In preperation for my sermon on Nov. 23, I have been meditating on ethics and worldview. My sermon text is Psalm 24, and it is an awesome pronouncement of worldview. I think these kinds of passages informed Paul when he penned his ethics, such as 1 Thessalonians 2:12. The fascinating thing is that the worldview statements of Psalm 24 and other OT passages are not primarily concerned with ethics. They are primarily concerned with God's glory. I think this is interesting because many Christians spend significant energy and time explicating a man-centered (anthropocentric) ethical system, when it seems in fact that the primary purpose of Scripture is to instill in us a proper valuation of God's worth and glory. The ethics seem to be a natural response to really "getting" this worldview. Patterson, Geisler, and even Mohler to an extent seem to expend all their energy on how we should live, when the Bible seems to put the disproportionate emphasis on who God is and what He is worth. This perspective also demonstrates why co-opting secular "common ground" on ethical issues is a fallacy. The ethics are not an end in themsleves. They are an expression of submission to an all-powerful God-as-Judge. What are your thoughts?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Ethics and Worldview
In preperation for my sermon on Nov. 23, I have been meditating on ethics and worldview. My sermon text is Psalm 24, and it is an awesome pronouncement of worldview. I think these kinds of passages informed Paul when he penned his ethics, such as 1 Thessalonians 2:12. The fascinating thing is that the worldview statements of Psalm 24 and other OT passages are not primarily concerned with ethics. They are primarily concerned with God's glory. I think this is interesting because many Christians spend significant energy and time explicating a man-centered (anthropocentric) ethical system, when it seems in fact that the primary purpose of Scripture is to instill in us a proper valuation of God's worth and glory. The ethics seem to be a natural response to really "getting" this worldview. Patterson, Geisler, and even Mohler to an extent seem to expend all their energy on how we should live, when the Bible seems to put the disproportionate emphasis on who God is and what He is worth. This perspective also demonstrates why co-opting secular "common ground" on ethical issues is a fallacy. The ethics are not an end in themsleves. They are an expression of submission to an all-powerful God-as-Judge. What are your thoughts?
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