept God's way or perish!"
Finally, it should be observed that while the theorists talk about a population explosion and excuse abortion on
those grounds, it is America, not Calcutta or Bombay, where over one million abortions take place each year.
To the best of our knowledge there is no vast problem with famine or overpopulation in this country. Once
again the logic of the abortionist is horribly thin. The obvious and real reason for the liberalization of abortion
laws and the pressure to continue to liberalize these laws is that man in his wickedness and in his rejection of
God wants to be given a free reign to play with sex any time, anywhere, and under any conditions that he may
choose without bearing the consequences of the sex act, namely the responsibility of rearing children. And so
his warped and twisted brain has conceived the cruel solution of solving his dilemma by snuffing out the unborn
human life.
(34) According to the U.S. Census Bureau, International Data Base, the world population doubled in _________
years.
(35) To use abortion as a means of population control raises reminders of what other rulers who attempted to
destroy a whole race?
(a) __________________________________________________________________
(b) __________________________________________________________________
(c) __________________________________________________________________
(36) India's problem of food supply can be traced back to her ________________.
(37) God's cure for a nation's problems is always _________________________.
(38) To be guilty of seeking alternate solutions to God's solution is to reject ____________________________.
(39) The real reason for the liberalization of abortion laws is _______.
a. the horror of rape b. the fear of birth defects c. danger to the mother's life
d. desire for sex without consequences e. the world population explosion
F. An Actual Life Situation
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Finally. I want to look at an actual life situation. Several years ago as a result of our teen ministry in a large
urban city, it was my privilege to make the acquaintance of a very godly woman who was known throughout the
area as a great prayer warrior and one who had extended help to many needy individuals down through the
years. As a result of my first contact with her, I was made aware of the fact that as a result of a vicious rape she
had given birth to a deformed son and that she had chosen to keep that son in her care down through the years. I
shall never forget the first time that I was in Johnny's room, and saw him lying there in his crib with a large
adult head attached to a deformed and spindly body that might have belonged to a five year old.
Upon inquiry, I learned that Johnny was in fact forty-one years of age and that she had cared for him all those
years. But, she said, " when people come to me with similar problems, I counsel them to keep their children.
Johnny has given me more than I have ever given him."
Before I left she said "I don't have a care in the world for I know before God that I have done right." I learned
during the interview that in addition to caring for Johnny and counseling with scores of people each week, she
was carrying on a ministry of jail visitation, sending packages to foreign missionaries, providing baskets of food
for needy families, and had just recently counseled with 30 hippies who had come to her home at the invitation
of one of their clan who had found Christ through her ministry. Each of them had made a personal commitment
to Christ before leaving. As I left I couldn't help wondering how different it might have been had Johnny ended
up in a hospital wastebasket as an aborted fetus.
(40) What does the "Life Situation" story demonstrate? _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Each question is worth 5.8 points.
1. The "sexual revolution" provided the framework for and strongly influenced the debate over abortion.
(True or False) ________________
2. All evidence indicates that life begins at _______________________________.
3. What does the scientific community call a baby before the end of the eighth week?
(a) _____________________ After the eighth week? (b) _____________
4. What did the U.S. Supreme Court decide in the famous Roe v. Wade case concerning the personhood of the
unborn child? ____________________________________________________________________________
Match the following methods of abortion to the correct description.
5. _____ D and C a. nearly always delivers a living baby
6. _____ Partial Birth b. burns the baby's lungs and flesh
7. _____ Suction Method c. the baby is cut in pieces
8. _____ Saline d. baby and placenta are pulled apart
9. _____ Hysterotomy e. scissors used to puncture the skull
10. What originated with Adam and is transmitted by the father at conception?___________________________
11. Man needs to be born again because _________________________________.
12. Name three reasons which the American Medical Association gave for approving an abortion.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
13. The real reason for the liberalization of abortion laws is _______.
a. the horror of rape b. the fear of birth defects c. danger to the mother's life
d. desire for sex without consequences e. the world population explosion
14. Write out the complete statement found on page 26 which was delivered by the ministers of York County.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________ ________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
PRE-TEST
syllabus.
Each question is worth 3.3 points.
1. Name three philosophies which poisoned the stream of thought in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
(a) ______________________________________________________________________________
(b) ______________________________________________________________________________
(c) ______________________________________________________________________________
2. These deadly teachings were all based upon the foundation of philosophical__________________________.
3. What year did Newsweek Magazine report a drastic deterioration in America's morals? ________________
4. Who vexed his righteous soul . . . with the filthy conversation of the wicked? ___________
5. Four names stand out prominently among those who changed the moral climate of our time. They were:
(a) Timothy ____________________________ (c) Alfred B. ____________________________
(b) Lawrence ___________________________ (d) Hugh _______________________________
6. Who wrote the book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male? _______________________________________
7 Name five sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

(a) ____________________________________ (d) ____________________________________
(b) ____________________________________ (e) ____________________________________
(c) ____________________________________
8. From what event do homosexual activists date the beginning of their revolution?
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
Where did that event occur? (b) ______________________________________________________________
Who sponsored it? (c) _____________________________________________________________________
9. What acronym was used for AIDS when it was first diagnosed? (a) ___________ What did that Acronym
stand for? (b) ____________________________________________________________________________
10. Name three ways in which the AIDS virus is transmitted.

(a) ______________________________________________________________
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(b) ______________________________________________________________
(c) ______________________________________________________________
11. What religious denomination was founded with the express purpose of embracing practicing homosexuals?
______________________________________________________________________________________
12. Norman Geisler argues that even if homosexual tendencies were inherited, it (would / would not ) justify
homosexual behavior. (Circle the correct answer.)
13. Write out 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 _____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
14. What three responses are we called upon to have in face of the AIDS crisis and the sexual revolution?
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
15. Write down 5 verse references that call for moral purity.
(a) ________________________________________ (d) ________________________________________
(b) ________________________________________ (e) ________________________________________
(c) ________________________________________
16. The sexual revolution had little or no effect on the cry for abortion on demand which followed it.
(True or False) ______________
17. When does life actually begin? _______________________________________
18. What does the scientific community call a baby before the end of the 8th week? (a) ________________
After the end of the 8th week? (b) _________________
19. Define the term "Quickening". _____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
20. The American Declaration of Independence declared that all have been endowed by their Creator with what
inalienable right? ____________
21. How many babies were aborted in America in the first year of legalized abortion?_____________________
22. How many babies have been aborted each year since that time? ___________________________________
23. Give two reasons why people want legalized abortion.

(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
24. Name five (5) methods used in performing abortions.

(a) _______________________________________ (d) _______________________________________
(b) _______________________________________ (e) _______________________________________
(c) _______________________________________
25. How is the sinful nature transmitted to each individual? __________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
26. What Bible passage reveals that God oversees the developments of the unborn child?__________________
27. How can we know that John the Baptist had "personhood" in his mother's womb?_____________________
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_______________________________________________________________________________________
28. What two kinds of life begin at conception?

(a) ________________________________________ (b) ________________________________________
29. Name three reasons which the American Medical Association gave for approving an abortion.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
30. Abortion is morally (a) ______________________ and a crime against both (b) ____________ and
(c) ________________.
Turn to page 52 again, and carefully review the objectives. Then review the sections over “Christian Ethics:
Part III.” and give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. Review the
Test titled “Christian Ethics: Part III.” You may NOT use your notes or the Bible when taking the test. The
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ANSWER KEY: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART III
SEXUAL AND ABORTION ETHICS
INTRODUCTION
(1) (a) pragmatism (b) existentialism (c) situationalism
(2) lower schools
(3) "The morals of America have deteriorated more in the last twelve months than in the last fifty years."
(4) Lot
(5) (a) sexual revolution (b) abortion (c) euthanasia (d) suicide (e) war
I. THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION
(6) 1960's
(7) turn on, tune in, drop out
(8) in an altered state of consciousness
(9) (a) drugs (b) rebellion (c) free love (d) free sex
(10) true
(11) Ecclesiastes 3:11
(12) with the publication of Kinsey's book
(13) none for writing on sex, he was an insect biologist
(14) a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret
(15) false
(16) is dead
(17) false
(18) homosexual
(19) they were arrested
(20) After the Ball
(21) (a) Syphilis (b) Gonorrhea (c) Herpes (d) Chlamydia (e) Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
(22) AIDS
(23) For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind
(24) the body to fight off infection
(25) false
(26) any three of the following: (a) sexually (b) intravenous drug abusers (c) blood transfusions
(d) mother to a child at birth
(27) (a) the nature of the virus, it is very tough to destroy
(b) political forces have resisted attempts to deal with the disease
(28) Those affected were identified by testing, counseled, and all contacts followed up.
(29) Acceptance of homosexual acts as a normal variant of human behavior and an alternative lifestyle.
(30) society’s apostasy and the impending judgment of God
(31) moral law
(32) Metropolitan Community Church
(33) their sexual orientation
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(34) 1 Corinthians 6:9-11
(35) true
(36) true
(37) true
(38) 1 Corinthians 10:13
(39) (a) have compassion on those infected with AIDS (b) reach out in love with the Gospel
(c) have a moral duty to give the truth to the teen population
(40) practicing biblical morality
(41) (a) 1 Corinthians 6:13 (b) Ephesians 5:3 (c) 2 Timothy 2:22 (d) 1 Thessalonians 4:3 (e) 1 Corinthians 6:18
REVIEW
(2) (a) sexual revolution (b) abortion (c) euthanasia (d) suicide (e) war
(3) because sex is not free
(4) in an altered state of consciousness
(5) Sexual Behavior in the Human Male
(6) 1960’s
(7) (a) Syphilis (b) Gonorrhea (c) Herpes (d) Chlamydia (e) Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
(8) any three of the following: (a) sexually (b) intravenous drug abusers
(c) blood transfusions (d) mother to a child at birth
(9) acceptance of homosexual acts as a normal variant of human behavior and of homosexuality as an
alternative lifestyle
(10) (a) And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (b) (1 Corinthians 6:11)
INTRODUCTION
(1) sexual revolution
(2) Arthur Rubinstein
II. AN EXAMINATION OF ABORTION

