Ethics and Theology

According to Scripture, you cannot separate ethics from theology. They are completely intertwined. I am not saying that an atheist cannot do good. Of course they can. And so can those with incomplete theologies. God has placed good in every man. The possibility of doing good exists in every human being. And, of course, so does the possibility of doing evil. Every person, without exception, has the possibility of making excuses to ignore doing the good they know they should do, but do not want to.

Thus, this conflict tears apart every person. Paul described it when he said in Romans 7 that “the good I would do, that I what I do not. And the evil I would not, that is what I do.” Of course, sometimes we choose the good and we are proud that we have done so as well. We have the desire to do good and the desire to do evil all mixed up within ourselves, and so we often deceive ourselves to convince ourselves that the evil is the good, the good is the evil or at least that it is excusable to do the evil. What is good and what is evil? Let’s leave that to another essay. The question is here, how do we know what is and what is evil. When we are in such a state of confusion within our minds concerning the ethical, how can we make a decision?

Well, we have to surrender to an ideal that is outside ourselves. We have to trust that an outside entity has the right capacity to determine good and evil and we place our trust in that entity. Some trust in law, some trust in law enforcement, some trust in a justice system. However, the systems of humanity, it seems, are just as confused as any individual human. Some trust in a philosophy or an ideal. Some trust in the Bible, and find that the Bible can be used to justify people’s morality as much as any other book or philosophy. Some trust in religious leaders, until they find out how faulty those leaders are.

And some trust in theology, especially a theology that has ethics. Even the Bible, however, warns about theology that accompanies bad ethics. How does theology and ethics combine to a complete philosophy of life?

1. Bad morality means bad theology (Psalm 73:1)
“The food has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” This “fool” is not the atheist who denies God on principle. Rather, this is the evil individual who wants to not be held responsible for his own actions. He denies God due to his moral lapse, rather than on evidence. To act in an evil way is to ultimately deny God or to deny the God who supports what is good and true. To excuse the evil one does is to surrender oneself to disbelief in the true God.

2. Bad theology leads to bad morality (Mark 7:5-13)
But more often is the case when ones strict idea of God leads one to do evil. The religious leaders of Jesus’ day couldn’t admit that Jesus was doing good, because he disagreed with their theology. The good person is rejected by those with incomplete theology. Bad theology gives people excuses to do evil. They will use their principles of religion or philosophy to do what they wanted to do for themselves, in rejection of others. People starve and are persecuted and are tortured and die because of bad theology or philosophy everyday.

3. Good morality overcomes bad theology (Matthew 12:1-7)
Jesus could look at people’s actions and see their bad theology. It doesn’t matter if their exegesis is correct and their logic is perfect: if a person’s theology allows the homeless to sleep in the cold, allows the hungry to starve, allows anyone to be tortured, allows one to be destroyed in the name of God- that theology is not true. Theology is what theology does. And the truth of theology is seen in either the good or the evil that is done. Jesus’ theology begins and ends with love. Thus, any theology that is not of love is not of Jesus.

4. Good theology leads to good morality (Luke 10:25-37)
However, if we correct our minds to focus on what is important—Loving God and loving our neighbors—then we will do what is good. Sure, we may not get the details right. Perhaps we will get the nature of God wrong. Perhaps we will worship at the wrong church or temple. Perhaps we will call ourselves by the wrong name or hold to the wrong presuppositions. But if we focus on what is right, the right love, the right action, then our theology will work itself out, eventually. Mind you, it is difficult to get that right. This is why Jesus is here to help us get on the right path with God. In the end, though, if we are focused correctly in Jesus, we will love. And if we love, we will understand God better than if we think.

Love triumphs over intellectualism.