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Humanism's Search For Morality: Situation Ethics Humanism Is Not new: "Humanism traces its roots from ancient China, classical Greece and Rome, through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, to the scientific revolution of the modern world." Humanist Manifesto I. Humanist claim to be intellectually and morally superior to their counterpart, those that believe in God and the Bible. One area they point to is morality and their standard which is situation ethics. I) What Is Moral? A) Defining terms 1.Morality -- Latin mores, meaning habits or customs. Morality is the character of being in accord with the principles or standards of right conduct. 2. Ethics - Greek word meaning character. Ethics deals with how we ought to behave. B) What is morally ethical? 1. The believer in God will point to the Bible as the standard of what is right and wrong. Psalm 19.7-8 a. Therefore we are to obey God and His word. b. To not do so is to sin against God and often one's fellowman. 2. The Humanist says there is no set standard but there is morality. It is religion that is really immoral because it seeks to apply a single standard to everyone in all situations. For instance, you shall not lie, you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery, etc. C) The Immorality of Religion? 1. Religious people often do bad things in the name of religion. 2. Religious people then turn to God and says it is His fault. He made us this way. 3. Predestination says that everything we do have been predetermined by God. Therefore, we are not responsible for our actions. a. "God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass." Presbyterian Confession of Faith, chap. iii, sec.1. b. "By this sin (eating the forbidden fruit) they (our first parents) fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body. ...From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions" ." Presbyterian Confession of Faith D) Answers to the above 1. "Religious people can do wrong, Romans 2.21-23 and are condemned for their hypocrisy. 2. Each of us has the ability to choose for ourselves what we will and will not do are free moral agents, Genesis 4 with Cain, Joshua 24.15 3. Each of us is called upon to believe, confess Jesus, repent of our sins, and be baptized; these are decisions we are to make. II) Humanisms Big Question: Why bother? A) Why be concerned at all with morality and ethics? 1."We have some consciousness about making choices, and out of that consciousness also comes responsibility for making the best choice possible." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. 2. Big question is "Why bother to be good?" 3. Possible reasons: a. "Ethics is a natural phenomenon, even though it often doesn't look like it's a common one." (just because) b. "these help our ancestors to live ore successfully" (survival) c. "Ethics may be a part of the evolutionary process." (evolution) d. "And here is the core of humanist ethics; the preservation, or even more strongly the nurturance, of human dignity and worth." d. "Act so as to elicit the best in others, and thereby in yourself." (the Golden Rule) ." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. e. "I've also answered that it may be human instinct. We appear to have an inborn sense that tells us that right is better than wrong, a sense that often helps us move beyond our narrow, immediate self interest." ." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. f. "We learn to do without the 'why.'" ." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. 4. There really is no answer! "We never know for certain that our 'bothering' to be good will be worthwhile." ." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. a. "It may be that all of our 'bothering' to be good has little effect. What we do know is that choosing not to bother will also have an effect. " b. "Why bother to be good? Because only by trying will we know if it's worth it." ." Humanists and Global Ethics -- Humanism Today, Volume 12. B) Some humanist point out that there is no real standard of morality but man still has that sense and needs to have it. 1. George Gaylord Simpson, evolutionist at Harvard , "man is the result of a purposeless and materialistic process that did not have him in mind, nonetheless good and evil, right and wrong, concepts irrelevant in nature except from the human viewpoint, become real and pressing features of the whole cosmos as viewed by Man -- the only possible way in which the cosmos can be viewed morally because morals arise only in man" An Introduction to Christian Apologetics, page 346 2. "No sane person will argue that absolutely 'anything goes'. The expressions 'ought' and 'ought not' are as much a part of the atheist's vocabulary as anyone else's." page 320 III) Humanist Standard is Situation Ethics A) "Situation Ethics" becomes the standard or what one ought or ought not do. 1. "We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. Ethics is autonomous and situational, needing no theological or ideological sanction." Humanist Manifesto II, page 17. 2. Judges 21.25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes a. Autonomous means independent and self governing. What is right for one person may not be right for another person. We cannot tell anyone they are wrong for that would require my value judgment to placed on another person. b. Situational means what is normally considered wrong may be right under different circumstances. Therefore, morality is always changing from person to person and from situation to situation. a. Murder is right in certain circumstances -- keep in mind that murder is the taking of innocent life. b. Homosexuality, incest, adultery, all can be justified. c. No one can say you are wrong even if they believe you are wrong because they are not you. B) Let us not drink from the waters of situation ethics 1. There is never a situation where it is OK or right to take the life of an innocent person, practice homosexuality, commit adultery, slander another person, lie, cheat, steal, etc. Isaiah 5.20 2. Abraham lied in Genesis 12.11-13 a. What had Abraham done to Sarah? Genesis 12.15, he abandoned her. b. Abraham was gaining from his lie, Genesis 12.16 c. Abraham was not trusting in God and was not going along with God's purpose, v. 17 d. Abraham cast doubt on all believers in God, vv. 18, 19 e. The unbeliever had better morals than the believer, v. 20 3. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph, Genesis 39.9 a. You cannot sin in a right way. b. You cannot find a situation where God approves of your sin, Ezekiel 18.4 4. The Law of God is for our good and happiness, Deut. 6.24 5. Romans 2.13-15 this sense of right and wrong is not the process of evolution but man being made in the image of God. Conclusion: The very foundation of situation ethics is evolution. If man is just an animal then there is no real standard and reason for being morally good. If God created man then He is our reason for being and living, Ecc. 3.11. The atheist prayer: "O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul." Where is the hope where is the reason. I do not believe in the logic that says you need to do what the Bible says just in case it is right. But consider this, no one will ever be disappointed that has lived their life according to God's word after they die. If the atheist is right then he won't fell anything at all. If he is wrong he will know the flames of hell. If the believer in God is wrong he won't fell anything, if he is right he will have the reward of heaven. The truth is a person living by God's word without confidence and conviction will also be lost. Hebrews 11.6. I ask no one to hedge their bets but to study and weigh the evidence.
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