(3) at the moment of conception
(4) (a) embryo
(b) fetus
(5) a human baby
(6) false
(7) at the birth of one of David’s children
(8) life
(9) person
(10) no
(11) (a) liberty to have unrestricted sex without facing the consequences of conception
(b) because there is money in the abortion business
(12) c, e, d, b, a
(13) God has a divine purpose for every life
(14) Psalm 139
(15) he leaped in her womb for joy
(16) sinners
(17) fathers
(18) true
(19) (a) mortal life (b) immortal life
(20) born in sin (or) of a corrupt human nature
(21) (a) threat to the life or health of the mother
(b) proof that the infant may have physical or mental deficiencies
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(c) pregnancy resulting from rape or incest
(22) Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed.
(23) no
(24) (a) offending rapist (b) baby
(25) to dress and act in a manner that will not deliberately stir the male instinct for sex to a fever pitch
(26) (a) commit the entire matter to the Lord (b) accept the child as a gift of God (c) claim the child for the Lord
(27) (a) accept (b) reject His solution
(28) they may be wrong
(29) human life becomes utterly worthless
(30) misuse of drugs
(31) the spiritual condition of the individual involved
(32) exert every effort to save both lives
(33) situation ethics
(34) 40
(35) (a) Pharaoh (b) Haman (c) Hitler
(36) religion
(37) repentance
(38) God's counsel
(39) d
(40) student’s own answer
REVIEW
(1) true
(2) conception
(3) (a) embryo (b) fetus
(4) that the unborn child was not a person
(5) c
(6) e
(7) d
(8) b
(9) a
(10) sin nature
(11) he was born in sin (or) of a corrupt human nature
(13) d
(14) We the ministers of York County Evangelistic Association, being convinced by both biological and biblical
considerations, that bonafide human and immortal life does exist in the womb from the very moment of
conception, and that to terminate that life at any stage is, therefore, to commit the act of murder, resolve
therefore that we are opposed to the crime of abortion, and to any attempts made by government to legalize
it. We further believe that there is no situation for which God does not provide a sufficient and superior
solution to that of abortion and that abortion is therefore unjustified and a crime against both God and man.
PRE-TEST
(2) relativism
(3) 1969
(4) Lot
(5) (a) Leary (b) Lipton (c) Kinsey (d) Heffner
(6) Alfred B. Kinsey
(7) any five of the following:
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(a) Syphilis (d) Chlamydia
(b) Gonorrhea (e) Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
(c) Herpes (f) AIDS
(8) (a) ball for homosexuals (b) San Francisco (c) liberal preachers
(9) (a) GRID
(b) Gay Related Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(10) any three of the following:
(a) sexually
(b) intravenous drug abusers
(c) blood transfusions
(d) mother to a child at birth
(11) Metropolitan Community Church
(12) would not
(13) Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
(14) (a) have compassion on all infected with AIDS or other STD's.
(b) reach out in love with the Gospel
(c) have a moral duty to give the truth of the Gospel to the teen population
(15) (a) 1 Corinthians 6:13 (d) 1 Thessalonians 4:3
(b) Ephesians 5:3 (e) 1 Corinthians 6:18
(c) 2 Timothy 2:22
(16) false
(17) at the moment of conception
(18) (a) embryo
(b) fetus
(19) The baby is large enough to make its presence known
(20) life
(21) 700,000
(22) one to two million
(23) (a) liberty to have unrestricted sex without facing the consequences of conception
(b) because there is money in the abortion business
(24) (a) D and C
(b) partial birth
(c) suction
(d) saline
(e) hysterotomy
(25) from the father to the child in each generation
(26) Psalm 139
(27) he leaped in her womb for joy
(28) (a) mortal life
(b) immortal life
(30) (a) wrong
(b) God
(c) man
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CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART IV
EUTHANASIA, SUICIDE AND WAR
The completion of Christian Ethics: Part IV you should enable you to:
* To identify the philosophical roots that produced a demand for suicide and euthanasia.
* To trace the influence of this philosophy upon society.
* To explain how a wrong philosophy leads unavoidably to hopelessness and despair.
* To describe the difference between removing life supports from a dying patient and the act of "Mercy
Killing."
* To identify the reasons for suicide and to describe some of the signs which precede suicide.
* To give an authoritative answer to important questions about death and dying.
* To counsel those who are confused about passivism and war.
* To answer the question, “can there be a just war”?
* To defend a true biblical position on these profound issues.
GLOSSARY FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART IV
1. Ambivalent: Having contradictory feelings about something or someone
2. Euthanasia: The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable disease or in an irreversible coma.
From the Greek eu (well or good) thanatos (death), hence "good death."
3. Existentialism: The philosophical theory that views the existence of the individual as free and independent
of anything or anyone. If there is a standard of truth outside self, it cannot be proven. The only proven truth
lies within.
4. Extrasensory: The supposed faculty of perceiving things by means other than the known senses.
5. Hallucinogenic: That which causes one to experience a seemingly real perception of something not actually
present.
6. Séance: A meeting at which people attempt to make contact with the dead.
7. Suicide: The deliberate and intentional act of taking one’s own life.
INTRODUCTION
We saw in PART III how several generations of humanistic teaching in colleges and public schools had affected
the social attitude toward sex and how the sexual revolution brought on the legalization of abortion. Trying to
justify ourselves for abortion brought about an ambivalence toward life in general. Once the Scriptural view of
life as a "gift from God" and in the image of God is lost, life itself begins to lose meaning and importance. That
viewpoint rested for its validity upon Scripture, and was a part of the Christian "World View”. Up until the
middle of the 20th century most Americans shared that World View. But when all religious influence was shut
out of the public school arena in the 1960's, the very concept of a Biblical regard for life and death was lost.
(1) A Scriptural view of life sees it as (a) ______________________________, and
(b) __________________________________.
(2) Those ideas are part of a Christian World View. (True or False) ___________
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(3) What caused that World View to be lost in America in the 1960’s? _________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
It is no accident that many of those who led the march for drugs and rebellion and promiscuous sex during that
period are the same individuals who went on to despair of any meaning in life and began to demand a legal
"right to die." Timothy Leary, cited for his promotion of hallucinogenic drugs and "tuning in" to contact with
the extrasensory world, by the age of 75 announced that he was "actively exploring" ways of committing
suicide on the Internet.
Music which had become more lurid, pushing the envelope of gutter language and motion, now became
obsessed with themes of death. Lyrics that spoke of murder, rape and suicide hit the top of the charts. A new
culture emerged, which can best be described as "a culture of death." Educators caught on, and a new school
curriculum began to be developed.
A Forum for Death Education and Counseling was held in Philadelphia. The participants were each given a
short "Fill In The Blanks" quiz. Here are some of the statements:
1. Children must be taught about ______________by schools because parents fail to teach them or do not
know how to discuss __________with their children.
2. Professionals in the past tried to shield children from thinking or talking about ___________.
3. Teachers are now prepared in _______________-ed skills through in-service training.
4. The lack of ______________ training in elementary schools means we are not facing reality.
5. Questionnaires and small group discussions are used in ___________-ed courses.
If you put "death" in all the blanks, you would get a 100% rating from the teacher participants. You probably
noticed the familiar wording; the same exact statements we had heard so often in regard to sex education. In
fact, many of the death educators are or had been sex educators before turning to this new opportunity to
develop fresh curricula and write and sell very expensive textbooks.
The late Alan Guttmacher of Planned Parenthood once stated that the acceptance of abortion would take place
through sex education in the classroom. Then, the acceptance of euthanasia and the right to suicide would be
brought about through death education.
(4) Those who despair of life formed a culture of ______________.
(5) What was developed for public schools as a result of this cultural shift? _____________________________
(6) What subject did that curriculum deal with? __________________________
(7) The real goal was to bring about an acceptance of what two things?
(a) ______________________________ (b) ______________________________
The death education programs were, of course, from the perspective of secular humanism and left students with
a feeling of hopelessness. God and the after-life were not part of the course, so the children ended up with
feelings of despair.
There are therefore two issues which we want to address in this section, both of them deeply interwoven with
humanistic philosophy and attempts at cultural change. One of them is Euthanasia, and the second is Suicide.
(8) Why did the death education programs leave students with a feeling of hopelessness?__________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
(9) What two subjects where always omitted from those courses?
(a) _____________________________________ (b) ______________________________
(10) Name two issues we will deal with in this section.
(a) ____________________________________ (b) ____________________________________
I. THE DEMAND FOR EUTHANASIA
In a society that boasts that we have conquered space and are soon to become the masters of the universe, we
are troubled by the gnawing reality that we have done so little about the greatest of all man's problems, the
problem of death.
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About the close of the decade of the 1960's, we suddenly became aware that people everywhere seem to have
developed a growing apprehension about death. It became society's most forbidden subject, and one which,
frankly, we admitted we did not understand.
We have now gone through an era where questions have been raised on great matters like morals, marriage,
abortion, euthanasia, the spirit world, reincarnation, and life after death, and by virtue of the shift from a biblical
position where there are absolute answers on these matters, we now find ourselves without absolutes. So,
finding ourselves adrift without a position, we attempt by the means of taking polls and measuring what people
believe (Kinsey did it on the question of sex and morals) to developing a national consensus. The resulting
national consensus (which is nothing more than the pooling of human ignorance, superstition and depravity on
any given subject) becomes the "right," and the biblical position (which will necessarily always be at odds with
this consensus) becomes the "wrong," and those who adhere to it will therefore ultimately be persecuted.
(11) Without an absolute standard we now try to reach a national consensus by _________________________.
(12) What will happen to those who maintain a biblical position? _____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
A. Philosophical Moorings
To understand what philosophical basis provides the foundation for such teaching, one only has to look at the
language used by such groups as the Hemlock Society. The phrases found most often are. . . "the right to control
our lives", the "right to choose”, "Choice", and even the "need for a special judicial forum to decide a child's
right to suicide and self-determination". We have even had court cases in which euthanasia was fought for on
the basis of a right to privacy. In essence, the case rests upon an absolute demand for total self-determination.
When a strong societal pressure favoring death is brought about, the euthanasia promoters expect that dying
early will be the normal, ordinary, expected thing to do. They are also talking of establishing suicide clinics. If
they succeed in making an early death the normal and expected thing to do, such chambers could be very
profitable indeed.
(13) The case for suicide and euthanasia rests upon what demand?____________________________________
B. A War of Words
The most important weapons used in the battle to move society towards life or towards death are words. For
instance, when "Dr. Death," Jack Kevorkian, helps people to kill themselves, we are told that he "helps people
to die”. We must continually remind ourselves and others that helping someone to die means caring for them,
praying for and with them, easing their pain, holding their hand, etc. Helping to kill them is a form of homicide.
It is, in reality, an abandonment of the patient, especially those suffering from depression or pain, both of which
can be treated.
A group of psychiatrists who work with suicidal people and help them to make adjustments so that suicide no
longer seems necessary has become a sounding board for the New England Journal of Medicine. They
conducted "psychological autopsies" of all suicides in Monroe County in New York. In a study presented to the
APA, of 85 suicides, only one victim had a diagnosed terminal illness, all of the others had physical or
emotional conditions which were treatable.
(14) To "help people die" means _________.
(a) to assist a person to commit suicide (b) to ease their pain and comfort them
(15) Most people who commit suicide have conditions which are ______________.
C. Defining Death
What is death? It seems strange that, after all of the millenniums of human history and with death all around us,
we should be asking this question. Nevertheless it was actually posed by a national news magazine. The fact of
the matter is that there is good evidence that we, as a society, have not yet decided.
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Yet with monotonous redundancy, the bells of death toll across the fields of history, and their echo resounds in
the pages of Holy Scripture. As early as the fifth chapter of Genesis, they are heard droning out the redundant
message, and he died, and he died, and he died. And it is no different today. The angel of death continues to
pursue his relentless pilgrimage into hamlets and towns and metropolises, to perform his fatal duties. In a
thousand different ways he brings us face to face with the grim reality that we too shall die.
(16) What question are we still asking after all the millenniums of human history? _______________________
1. Ancient Views
All through history man has wrestled with this same question, as is evident by the monuments he left behind.
The Egyptians were a civilization obsessed with death. When a Pharaoh came to the throne, his first act of
national business was to plan his pyramid, and hence, his departure. Elaborate preparations were made in ways
that communicate to us what the Egyptians believed about death.
In the tomb of Tutankhamen, one of the few Pharaohs whose tomb had not been raided by grave robbers, 283
feet down into the earth, under a natural pyramid, the young king was laid to rest in state in a triple stone
sarcophagi. The paintings around the room told the story of the king's life and of his subsequent journey into the
nether world of death and the judgment that awaited him there.
Although obsessed with death, the Egyptians sought to disguise it and even to make it a thing of beauty. The
young king, in addition to being in three stone sarcophagi, was also entombed in three caskets of gold, each
bearing the resemblance of his countenance and looking, indeed, very lifelike. In addition to all of that he was
surrounded by all of the wealth and luxury (even the furniture) he had known in life. But despite this denial of
the reality of death, Scripture reminds us forcefully that, dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
(17) Egyptians sought to deal with death by (a) _________________ it and even making it a thing of (b)
_______________________.
2. Modern Existentialism
We live in a highly sophisticated society today, and philosophers like Jean Sotra have attempted to redefine
death for us. Sotra was an existentialist who believed in only the reality of this present existence. In Sotra's
philosophy we came from nowhere, have no reason for being here, and have nowhere to go. To him, death was
the greatest of all absurdities. Man walks across the stage of life, leaves his footprints in the sands of time and
disappears forever into the abyss of nothingness, never to be known or remembered again - hardly a comforting
or adequate view of death.
(18) Sotra believed that we (a) ________________________, (b) ____________________________________,
And (c) _______________________________________________.
(19) Sotra's philosophy is known as ____________________________________.
3. Religious Confusion
Not far removed from the secular existentialism of Jean Sotra was the theological unbelief of men like Bishop
James A. Pike. Pike denied the Scriptures and was unsure of either God or the afterlife. He reasoned like the
man in Ecclesiastes, who wrote, For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing
befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other. . . so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all
is vanity (Ecclesiastes 3:19). One must remember however, that Solomon's assessment was made from the
vantage point of human observation (under the sun) apart from Divine revelation. Then Pike's son died of an
overdose of drugs in a London apartment. Pike (who had already rejected Divine revelation) was desperate to
know the truth about the afterlife, so he turned to mediums and spiritists, going at last to apostate minister,
Arthur Ford, for help. Ford cooperated, and in a nationally televised seance, apparently contacted the "spirit" of
Bishop Pike's son - something the Scripture (which Pike had rejected) strictly forbids and declares to be a
demonic deception. Pike was in fact so deceived that in his new quest for spiritual reality, he wandered into the
wilderness of the Dead Sea area in Palestine and died of exposure. On his tomb could well be written the
epitaph once spoken by David for Abner, Died Abner as a fool dieth?
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(20) What does seeking for information concerning the after life from occult sources lead to? _______________
4. Secular Absurdities
Of course, from denial of an after-life, there is the opposite extreme of the cryonics who attempt to find eternal
life here on earth. The cryonics believe that science is the great "god" that will someday cure all diseases, solve
all human health problems, and thus allow us to live forever. As a result, they place their dead in insulated
coffins surrounded by liquid nitrogen which reduces the temperature to 275 degrees below zero! In this way
they seek to preserve the body until medical science can provide a cure for whatever disease it was that took the
person's life. The plan is one day to resurrect them (or literally resuscitate them) back to life and cure the
disease which caused their death. And that brings me to a final absurdity. We Americans have so little
understanding of death and eternity that one enterprising entrepreneur is making a veritable fortune on our
ignorance. Jay Knudson, a man from Iowa, has a business called, "Final Shot." Their slogan is, "We can't get
you to heaven, but we can certainly put you in the happy hunting ground!" For a very substantial price, they will
pack your cremated ashes into shotgun shells and fire you out over your favorite hunting grounds! I think it
must be obvious that we are confused about death.
(21) The absurd actions of people like the cryonics and Jay Knudson prove that we are ____________________
about death.
D. Questions about death
So if we don't understand what death is, is it any wonder then that we are not sure when it comes, or exactly
how to treat it?
Questions concerning death are troubling us deeply. Whole disciplines of psychology are now being built
around the ideas of working through the grief that follows death.
I received a letter some time ago from John Hopkins University. It was a personal invitation to attend a seminar
held by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross on the subject of death and dying and ministry to dying patients. Dr. Kubler-
Ross has made the study of dying her life specialty in medicine. She has been on hand at the death of numerous
individuals and has interviewed scores of those who were pronounced clinically dead, but were later
resuscitated. She is ambivalent about the afterlife and simply presents stories that were told to her without
comment. I did not attend the seminar, because, while Mrs. Kubler-Ross draws her information from a variety
of sources, the one source she rejects is the only source that can give us any valid information concerning life,
death, or life after death, and that is the revelation of Almighty God as found in the Scriptures! Our human
wisdom stops at the grave. If we are to know anything beyond that with any degree of certainty, we must know
it by Divine revelation.
(22) Human wisdom concerning death stops at the grave. (True or False) ___________
1. When Is A Person Dead?
We now have the technology to keep a heart beating, keep a patient breathing and feed a person by way of
injection. Our modern technology has been both a blessing and a curse.
Several years ago while working in the inner city, I was called upon to visit a woman who had attempted
suicide. I entered her room and found her lying unconscious. The heart monitor machine indicated that her
heartbeat was strong and regular. Her chest heaved as she took in and expelled air. By all appearance, she was
living. I stepped to the side of her bed and tried to speak to her, but there was no response. Knowing that
sometimes patients in a deep coma can, nevertheless, hear what someone else is saying, I took her by the hand
and began to pray. Her hand was colder than any I had ever felt, and as I prayed, a strange feeling swept over
me. I began to look around the room. Suddenly I realized that she was hooked up to an electronic impulse
device that was forcing her heart to continue to beat. Beside the bed, there was a bellows machine, forcing air in
and out of her lungs, and I came to the strange conclusion that I was praying, not with a living person, but with
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a manipulated corpse. Technology is not always a blessing, and defining the point that death actually occurs has
become more difficult and confusing.
And thus we are faced with the dilemma of when to allow a dying patient to die. When to discontinue the use of
all of those artificial means we now have at our disposal which continue to perform the life functions for us and
allow physical death to take its course. It is not an easy decision, and it is one that medical personnel and
families will agonize over from now on, for we cannot turn back the clock to the time when death was more
simple.
(23) Using modern technology it is possible to have the vital signs of life and yet have a patient who is dead.
(True or False) _______
2. Current Scientific Conclusions
In the summer of 1968, the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences and the World Medical
Assembly each attempted to arrive at a satisfactory clinical definition of death. Very subtle sets of criteria were
proposed, including considerations of artificial support for certain vital functions. However, to every
combination of clinical criteria proposed, an exception could be cited from the clinical experience of at least one
of the participants. They concluded that no satisfactory objective definition of death could be established. So
far as they could tell, death is not a simple and straightforward matter of fact which can be specified by clear
and unequivocal criteria. The trained judgment of the physician still has to be the last word - and he could be
mistaken. The formal statement of the World Medical Assembly, sometimes called the Declaration of Sidney,
concludes, "No single technological criterion is entirely satisfactory in the present state of medicine nor can any
one technological procedure be substituted for the overall judgment of the physician." (Death and Ministry, p.
228). From our perspective we might say that it is impossible to always know when the human spirit has
departed the body.
(24) Even with all our technology it is not certain when the human spirit leaves the body. (True or False) _____
3. Mercy Killing
But along with the idea of "merciful death" has come the natural next step - "mercy killing." And there is a
definite distinction. Mercy killing is not simply turning off the machine or pulling the plug. It is, rather, a direct
intervention on the part of medical personnel, family members, or others to terminate the life of a dying patient,
many times with or without their consent. This is really the great ethical dilemma that faces us today; this is the
dilemma of euthanasia, and it is this dilemma that we must address.
Famous for leading the fight to legalize mercy killing is Dr. Jack Kevorkian of Michigan. His first known
episode occurred with Janice Atkins, when he set up a death machine in his aging VW van and instructed Janice
and her husband in how to use it. The van was driven to a secluded spot north of Detroit, and there Janice is said
to have manipulated the machine herself, bringing about her own death. It is interesting to note that Janice was
not suffering from a terminal illness. Doctors believe she was in the early stages of Alzheimers, and it was her
emotional fears of that disease that brought about her desire for death, to which Jack Kevorkian was apparently
only too willing to respond.
(25) Pulling the plug to a "life support machine" should be thought of as "mercy killing." (True or False) _____
(26) Mercy killing involves a direct (a) _________________________ on the part of someone to
(b) __________________________ the life of a (c) _________________________________.
4. A Final Opinion
Since that time, Kevorkian has struck over and over again, and since Michigan had no law against assisted
suicide, he went unpunished, in spite of the fact that he was indicted several times. Several cartoonists have
responded to the Kevorkian dilemma as in one particular picture, where Kevorkian is represented as giving the
"final opinion." For those of us who are believers, we are aware that Kevorkian's opinion is not really final. The
final opinion will be given when Kevorkian stands before the judgment bar of God.
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The Scriptural parallel is found in 2 Samuel chapter 1 where an Amalekite reports to David that he saw Saul
wounded unto death, and that Saul requested him to kill him, which the young man did. What better description
could there be of a "mercy killing"? The victim is in great pain and distress, he is certain to die soon, and he
asks to be put to death quickly and end his suffering. David's response, however, was not to congratulate the
man for his humanitarian sensitivity, but to execute him for the crime of manslaughter. Apart from war or the
judicial taking of life for some crime, manslaughter is condemned as a crime. God is always seen in Scripture as
the final arbiter of life and death. The issue raised has been so profound, however, that it has required action
from the American Medical Association, whose counsel on ethical and judicial affairs declared, "For humane
reasons, with informed consent, a physician may do what is medically necessary to alleviate severe pain or
cease or omit treatment to permit a terminally ill patient whose death is imminent to die. However, he should
not intentionally cause death." Notice, please, that the statement says "may omit treatment." It does not say,
"may omit food"/or allow a patient to starve to death as has become an issue in several current cases.
(27) Who actually has the right of the "final opinion" in the case of life and death? ____________
(28) The American Medical Association ruled that a physician may do which of the following: _____ and ____.
(a) omit treatment (b) intentionally cause death (c) allow a dying patient to starve (d) relieve severe pain.
E. Questions About Euthanasia

Now that brings us to a series of questions on so-called legalized euthanasia. One of the key questions is simply:
Who will benefit? Too often it is not the patient who benefits, but the heirs. Could legalized euthanasia affect
you? It certainly could, and in a variety of ways. Baptists for Life produced an excellent paper on this subject
dealing candidly with seven essential questions. We quote it here by permission:
1. Pulling the Plug vs. Mercy Killing? Is there a difference?
Mercy killing (euthanasia) is the deliberate ending of someone's life by means of a lethal injection or overdose
of medication. This is very different from disconnecting or refusing a life support system that offers no hope of
recovery for a dying patient.
2. Is Euthanasia legal?
Not in the United States, but there are many who are working to make it legal. Pro-euthanasia groups such as
the Society for the Right-to-Die, the Hemlock Society, and Americans Against Human Suffering, along with
groups concerned about the high cost of medical treatment, are finding euthanasia more and more attractive.
3. Is it dangerous to legalize euthanasia?
Yes, euthanasia opens an ever-widening Pandora's box. It will:
1. change the doctor/patient relationship.
2. legalize selective killing as a form of treatment.
3. pressure helpless patients to accept a so-called "voluntary" death.
4. make it possible to hide intentional killings.
5. create a means of disposing of difficult family members.
4. But isn't the choice of euthanasia always voluntary?
It might appear voluntary, however, people who are very ill are vulnerable. At times dying patients become
discouraged and depressed. During these times they are very subject to suggestions from others. They can be
coerced and pressured into ending their lives. The choice to die can become the duty to die. This does not
constitute voluntary euthanasia even though the person (or patient) consents.
5. Why shouldn't I have the right to choose the time of my death?
You already have the right to withdraw or refuse medical treatment that would prolong the death process. This
is quite different than claiming the right to have a medical person help you kill yourself by giving you a lethal
injection or supply of pills.
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The Scriptures tell us that Jesus Christ has the prior claim to the keys of hell and of death (Revelation 1:18). See
also: Deuteronomy 30:20; Job 7:1; Exodus 23:26; Psalm 90:12.
6. Isn't my choice to die a private choice?
A law that would legalize killing is no longer a private matter, it becomes a matter of public concern. The mere
existence of a law legalizing selective killing is a major change in the ethical structure of a society that has
traditionally been set up to protect individuals from harm.
7. Shouldn't a terminally ill person have the right not to suffer?
Absolutely! With proper care this can be achieved. Modern medicine has made extraordinary advances in pain
control. If a person is enduring prolonged pain, discomfort and anxiety, this is very often a case of inadequate
treatment or a physician's lack of knowledge of newer pain-control therapies. Killing the patient should not be
the treatment for pain.
(29) What answers do Baptists for Life give to the following questions?
(a) Is Euthanasia legal in the United States? (Yes / No) _____
(b) Should I have the right to choose the time of my death? (Yes / No) ________
(c) Isn't the choice of Euthanasia always voluntary?(Yes/No) _____
(d) Should a terminally ill person have to suffer? (Yes /No) ______
As a result of the controversy, Baptists for Life have produced a document which is in tune with biblical
standards concerning matters such as medical procedures, pain control, resuscitation, and euthanasia. The
document is known as the Protective Medical Decisions Declaration, and takes the place of the so-called "living
will" produced by secular authorities. Its major difference is in the attitude that is established in the values
declaration portion of the document. It reads as follows:
Protective Medical Decisions Declaration
* God, as revealed in the Bible, is sovereign and He alone determines the length of our lives.
* The Bible is my source of final authority and all decisions in life must be consistent with its teachings.
* Physical death for the child of God is only a separation from this earthly existence into the presence of God.
* Life can be burdensome in many ways. However, no matter how burdened it may be, human life remains
intrinsically good. Therefore, remaining alive is never rightly regarded as a burden, and deliberate killing of
innocent human life is never rightly regarded as rendering a benefit.
* While the elimination of pain and/or suffering is one legitimate goal of medicine, bringing about the death of
a person to achieve it is not legitimate medical practice.
* Therefore, I reject the notion that providing aid in dying or assisted suicide is a legitimate role for physicians.
As a person, whether conscious or unconscious, I have a right not to be killed by those whose responsibility it
is to provide medical care.
F. Does a Comfortable, Controlled Death Achieve the Goal of Euthanasia?
The subject of death is so much front and center these days that it is even a part of the thinking of students in
many public schools. As a result, several years ago, we took a poll of students in several public high schools
concerning what they thought about death. We asked such questions as, "If you could do anything you wanted
to do, what would you do if you knew you were going to die today?" There were a variety of interesting
responses by those students which revealed everything from a serious evaluation of both death and life to a
cavalier disregard for either.
In one part of that questionnaire, we asked the question, "How do you feel about death?" Answers like, "it
seems so final, "and "I'm really afraid to die," came through very forcefully.
And such answers should be expected. For no matter how we rationalize death or try to treat it philosophically,
the truth engraven upon our hearts and consciences and written in the divine Book of God keeps haunting us it
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). The final Judgment Seat of God
will be terrible indeed, and those who are not prepared to face it have every right to fear it. Euthanasia means
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"Good Death" but good death is a fantasy for the unsaved no matter how quickly they die or how painlessly
death may come or how well planned their death may be. There was a man in Scripture whose death was
accompanied by all the comforts that were available at that time. . . But Jesus said of him in hell he lifted up his
eyes, being in torments. We need to ask ourselves the serious question which I think Jesus meant us to ask -
"Did the rich man have a good death even if he had a comfortable death?" I think not. One moment after death
he was in torment. Conscious physical torment in a place of flame and pain and awful shame. To wake in hell is
not a good death even if the death event was a comfortable one!
And the rich man was not alone. The inspired record reads: And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before
God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works (Revelation 20:12). And
again we read, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which
were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15).
The frantic search in our time for the perfect formula for euthanasia, the "Good Death", totally misses the one
major factor that makes the difference – What happens after death? There is a vast difference between a
comfortable death and a good death and because there is, no unsaved person can ever really experience
euthanasia no matter how comfortable their death may be.
(30) Is it possible for the unsaved to achieve so-called euthanasia (a "good death")? (Yes / No) ______
(31) What major factor is missed by the frantic search for a "good death" ?______________________________
(32) Which of the following describes a truly "good death" ? _____
(a) a painless death (b) a quick death (c) a death prepared for eternity
G. Finding Euthanasia ("good death")
One questionnaire returned by a high school student responding to that poll had a different answer. The young
man who filled it out said, "I have no fear of death, for I know that if I die today, I'll go to heaven." If the word
euthanasia means, as it does, "good death," it certainly seemed that he was planning on having one. But how
could he possibly be so sure?
When pressed and asked that question, he referred the questioner to this verse, in John 5:24, Verily, verily I say
unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come
into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Yes, that student understood that when Jesus Christ, the Son of God went to the Cross 2000 years ago, He did
so to bear our sins in His own body on the tree. There He suffered and bled and ultimately paid the price of
death itself. But the glorious fact is this. . .He did not remain dead; He arose and was able to declare, I am he
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death
(Revelation 1:18).
As the Apostle Paul declared so forcefully, I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to
keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12b). And as the Apostle John so
eloquently added, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may
know that ye have eternal life. . . (1 John 5:13).
No matter what the circumstances of death may be, every death for the believer is a "good death" because it
places him in the arms of Jesus and in the presence of his Lord forever. No wonder the Apostle wrote in
Revelation 14:13, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord . . . Achieving a "good death," is more about
preparing for what happens after death than simply about the circumstances of the event of death itself.
(33) Every death for a believer is a (a) ________________________ no matter what the
(b) _________________________________ of death might be.
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1. Scripture views life as: (a) a ___________ from God, and as (b) ______ ______ _________________
_______ _________________.
2. In the United States, the loss of a biblical regard for life took place when_____________________________.
3. New public school curriculum sought to bring about an acceptance of what two things?
(a) _______________________________________ (b) _______________________________________
4. What ingredients are always missing in these secular programs? ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
5. Name a group that attempts to find immortality here on earth. (a) ____________ Describe what they do.
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
6. Define the term "Mercy Killing." ____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Does a comfortable, controlled death achieve the goal of euthanasia (good death)? (Yes / No). ___________
Explain why. ____________________________________________________________________________
8. Is it ever ethically right to cause the death of a terminally ill person? (Yes / No) ________
9. What are the most important weapons used in the fight over life or death?_____________________________
10. List five reasons why legalizing euthanasia is not only wrong but dangerous.
(a) _____________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________
(e) _____________________________________________________________
II. SUICIDE
A. Introduction
For many years I traveled to various high schools and lectured on current topics. The most popular of all of
those lectures and the one most requested – sometimes for a second and even a third hearing - was a lecture I
did on suicide. As I sit down to write this, I just learned of a teenage girl from a Christian home who, this past
week, took her own life. Suicide is a growing phenomena especially here in the west, and diverse voices are
raised on the one hand to prevent it, and on the other to legalize it. Of course there are those who would legalize
almost anything. One sure way to bring down crime statistics is to stop calling certain things a crime. Such
activities still go on leaving their horrible impact on all whose lives are touched by them, but they are no longer
counted in the statistical tabulation. For those who seek a biblical view of things, suicide cannot be written off
as a non-crime.
(1) Name one way crime statistics are lowered. ___________________________________________________
(2) Suicide is a relatively infrequent occurrence. (True or False) _____________
B. Background: Suicide Statistics
The World Health Organization estimates that in this current year approximately one million people will die
from suicide. That is a global mortality rate of 16 suicides per 100,000 deaths. That computes to about one
death by suicide every 40 seconds.
The WHO further reports that: "In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% world-wide. Suicide is
now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44, and that statistic includes both sexes."
Beside the startling statistics on deaths by suicide are the even more startling ones on attempted suicide. Suicide
attempts are up to twenty times more frequent than completed suicides. In other words, for everyone who
actually commits suicide, twenty others attempt suicide and for one reason or other fail to die.
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Although suicide rates have traditionally been highest among elderly males, rates among young people in their
teens and early twenties have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a
third of all countries world-wide.
(3) Give the correct statistic for the following:
(a) There is one death by suicide every ________ seconds.
(b) Suicide rates have increased by ________% in the last 45 years.
(c) There are _____ times more attempted suicides than actual Suicides.
Another statistic of interest is that mental disorders (particularly depression and substance abuse) are associated
with more than 90% of all cases of suicide. However, suicide results from many complex sociocultural factors.
It has long been known that suicide is more likely to occur during periods of socioeconomic crisis, family and
individual crisis (e.g. loss of a loved one, employment, or honor). We will examine these factors more closely
later.
The United States Center for Disease Control reports that: More people die from suicide than from homicide. In
1997 (the last year for which statistics are currently available), there were 1.5 times as many suicides as
homicides. Overall, suicide is the eighth leading cause of death for all Americans, and is the third leading cause
of death for young people aged 15-24.
(4) What two "mental disorders" are associated with 90% of suicide cases?
(a) _________________________________________________________________
(b) _________________________________________________________________
(5) Suicide is more likely to occur during periods of _______________________.
(6) More people die from homicide than from suicide. (True or False) _________
Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than are females. However, females are more likely to
attempt suicide than are males. That disproportional figure seems to be due to a number of factors including
how suicide is performed. Males traditionally favor more lethal and irreversible methods such as the use of
firearms, hanging themselves or jumping from buildings or bridges, whereas females prefer overdoses of
medications or drugs, and slitting their wrists. Obviously the latter methods are more often reversible than the
former, but this traditional pattern may be changing. Girls are beginning to show an inclination toward more
violent patterns of suicide.
(7) More (a) ______________attempt suicide, but more (b) ______ die from suicide.
Suicide in the United States, especially among teens, was a fairly uncommon happening until the decade of the
1960’s when the phenomena jumped onto the front page of newspapers across the country. The United States
was reporting over 6000 suicides among teens in a single year. Then in the decade from 1970 to 1980, the
incidence of suicide doubled to where for several years suicide took its place as the second leading cause of
death among teens in America. According to the latest numbers, over 200,000 teens will attempt suicide this
year and over 30,000 of those will die. To get a little better perspective on that, in any one 24-hour period, some
four hundred teens will attempt suicide and fourteen of those will actually die.
Another factor worth noting is what has been called "suicide clusters." It appears that when one suicide takes
place, it has the effect of triggering several other suicides in the same general area. For instance, the focus of
attention, as I write, seems to be on the Boston area. In less than one year, eleven teen suicides have occurred in
this one area alone and, in that same area, twenty additional teens have made suicide attempts.
It must be obvious, therefore, that suicide is a growing social issue and one that must be examined to discover
its ethical ramifications. But in order for us to do that, it is helpful first of all to examine the contributing factors
to suicide.
(8) How many U.S. teens currently attempt suicide in any 24-hour period? ______________
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(9) When several suicides take place within a certain time and area, it is commonly referred to as a
__________________________________________________________________________.
C. Reasons for Suicide

1. Feelings of Rejection
It was not uncommon when I would talk about suicide in a school venue to get some notes handed to me by
students. These were frequently heartbreaking and sometimes down right alarming. Many of them began
something like this one which was handed to me by a young girl who barely raised her head to look at me as she
walked by. It said: "I'm so timid I can't talk so I've written you this note . . . I feel so worthless . . . everything I
try to do turns out wrong . . . I'm just taking up space . . ." Although both heartbreaking and alarming, that note
was not unusual. It spoke the feelings of many teens whom I counseled with during those days and many who
have attempted suicide. The most recent note left at a teen suicide said, "I think everyone would be better off
without me." In his classic book The Ins and Out of Rejection, Charles Solomon puts his finger on the central
dynamic in play in this kind of a suicide when he writes, Suicide is "the ultimate in self-rejection and the
epitome of self-centeredness" (p. 47). Notice the apparent contradiction in that statement. We do not think of
self-rejection and self-centeredness as parallel emotions, but Solomon clearly shows that they are. The
connecting link is the word self. Feelings of worthlessness and rejection may come from any number of factors,
but they are directly related to a total focus on self. Whenever there is a focus on self, it leads inevitably, either
to delusions of grandeur, or to the despair of self-rejection. Focus on self is a sure sign of deep problems, and it
is frequently found in teens who are struggling though the issues of hormonal change and approaching puberty.
Rejection or perceived rejection by peers at this stage can push self-rejection over the edge.
(10) Write out Charles Solomon's statement on suicide. _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
(11) Self-rejection comes when there is a total focus upon __________________.
(12) When does this focus most frequently occur? _________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. Feelings of Guilt
Another strong emotion which often accompanies suicide is the feeling of guilt. I remember meeting Kathy.
Kathy was an exceptional student and a committed Christian who had been chosen to go as an exchange student
to South America. There, she told me how she had been placed in a secular environment with a family who
were non-Christians. At first she had determined to be a good testimony to them and had located a small
evangelical church not far from her host family's home. Not uncharacteristically in that strongly Catholic
country, the handful of believers met in a storefront. She attended, much to the embarrassment of the host
family who felt themselves socially above those who attended there. Soon the family began to scoff at Kathy for
her religious affiliations and her convictions. Gradually the pressure became more than she was willing to bear.
She quit going to the services, then quit praying, then quit reading the Scripture. One night at a teenage dance,
she violated her conscience and was so overcome by guilt that she attempted to get her hands on a gun she knew
to be kept in the house. Once the host family became aware of what was happening, they took precautions by
locking the gun away. Next Kathy tried to electrocute herself in the shower and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Next she tried an overdose of drugs. At that, she was sent home and that is were I met her. Guilt can be a
terrible force which Satan is only too ready to take advantage of. We need to remember the words of Jesus.
Satan cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.
(13) What caused the guilt that drove Kathy to attempt suicide?_______________________________________
3. Drugs
One of the major reasons for the increase in suicide among teens has been the increase of drug usage beginning
in the run-away 1960’s and continuing at the present time. While the "drugs of choice" have changed, running
the gamut from the use of marijuana and LSD to crack cocaine and the more sophisticated methamphetamines,
(and more recently even prescription drugs), the incidence of usage among teens has only increased. And what
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role do drugs play in the increase in suicide? Drugs were listed as a significant factor in 75% of the suicides
which occurred in the Boston "cluster".
Several years ago a teen in Texas by the name of Dexter Gardner committed suicide after making a tape
recording for his parents to listen to. Some of what he said may be instructive in trying to understand the part
drugs can play in suicide.
This may come as a shock to you mom, but your little boy is a drug addict. It's really bad Mom. I didn't think it
was when I first got into it, but my mind is blown. . I don't know what's right and what's wrong any more, I
don't know what's real and what isn't real. Ah,... the reason I'm doing this. . . well, the real reason is I don't
know. . . So all I can say is, I'm not going to make any sentimental speeches if you know what I mean, so I'll
just close with a blank statement, maybe a kind of idiotic statement, but a lot of things are crazy these days . . .
so I'll just close by saying; This is Dexter Gardner speaking, . . . I'm signing off." (Then a gun shot is heard).
One statement above may be worth special note. Gardner said, "I'm signing off." In electronics terminology he
was saying that the program was ended, the set was off. But when lecturing, I have often noted that since
Scripture clearly reveals that death not only closes a door, but opens one, Gardner may have thought that he
turned off the set while, in fact, he only changed the channel, and the program he got next may have been much
less to his liking than the one he had. Suicide does not end anything but opportunity.
(14) Drugs alter one's perception of reality and can account for confused behavior such as that exhibited by
Dexter Gardner. (True or False) __________
(15) Suicide never ends anything but opportunity. (True or False) _____________
4. Influence of Music / Books / T.V. / Films
Along with the loss of reality brought on through the use of drugs can be the very similar effect of the hypnotic
power of music, films and other media. Heavy metal themes of death, which often glorify suicide, create strong
impressions which never completely go away. This is especially true when young minds are repeatedly and
powerfully exposed to such themes. The very names of certain popular music groups strongly suggests themes
of death and violence. Add to this, popular books like Dereck Humphry's Final Exit, which is a veritable "how
to" manual for suicide, and it is no wonder that suicide records show clear and unmistakable connections
between these influences and the increasing rate of suicide in our time.
(16) Music and films have a negligible effect on suicide. (True or False) ________
5. The Result of Personal Loss
There can be no doubt that suicide frequently comes on the heels of great personal loss or tragedy. In eastern
lands it has long been a tradition to take one’s life when faced with failure of any kind. "Loss of Face" or
disgrace resulting from personal failure actually obligates one in certain cultures to commit suicide. Suicide has
been the traditional way for Japanese to handle any personal failure, from loss of wealth, to loss of love or even
the loss of a sporting contest. Obviously suicide is not an acceptable response in a Christian Ethical System, and
we will discuss that more thoroughly later. Bill Blackburn in his classic book on Suicide makes this poignant
observation, "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem" (p. 85). In fact, suicide is not a solution
at all. Suicide does not solve any problem; it rather runs from the problem and seeks to escape it.
6. Fear of the Future
Reasons for suicide are often complex and cannot be reduced to a single issue. However, one very strong
influence in the phenomena of suicide is the element of fear. Along side of loss (especially of wealth or of
health) comes the uncertainty of being able to cope with the future. That uncertainty, if not met with faith, will
inevitably lead to fear. The last stage of fear is a feeling of despair and doom and finally suicide. Notice again
how the very thing which leads to suicide proves how wrong it is. God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but
of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 ).
(17) Write two more factors which play a part in creating the propensity to suicide.
(a) _____________________ __________________________
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(b) __________ ______ ________ _____________________
7. To Make a Dramatic Statement
When self-styled prophet Jim Jones urged his deluded followers to drink from vats of Kool-aid laced with
cyanide, he told them that what they were doing was "an act of revolutionary protest against an inhumane
world." Their suicide was intended to make a powerful statement. Actually suicide is always meant to make a
statement. It is, by its very nature, an act of rebellion. Suicide experts can discover who a potential suicide is
angry at or rebelling toward by asking the perceptive question, "Who do you think will find your body?"
In an article on suicide from Compton's Encyclopedia we find this astute observation: "The individual, in
seemingly hopeless conflict with the world, decides to end his or her existence in what amounts to a final
temper tantrum against a society that can no longer be tolerated. In so doing, the person symbolically obtains a
final revenge on everything and everyone that have caused these feelings of depression."* In the final analysis,
suicide is an act of * Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia Deluxe © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc. rebellion
toward God. It is the person's way of telling God that he (or she) is angry at God for whatever it is in life that
the person thinks is unfair. After all, if God is really God, then He has the final say in my circumstances and if I
don't like them I can make a "revolutionary protest against God."
(18) Suicide is, by its very nature, an act of ___________________.
(19) Against whom is that rebellion ultimately directed? __________
D. Scriptural View of Suicide

That leads us to look at what we can learn from Scripture on the subject. There are several cases of suicide
recorded in Scripture, and there are situations where suicide was urged or suggested. We can get a pretty clear
idea of God's view of suicide by looking at those cases. The first recorded suicide attempt is that of Saul,
recorded in 1 Samuel 31:3-6. Examining what led up to this tragedy helps identify its cause. Saul was a man so
deeply out of fellowship with God that he had spent the night seeking guidance from a witch. The message of
doom which was delivered along with Saul's own tortured conscience and the fear of torment by his captors
brought Saul to utter desperation. In an act of fear and despair, Saul attempted to take his own life. We learn
later that he apparently failed. But notice the sin of suicide is the culmination of a downward spiral of sinful
acts. And significantly, as we have observed before, his own sinful action prompted his armor-bearer to follow
suit and also commit suicide. It is obvious that the Scripture record leaves us with no doubt that what Saul did
was sinful and resulted in a sinful response in one influenced by him. What is not clear is whether Saul died in
grace or as a lost soul. Samuel's words in 1 Samuel 28:19 seem to suggest that Saul may have been taken to
Paradise, but the words are too ambiguous to be dogmatic.
(20) Name at least two contributing factors to Saul's suicide.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________
(21) Saul's act of suicide condemned him to hell. (True or False) _____________
The next instance we find is that of David's brilliant counselor Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23). Here the reason
for his action seems complex. There is the obvious loss of face when his counsel was refused. This seems on the
surface to be the rationale behind his action. However, the ingredient of fear cannot be ruled out. Ahithophel
knew the king and he knew that failing to destroy David immediate ly as he had urged, would most likely foul
the coup and return David to power. Ahithophel would be found guilty of treachery and treason and no doubt
executed. So a combination of guilt, fear and wounded pride carried him to the noose. Again a chain of sin leads
to the ultimate sin of suicide.
(22) List three factors which contributed to Ahithophel's suicide.
(a) _________________________________________________________
(b) _________________________________________________________
(c) _________________________________________________________
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The best known suicide in history, however, is doubtless that of Judas. It is interesting that while all four of the
gospel writers record the betrayal of Christ by Judas, only Matthew (and later Luke in the Acts account), record
his suicide. Matthew simply tells us that, unable to undo what he had done, Judas went and hanged himself
(Matthew 27:5). The rather gory details are rehearsed by Peter in Acts 1:15-20. It is here that we learn Judas'
ultimate fate. He was a lost soul (even as the Old Testament Scriptures had predicted: Zechariah 11:12-13;
Psalm 41:9; 69:25; 109:5-8). It is, no doubt, from this case that Augustine concluded that all who commit
suicide are lost. The universal cannot be demonstrated from the particular. But it is a profitable study to trace
the currents that drove Judas and brought him to his tragic end. Consider the weight of pretending to be a
disciple for three and one-half years, yet never giving his heart to the Master. Add to that the guilt of being a
thief (John 12:5-6), and the deception of Satan (John 13:27), and the remorse of betraying an innocent person
(Matthew 27:3-5), and you have the perfect ingredients for suicide.
(23) We have listed four ingredients active in Judas' suicide. Name them.
(a) ________________________________________________________________________
(b) ________________________________________________________________________
(c) ________________________________________________________________________
(d) ________________________________________________________________________
(24) Was it the act of suicide that sent Judas to hell? (Yes / No) _________
What can we learn from these examples? Suicide is viewed in Scripture as the climax of a series of sinful
choices spiraling downward to the inevitable crash. It is not only sin, but the result of sin. Whether in the life of
a believer or an unbeliever, suicide is wrong. Interestingly enough, McQuilkin finds justification for certain
kinds of suicide. He argues that "a mother starving herself to feed her children, (or) the friend leaving another
with his life jacket. . ." are not sinful acts, but heroic (p. 330). I would certainly concur, however, I would urge
that such acts of self-sacrifice do not belong in a discussion of suicide. True suicide involves the deliberate and
intentional act of taking one's life. That is not what the above mentioned did. They rather sacrificed their lives
for another as Christ did for us. The Bible calls that, not suicide, but, "the greatest love" (John 15:13).
(25) Suicide involves _______________________________________________________________________.
(26) Suicide is morally permissible in certain instances. (True or False) _________
(27) The act of sacrificing one’s life for another, even though death may be certain, cannot rightly be called
suicide. (True or False) _________
Finally, while it is not often recognized as such, there is a clear passage in which our very Lord Himself was
tempted to commit suicide. The details of the temptation are recorded by both Matthew and Luke
(Matthew 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12). The central issue of the temptation was to get Christ to act independently of the
Father. The promise of deliverance which Satan quoted is to those who inadvertently stumble while walking in
the path of God's will. Christ saw the issue clearly and declared that it would be "tempting God" to put Himself
at risk independent of God's direction. The fact is that many a suicide actually tempts God in the vain hope that
God will intervene. Christ resisted that temptation, and so must we.
(28) Christ Himself was tempted by Satan to commit suicide. (True or False) __________
In addition to all that has already been said, there is a list of biblical references at the end of this section which
further enforce the Bible's view on suicide. They are worth studying, not only to resolve any moral question
about suicide, but as a defense against Satan's temptations to us and to those we love. Remember, Satan comes
only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. He is covertly active in every case of suicide.
E. Some Important Things to Consider
Because of the nature of this subject and the growing incident of suicide in our society, I am compelled to
include several things here which do not strictly fall into the category of ethical discussion, but are rather
offered simply as aids to those who may need help either for themselves or for others in dealing with this issue.
I will offer these in three sections. First, some warning signs to detect potential attitudes which may result in
suicide. Secondly, a series of what I have called "faithful sayings," or truth slogans that are easy to remember
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and may help in a crisis. And finally, I will offer a three-fold biblical cure for anyone tempted to commit suicide
followed by some pertinent biblical references. It is my prayer that in addition to developing a biblical ethic in
regard to suicide, you may also fortify your spiritual defenses against this tragic sin. (Since this section is added
as an addenda, there will be no responses to be made.)
1. Warning Signs of Suicide
* Change in eating and sleeping habits.
* Withdrawal from friends and family and from regular activities.
* Violent or rebellious behavior, or running away.
* Drug and alcohol abuse.
* Unusual neglect of personal appearance.
* Radical personality change.
* Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating.
* A decline in the quality of schoolwork.
* Frequent complaints about physical symptoms, often related to emotions
(such as stomach-ache, headache, fatigue, etc.)
* Loss of interest in pleasurable activities.
* Not tolerating praise or rewards.
* Complain of being "rotten inside."
* Give verbal hints with statements such as: "I won't be a problem for you much longer," "Nothing matters,"
"It's no use," "I won't see you again."
* Put his or her affairs in order - for example, give away favorite possessions.
* Become suddenly cheerful after a period of depression.
2. Things to Remember: "Some Faithful Sayings"
"Faithful sayings" were catechistic phrases employed by the early church to teach sound doctrine and correct
thinking. In a word, they were easily remembered clichés that one could hold onto in a moment of temptation
and weakness. The Authorized Version of the Bible refers to them as faithful sayings. Here are some I have
used in counseling.
* "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
* "Suicide is the ultimate in self-rejection; it is the epitome of self-centeredness."
* "The greatest deterrent there is against suicide is the fear of God."
* "There are no terminal cases with God."
* "Suicide doesn't turn off the set - it only changes the channel."
* "The game of life has no winners and no losers until the last bell has sounded."
* "Why not make a list of your reasons for suicide so you'll have them ready for God on the Judgment Day?"
* "Loneliness, despair, and failure are God on the line calling you to come quickly into His presence."
* "As long as there is God, there is hope."
* "You can die unsaved, but you cannot die unloved."
3. A Three-step Cure for Suicide
a. Be sure that you have genuinely received Christ. If you have never invited Christ into your life to forgive
your sin and give you the gift of eternal life, you should do so at once. Simply pray:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner, but I believe that Christ died for my
sins and rose again from the dead to bring me to you. I ask you to forgive
my sins for Jesus' sake and save me now. Thank you for loving me, and
hearing my prayer, and thank you for saving me. Amen
b. Tell God you do trust His wisdom in your life. Remember, He is too good to be unkind and too wise to
make a mistake. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33). God knows best for your circumstances, your
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appearance, your abilities (you do have some), your location, i.e. where you are now, and your health. And most
important, God loves you. Memorize Romans 15:13; Jeremiah 29:11. Finally, let God be God!
c. Step out of your ego and direct your energies toward helping others. A visit to the ward of any children's
hospital or old folks’ home should get you started. Find out how you can help. Ask God to give you a "servant’s
heart." Make that one unique contribution that only you can make (Romans 14:7-8).
VERSES FROM GOD'S WORD WHICH CONFRONT SUICIDE AND ITS CAUSES.
READ, MEMORIZE, AND KNOW
Exodus 20:13: Thou shalt not kill.
Ecclesiastes 9:4: For to him that is joined to the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead
lion.
Revelation 1:18: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death.
Hebews 9:27: And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.
Romans 14:7-8; For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live
unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die,
we are the Lord's.
Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and
not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Romans 15:13: Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in
hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost.
1. Define the term "suicide." __________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. According to the World Health Organization, how many people die of suicide each year? ________________
3. Suicide has increased by about _________% since 1960.
4. The age group at highest risk for suicide is _____________________________.
5. Define the term "suicide cluster." ____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
6. List seven prominent reasons people commit suicide.
(a) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(f ) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(g) _____________________________________________________________________________________
7. Name three people in Scripture who committed suicide.
(a) _______________________ (b) _________________________ (c) __________________________
8. Suicide is viewed in Scripture as the (a) _______________ to a series of (b) __________________________.
9. The act of sacrificing one’s own life for the sake of another can rightly be called suicide. (True or False) ____
10. Describe how Satan tempted Christ to commit suicide. __________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
III. THE DILEMMA OF WAR
A. Introduction
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The last century has been called "the century of war." This present century promises to be more of the same.
National conflict, civil wars, international conflicts, religious as well as political war have characterized our
times. As we write, millions perish in Africa due to a combination of tribal warfare and religious and ethnic
cleansing. Islam has declared war on the world in the name of Allah. What must the Christian's attitude be
toward war? Should he universally condemn it? Is there such a thing as a "just war"? Should a Christian ever
join the armed services or fight in a war? Should he be a conscientious objector, refusing to take any part in any
and all violence and bloodshed? These and other questions we will attempt to answer in this section.
B. Where does War Come From?
The classic statement that answers that question is found in Scripture in the book of James. From whence come
wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and
have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war. . . (James 4:1-2). War results from
man's own fallen nature which wants everything for itself. Whether individual conflict or international warfare,
the source is the same. War is a result of sin. Killing and death are a result of the same. May we deduce
therefore that all war is sinful? That would be a premature conclusion.
(1) War comes as a result of (a) _________. Give a reference for your answer. (b) __________________
(2) All war is therefore wrong and sinful. (True or False) _____________
On the other hand, the Kingdom of our God and of His Christ will be one of peace. Isaiah promises, neither
shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4). The great war academies will all be closed in that day. A few
chapters further on, Isaiah describes the Kingdom in these words, The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and
the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little
child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the
lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:6-9). We would conclude,
therefore, that war has no place in God's Kingdom.
But God's Kingdom has not come yet, and we must remember that verses 6-9 are preceded by these words, but
with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: for he shall smite
the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked (Isaiah 11:4). The
cessation of war comes only after God declares war on the wicked. So that leads us to an interesting
observation; God sometimes uses war as an instrument of Divine Justice.
(3) What one word describes the coming Kingdom of Christ?________________
(4) God sometimes uses war as ________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
C. God Uses War as an Instrument of Divine Justice

In Exodus 15:3 Jehovah is called a man of war, when He intervened again on Israel's behalf and destroyed
Pharaoh and the most powerful army on earth at that time. The off repeated phrase, the LORD of hosts, really
means the God of armies, and while it doubtless refers primarily to heavenly armies, the point is that God
Himself, the very Author of Peace, uses war as an instrument to accomplish His purposes in the universe.
Although violence in the earth was noted as the chief reason for the Noahic deluge, the word "war" does not
appear in Scripture until Genesis 14 where we read of the coalition of armies that attacked the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah. Abraham's nephew Lot was taken captive by these warring kings, so Abraham, "the father of the
faithful," armed his servants and pursued them, winning a great victory and restoring all that they had taken.
Abraham, the Friend of God, became Abraham the warrior, with the evident blessing of the Almighty. Abraham
acknowledged God's intervention on his behalf in this unlikely triumph and demonstrated his gratitude by
giving a tithe of all of the spoils to God's Priest, Melchizedek. Thus the first war of record was a righteous war
fought, not for fame, glory or spoil, but for the freedom of those who were taken captive against their will.
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The first order of business recorded in the book of Numbers was the formation of Israel's army. In Deuteronomy
God set forth the "Law of warfare" (Deuteronomy 20). It should be noted, however, that in conducting its wars,
Israel was to first offer the enemy terms of peace (Deuteronomy 20:10-11). Throughout the wars in Canaan,
God's providential intervention in Israel's warfare is frequently evident as in the case of Jericho and the
Gibeonite battle (Joshua 6, 10:11-13). And God's involvement in battles was not confined to Israel. He later
used the pagan nations as His "rod" to chasten rebellious and disobedient Israel (Isaiah 10:5-20). A study of
history's most crucial battles will demonstrate again and again God's quiet intervention (i.e., as at Waterloo
where the armies of Napoleon were defeated by rain).
Throughout the Old Testament, God frequently used the armies of Israel as His instrument of judgment upon
sinful peoples. His program of conquest in Canaan was delayed for 400 years until the iniquity of the Amorites
was full (Genesis 15:16). When Israel's invasion of the land finally occurred, the destruction they brought was
God's judgment upon a wicked and depraved race. War was God's method of cleansing the land.
(5) The phrase, the LORD of hosts really means __________________________________________________.
(6) Name at least two instances in which God intervened in battles to give Providential help.
(a) _____________________________________ (b) _________________________________
(7) What method did God use to cleanse the land of Canaan? ________________________
D. The Doctrine of a Just War
Now the point of all of this is that while war is a result of man's sin and the work of the one who comes to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy, God uses war during this age as His instrument to bring about His will among the
nations. So is war among nations ever justifiable?
Philosophers and theologians have wrestled with that question through the ages. Augustine attempted to define
a "Just War." Augustine argued that any justifiable war must have peace as its goal. Its purpose must be to
secure justice, including in most instances the preservation of the state. Augustine actually argued that war can
and should be waged in love (for those offended by the aggression that brought on war). He further argued that
the decision for war must be made by those responsible for the conduct of the government and not by private
citizens. Finally, he argued that war must be conducted with a minimum of cruelty.
(8) Augustine attempted to define ______.
(a) a Just War (b) an Unjust War
(9) List at least five things which Augustine believed constituted a Just War.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________________________
Augustine's principles have been reworked and restated until they have become codified into international law
in Grotius's "The Law of War and Peace." The document includes seven principles which are meant to guide the
conduct of a "Just War." They are:
1. Just Cause: in this principle all aggression is condemned, only defensive war is held to be legitimate.
2. Just Intention: the only legitimate intention must be to achieve peace for all involved. Neither revenge nor
conquest, nor economic gain, nor ideological supremacy is justified.
3. Last Resort: war is justified only when all efforts of negotiations and compromise have failed.
4. Formal Declaration: a state of war must be declared by the governmental authority before hostilities may
commence.
5. Limited Objectives: the total destruction of a nation, either economically or politically is unwarranted. The
objective should be peace with honor.
6. Proportionate Means: the weaponry and force used should be limited to that which is essential to the
objective of obtaining and sustaining peace.
7. Noncombatant Immunity: since war is declared by governments, only those who are officially agents of the
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government may fight, and those not actively contributing to the conflict should be immune from attack.
While these are certainly noble goals, it may be seen at once that they have seldom, if ever, been fully applied
by warring parties. Nevertheless, despite man's failure to observe his own rules of engagement, the principles
above do suggest that there is a basis for a justifiable war.
(10) Grotius seven Laws of War and Peace are consistently applied in modern warfare. (True or False) _______
(11) What do the seven principles suggest? _______________________________________________________
But didn't the new dispensation change all of that? Didn't Jesus Christ teach the principles of submission and
non-retaliation? And is it ever right for the believer to go to war?
E. Did the New Testament Dispensation Change Everything?
Those who believe that a person should never go to war are known as Pacifists. The position is frequently
espoused by humanists who choose to believe in the goodness of all men. However, there is also a very
prominent passive movement within the Church, and this position, when defended by Scripture, is based largely
upon the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew chapter five through seven
(especially the section in 5:3-12). Here Jesus says things like, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are the merciful,
and Blessed are the peacemakers. In verses 38-48, Jesus again seems to clearly demand that His people be
passive toward any form of aggression, telling us to turn the cheek to those who would smite us. Jesus also
warned that they that take the sword shall perish with the sword (Matthew 26:52).
Jesus set the great example of meekness for us for, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously (1 Peter 2:23). Isaiah said of Him, he is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth
(Isaiah 53:7). Now all of that would seem to indicate that God's standard for the believer is a quiet passivity in
the face of evil.
That is not the whole story, however. It is this same Jesus that took a whip made of cords and drove them all out
of the temple (John 2:15). The evidence seems to suggest that, in fact, He may have done so on two occasions,
one at the very beginning of His ministry (John 2) and once toward the end (Matthew 21). The violent action
was predicted in the words of the prophet Malachi (Malachi 3:1-3), though it fell short of fulfilling them
completely, leaving that for His second Advent. Nevertheless, the lesson seems clear; wrongs and affronts
against our persons should be met with passive submission, but there are times when passivity is not
appropriate.
(12) __________________ believe one should never go to war.

(13) Cite the passage where Jesus taught non-retaliation._________
(14) Did Jesus ever resort to violence to accomplish a righteous end? (Y / N) ____
The issue of the believer's response to war in this age may be clarified by making two very important
distinctions. The first is a careful distinction between the Church and Israel. The second is a clear distinction
between what God expects of us as individuals and what He expects of human governments.
The New Testament Church is not Israel, as we have already seen in previous studies. God dealt with Israel as a
nation. Her responsibilities and privileges were that of a national entity, and her promises were those of an
earthly inheritance. As an earthly government, she had the right of capital punishment against those who broke
her laws. In fact, in one single chapter of Scripture (Leviticus 20), capital punishment is mandated for ten
individual crimes. Israel was given an earthly inheritance with national boundaries and the right and duty to
defend them. Every nation actually possesses that same duty (Deuteronomy 32:8; Acts 17:26).
The Church has no such mandate. The weapons of the Church are spiritual weapons - not earthly ones. To place
this principle in perspective, consider for a moment the contrast between the Church and Islam. Islam has no
spiritual power, so the sword is its only recourse. History teaches that, when the Church loses its spiritual
power, it has also been tempted to use the sword ( i.e. the Crusades), to its own shame. Roman Catholicism's
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failure to make the distinction between what was right for Israel and what is the program for the Church
resulted in the dark ages when the Church engaged in both executions and warfare, usurping for itself the rights
and duties of human governments.
(15) To understand the teaching of Scripture, we must distinguish what two things.
(a) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ___________________________________________________________________________________
(16) Israel was a national entity, while the Church is not. (True or False) ________
When Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, He was speaking to believers as individuals, He was not speaking
to governments. But what He said to us individually applies to the Church corporately. The Church does not
engage in war, or in executing people, or in avenging itself for wrongs committed against it. Its weapons are
spiritual and its warfare is against principalities and powers in heavenly places.
We are individuals and as such, we do not possess the right to avenge ourselves. We cannot take life; when we
do, we call that murder. Judicial taking of life for a capital offence is called an execution. One is permitted by
God; the other is forbidden. Individuals are not permitted to kill those who are their enemies, but the State is
clearly mandated to bear the sword against any who do evil. I may need to take joyfully the spoiling of my
goods (Hebrews 10:34), but the State is under no such obligation. In fact, it is charged with the protection of its
citizens and their goods.
(17) When an individual acts on his own to take life, that is called ________________________.
(18) When a legitimate government takes a life for a capital crime that is called__________________________.
F. The Believer and Military Service

So what about me as a believer? Am I obligated in any way to serve the state? As a member of the Body of
Christ, the Church, Paul taught that our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for
the Savior (Philippians 3:20), yet Paul claimed on several occasions the privileges of his Roman citizenship
rather than simply submit to beatings (Acts 16:37; 22:24-25).
From these considerations, therefore, we may deduce a number of principles to guide us:
1. Believers have a duel citizenship. We are ultimately citizens of heaven, but we live under the rule of a
government which God has ordained.
2. Government, in order to fulfill its function, must employ those who will subdue evil and defend its laws
and its territorial boundaries.
3. Soldiers in the service of the government are never, in Scripture, told to forsake that service. They are told,
rather, to conduct it with grace (Luke 3:14). John the Baptist's reference to violence here cannot be taken to
mean that violence which occurs in conflict, but rather that unnecessary violence which was often done by
soldiers to unprotected citizens.
4. Soldiers of faith are often commended highly (Matthew 8:5-10; Acts 10).
5. Scripture teaches that there is no evil in either being or aiding a soldier in right ways. Jesus taught that if
compelled to bear a burden one mile, we should willingly bear it two (Matthew 5:41). The only one who
could compel someone to bear a burden was a Roman soldier. Rather than showing contempt for them,
Jesus told his disciples to aid them on their way. When we aid someone, we obviously become complicit in
what that person is doing. Yet Christ allowed that kind of complicity, while forbidding complicity with
spiritual apostacy (2 John 10-11).
6. In the epistles, a parallel is often drawn between the duties and conduct of a soldier and that of a Christian
(2 Timothy 2:3; Ephesians 6:10-17). While such comparisons are obviously intended to refer to our
spiritual warfare and not literal soldiering, one commentator points out that such parallels are never drawn
between the spiritual life and professions which are unlawful (such as prostitution, etc.).
7. Human government and the support and service of that government is commended (indeed commanded) in
Romans 13:1-4. There is no direct or indirect prohibition against military service in Scripture.
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(19) There is no prohibition against military service in Scripture. (True or False) ____________
Robertson McQuilkin notes that, in the early Church, there is no record of anyone employed in military service,
but he goes on to note that, "rationale for not serving was . . . the impossibility of being in the army without
participating in various idolatrous practices" (Biblical Ethics, p. 334). In addition, Christianity was outlawed by
the state till the time of Constantine and therefore a Christian could not have survived in the military. Thus non-
participation in the military by the early Church cannot be used as a compelling argument for our time.
Norman Geisler attempts to make a case for "selective service" as a position of middle ground between activism
and pacifism (Christian Ethics, pp. 228-230), but the application of such a position is both extremely subjective
and impossible to maintain. It places making the judgment for or against warfare on the individual, which is
what many "peace" demonstrators attempt to do, with neither the information at their disposal to make such a
judgment, nor the authority to do so.
(20) That there is no recorded instance of early Christians in military service proves no Christian should serve in
the military.(True/False)_____________
(21) Why can't a person follow the path of "selective service" choosing which wars are just and which are not?
______________________________________________________________________________________
The position of Scripture seems clearly to allow for military service. However, that service must be seen by the
Christian as one which allows expression of his Christian beliefs and practices and permits him to act, even
toward an enemy, with that degree of restraint and mercy which recognizes his enemy's dignity as a fellow man
created in the image of God.
There will be many moral challenges for the believer who finds himself, either by choice, or by compulsion, in
military service. The temptation to compromise his witness for Christ will be strong. Close company and
military cohesiveness will put great pressure on His walk with God. Field situations will challenge his
commitment to showing mercy and treating each man as an individual created in God's image. But those who
stand firm under such pressures become powerful testimonies to the grace of God and instruments God will use
in the lives of those around him. The realities of battle cause men to face their own mortality in a way that
nothing else can. It can be an opportune time to bear witness for the Savior.
(22) Scripture does not allow for military service for Christians. (True or False) ___________
(23) Keeping a testimony for God while in the military is easy. (True or False)____________
G. Conclusions
There are many questions left unanswered by this brief consideration. Our intent was to demonstrate that there
is such a thing as a justifiable war and that a believer may, under the right circumstances, participate in the
defense of his nation. The Prince of Peace is coming, and His coming will herald uninterrupted peace on earth
for a thousand years. But His first act upon His return is the final destruction of His enemies in the greatest war
engagement of all time - Armageddon. He is the Lamb of Redemption. But He is also the Lion of Conquest
Who will put all enemies under his feet. And there is no inconsistency between the two. The role is consistent
with the goal. And the last war will be without question, a righteous one. Let us be on the right side in that day.
Each answer is worth 10 points.
1. Where does Scripture teach that war originated? (a) ______________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
Please give a reference to prove your answer. (b) ________________________
2. God uses war as an instrument to mete out Divine Justice. (True or False) _____
3. Can a war be a "just war" ? (Yes / No) _______
4. Did Jesus teach that human governments should turn the other cheek. (Yes / No) ______
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5. Jesus demonstrated there are times when passivity is not appropriate. (True or False) _______________
6. In order to understand what the Scriptures teach about war, we must make the following distinctions: the distinction
Between (a) _____________and the Church and the distinction between individuals and (b)
_______________________.
7. Since there is no recorded instance of early Christians in military service, that proves no Christian should
serve in the military. (True or False) _____________
8. There is no prohibition against military service in Scripture. (True or False) _____
PRE-TEST
syllabus. Each answer is worth 2.17 points.
1. Explain why life itself begins to lose meaning when the Scripture is rejected.__________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. Name four sinful things which have come about largely as a result of several generations of humanistic
teaching.
(a) ____________________________________ (c) ____________________________________
(b) ____________________________________ (d) ____________________________________
3. The cases for Euthanasia in the courts rests upon an absolute demand for total_________________________.
4. In the moral war over these important issues, the most important weapons are_________________________.
Match the following:
5. _____ Cryonics a. was deceived by demons
6 _____ Jay Knudsen b. believed nothing existed after death
7. _____ James A. Pike c. assists people to commit suicide
8. _____ Jean Sotra d. loads cremation ashes in shotgun shells
9. _____ Jack Kevorkian e. freeze human bodies
10. The Council for International Organizations of Medical Science and the World Medical Assembly came to
the following conclusion about death: ________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
11. Define "Mercy Killing." ___________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
12. How is mercy killing different than simply stopping life support? __________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
13. David rewarded the man who delivered Saul from his suffering by killing him. (True or False) __________
14. List five reasons why it is wrong and dangerous to legalize euthanasia.
(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________________________
15. What organization has developed a Protective Medical Decisions Declaration?________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
16. Achieving a "good death" is more about (a) ___________________________________________________
than about (b) __________________________________________________________________________.
17. The word "suicide" can be defined as ________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________.
18. While crime statisticians stopped calling suicide a crime, Scripture still views it as morally wrong. (True or False)
_____
19. When one suicide seems to influence several more within a given area, the situation is known as a
______________________________________________________________________________________.
20. List seven reasons why people commit suicide.
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(a) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(b) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(c) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(d) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(e) ____________________________________________________________________________________
(f) _____________________________________________________________________________________
(g) ____________________________________________________________________________________
21. According to the World Health Organization, how many people currently die each year of suicide?_______
22. Charles Solomon writes, "Suicide is the (a) _________________of (b) self-__________________________
and the (c) ____________________________ of (d) self -_______________________________.
23. Dexter Gardner thought suicide could end it all for him. Did it? (Yes / No) ______
24. If Satan tempted Christ to commit suicide, then suicide is clearly a work of the Devil and must be resisted.
(True or False) ___________
25. Cite a Bible reference which tells where war originated. ____________________
26. God sometimes uses war as an instrument of ___________________________.
27. Jesus taught that being passive is always the right thing to do in every circumstance.(True or False) _______
28. No Christian should ever join the military or go to war. (True or False) _________
29. When God's Kingdom comes, it will be characterized by __________________.
Turn to page 81 again, and carefully review the objectives. Then review the sections over “Christian Ethics: Part IV.” and
give special attention to those areas of study that you do not completely understand. Review the answers to the pre-test.
When you believe you know the material well, you are ready to take the test. Find the Test titled “Christian Ethics: Part
IV.” You may NOT use your notes or the Bible when taking the test. The tests may be mailed individually, in groups,
or altogether when you finish the Unit. Please mail the tests in the way that is cheapest and most convenient for you.
ANSWER KEY: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART IV
EUTHANASIA, SUICIDE AND WAR
INTRODUCTION
(1) (a) a gift from God (b) in the image of God
(2) true
(3) religious influence was shut out of the public schools
(4) death
(5) fresh curricula and new textbooks
(6) death
(7) (a) euthanasia (b) suicide
(8) because they were from the perspective of secular humanism
(9) (a) God (b) the after-life
I. THE DEMAND FOR EUTHANASIA

(11) taking polls
(12) they will be persecuted
(13) total self-determination
(14) b
(15) treatable
(16) What is death?
(17) (a) disguising (b) beauty
(18) (a) came from nowhere (b) have no reason for being here (c) have no where to go
(19) Existentialism
(20) demonic deception
(21) confused
(22) true
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(23) true
(24) true
(25) false
(26) (a) intervention (b) terminate (c) dying patient
(27) God
(28) a and d
(29) (a) no (b) no (c) no (d) no
(30) no
(31) What happens after death?
(32) c
(33) (a) good death (b) circumstances
REVIEW
(1) (a) gift (b) in the image of God
(2) when religious influence was shut out of the schools in the 1960's
(4) God and the after-life
(5) (a) Cryonics (b) They freeze their dead in hopes that science will find a cure for the disease.
(6) a direct intervention on the part of someone to terminate the life of a dying patient
(7) (a) no
(b) achieving a good death is more about preparing for what happens after death than the circumstances of
dying
(8) no
(9) words
(10) (a) It changes the doctor/patient relationship.
(b) It would legalize selective killing as a form of treatment.
(c) It could pressure dying patients into accepting voluntary death.
(d) It would make it possible to hide intentional killings.
(e) It could create a means of disposing of difficult family members.
II. SUICIDE
(1) stop calling certain things a crime
(2) false
(3) (a) 40 (b) 60 (c) 20
(4) (a) depression (b) substance abuse
(5) crisis
(6) false
(7) (a) females (b) males
(8) 400
(9) suicide cluster
(10) suicide is the ultimate in self rejection and the epitome of self centeredness
(11) self
(12) during hormonal change and puberty
(13) a violation of her conscience
(14) true
(15) true
(16) false
(17) (a) personal loss (b) fear of the future
(18) rebellion
(19) God
(20) any two of the following: (a) out of fellowship with God (b) sought guidance from a witch
(c) received a message of doom from Samuel (d) fear of torment by his captors
105
(21) false
(22) (a) guilt (b) fear (c) wounded pride
(23) (a) pretending to be a disciple (b) guilt of being a thief
(c) deception of Satan (d) remorse for betraying an innocent person
(24) no
(25) the deliberate and intentional act of taking one's life
(26) false
(27) true
(28) true
REVIEW
(1) the deliberate and intentional act of taking one's life
(2) one million
(3) 60
(4) teens and early twenties
(5) when several suicides take place within a certain time and area
(6) (a) feelings of rejection (b) feelings of guilt (c) drugs (d) influence of music, books, TV, films
(e) results of personal loss (f) fear of the future (g) to make a dramatic statement
(7) (a) Saul (b) Ahithophel (c) Judas
(8) (a) climax (b) sinful choices
(9) false
(10) He tempted Him to act independently of the Father.
III. THE DILEMMA OF WAR

(1) (a) lust (b) James 4:1-2
(2) false
(3) peace
(4) an instrument of Divine Justice
(5) the God of Armies
(6) (a) Jericho (b) Gibeonite battle
(7) war
(8) a
(9) (a) peace as its goal (b) purpose - secure justice (c) waged in love
(d) decision made by government (e) conducted with a minimum of cruelty
(10) false
(11) that there is a basis for a just war
(12) Pacifists
(13) Matthew 5-7
(14) yes
(15) (a) Israel and the Church (b) individuals and governments
(16) true
(17) murder
(18) an execution
(19) true
(20) false
(21) It is a subjective method and impossible to maintain.
(22) false
(23) false
REVIEW
(1) (a) from man's own fallen nature which wants everything for itself. (or) lust (b) James 4:1-2
106
(2) true
(3) yes
(4) no
(5) true
(6) (a) Israel (b) governments
(7) false
(8) true
PRE-TEST
(1) Once life as a gift from God and in the image of God is lost, we have no meaning or purpose.
(2) (a) sexual revolution (b) abortion (c) euthanasia (d) suicide
(3) self-determination
(4) words
(5) e
(6) d
(7) a
(8) b
(9) c
(10) no satisfactory objective definition of death could be established
(11) A direct intervention on the part of someone to terminate the life of a dying patient
(12) Stopping life support allows the person to die naturally. Mercy killing actually does the killing of the
person.
(13) true
(14) (a) It changes the doctor/patient relationship.
(b) It could legalize selective killing as a form of treatment.
(c) It could pressure dying patients into voluntary death.
(d) It would make it possible to hide intentional killings.
(e) It could create a means of disposing of difficult family members.
(15) Baptists for Life
(16) (a) preparing for what happens after death (b) the circumstances of the event of death itself
(17) the deliberate and intentional act of taking one’s life
(18) true
(19) suicide cluster
(20) (a) feelings of rejection (b) feelings of guilt (c) drugs (d) Influence of music, books, TV, etc.
(e) results of personal loss (f) fear of the future (g) to make a dramatic statement
(21) one million
(22) (a) ultimate (b) rejection (c) epitome (d) centeredness
(23) no
(24) true
(25) James 4:1-2
(26) Divine Justice
(27) false
(28) false
(29) peace
107
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Legacy International Bible College

Changing Lives Through the Word of God

Legacy International Bible College

Legacy International Bible College

AUTHOR Dr. Bill Shade

CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I

II. MAJOR PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS

Each answer is worth 4.5 points

A. Evidence from Creation

(2) Psalm 19 traces the source of all things back to ____________.

D. Evidence from the Life of Jesus Christ

(18) All that the law demanded, the ______________________________________________________ fulfills.

4. Name the two major schools of ethical debate.

6. Define Absolutism. _______________________________________________________________________

7 Name three presuppositions which Absolutists hold.

8. Name four sub-groups which hold to Antinomian or Relativistic thought.

14. Ethics can really be defined as a ________________________ ____ _______

18. What one commandment fulfills all of the others? ______________________________________________

20. God's ethical goal in our lives is to conform us to _________________ ________________.

PREPARE FOR THE TEST

III. THE FOUNDATION FOR AN ABSOLUTE ETHIC

GLOSSARY FOR CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART II

(2) In what four places did we look for an ethical standard?

B. The Bible’s Description of Sin

C. Are there Categories of Sins?

A. The Moral Virtues of Christ

(22) List the four tenets held by Conflicting Absolutism.

21. What ethical principals were involved in what Rahab did?

PREPARE FOR THE TEST

ANSWER KEY: CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART I

II. BASIC ETHICAL VIRTUES

III. WHEN ETHICAL DEMANDS COLLIDE

CHRISTIAN ETHICS: PART III

I. THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION

(6) The sex-revolution began in America in what decade? ________

(26) Name three ways in which the AIDS virus is transmitted.

6. The Root of the Problem

8. Name three ways in which the AIDS virus may be transmitted.

(11) Give two reasons why abortion has grown so fast.

E. Reasons for Abortion

3. Danger to the Mother's Life

Each question is worth 3.3 points.

7 Name five sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

10. Name three ways in which the AIDS virus is transmitted.

13. Write out 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 _____________________________________________________________

17. When does life actually begin? _______________________________________

19. Define the term "Quickening". _____________________________________________________________

23. Give two reasons why people want legalized abortion.

24. Name five (5) methods used in performing abortions.

25. How is the sinful nature transmitted to each individual? __________________________________________

28. What two kinds of life begin at conception?

II. AN EXAMINATION OF ABORTION

E. Questions About Euthanasia

C. Reasons for Suicide

D. Scriptural View of Suicide

C. God Uses War as an Instrument of Divine Justice

(12) __________________ believe one should never go to war.

F. The Believer and Military Service

I. THE DEMAND FOR EUTHANASIA

III. THE DILEMMA OF WAR

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14. Ethics can really be defined as a __________________ _

20. God's ethical goal in our lives is to conform us to _ .