Illustrations
by Gustave Doré
Dr.
M.G. Maness ©1990, Revised 1998, Revised 2002
Contents
Primer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Appendix 1 Bibliography Charts
Chapters
1. What Are the Unchanging Parts of the Ethical
Dilemma?:
The Field of Battle
2. What Are the Major Terms?: Language Training #1 & #2
4. What Is the Hermeneutical Foundation- 1st
Stone?: Simplicity in Basic Biblical
Direction
5. What Is the Ethical Foundation - 2nd
Stone?: “Ought” From / Returned To God
6. What Is the Theological Foundation - 3rd
Stone?: Teleological Thrust of New
Testament
PART THREE. Bucher & the Dilemma: Attacking the Behemoth of Personal Responsibility
7. What Is the Full Context of Bucher’s
Horrendous Dilemma?:
Stress Pressing the Limits of Absolutes
8. How Do We Justify a Biblically Ethical
Course of Action?:
Assault on the Forward Gun
9. What Is the Scope of Our Ethical “Responsibility”?:
Assessing the Assault #1
11. Why the “Right” Answer Is Elusive?: God’s or Our fault?
12. What Then Necessarily Applies to EVERY
Biblical Ethic?: The Battlefield
Discoveries
13. How Then Shall We Live and Discern the
Course of a Biblical Ethic at the Foundational Level?
14. What Is the Veracity of Dynamic
Absolutism?: Our Own Battlefield
Analysis
Contents
Primer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Appendix 1 Bibliography Charts
Introduction:
History of the USS Pueblo and Aftershocks
Introduction:
The Task of Biblical Ethics
A. Are You
Ready to Rumble?
1. A
Personal Matter
2. Would
You Lie to Save a Life?
3. A
Battlefield Analogy: We Must Commit
Ourselves!
B. We Must
Think!: Battlefield Readiness
1.
Readiness and Absolutes: We Must
Think!
2.
Readiness and Political Primer:
We Must Think!
C.
Interrogating Ethics & Absolutes:
Loading the Gun
D. Few
Basic Definitions: the Ammunition Dump
E. Charging the Troops: Nine Questions on God’s Will, Absolutes & Complexity
1. How Do
We Find God’s Will?
a. 1st
Activity: Spiritual, Seeking God
b. 2nd
Activity: Reasonable, Studying the
Bible
2. What
Are the Three Foundation Stones to Any Biblical Ethic?
a. 1st
Stone is Hermeneutical—Simplicity: “Hermeneutics”
Is the Science of Interpreting the Bible
b. 2nd
Stone is Ethical—”Ought” From/To God:
Ethics Is Grounded in God’s Consistent and Immutable Nature
c. 3rd
Stone is Theological—Teleological Thrust of N.T.: Theologically, the N.T. has a Teleological Thrust focusing on “Ends”
Over “Means”
3. How Is
All of the O.T. Included in a N.T. Ethic?
4. What
Are the Outer Limits of Ethical Justification?
5. What
Are the Highest N.T. Ethical Directions?
6. What
Apparent Conflict of Absolutes was Bucher Facing?
7. What Is
at the Foundation of Bucher’s Dilemma?
a. The
Farmer and the Fundamentalist Tendency to Force Feed Perfection
b.
Presenting Problems #1 and #2—
Presenting Problem #1: “Complexity” or “Conflicting
Absolutes”? and
Presenting Problem #2: “Responsibility”
or “No Responsibility”?
c.
Presenting Problem #3: “Deontology
or Teleology” vs. “Deontology with Teleology”?
8. Is an
Absolutely “Right” Choice Always Available?
9. What Is
the Sum of the Whole discussion?—Nature of Personal Responsibility to Biblical
Absolutes
Contents
Primer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Appendix 1 Bibliography Charts
Chapter 1.
What Are the Unchanging Parts of the
Ethical Dilemma?: The Field of
Battle
1. The
Target: Personal Responsibility
2. The Guns
of Navarone: Analogy for Responsibility
& Accountability
3. Why
Redundancy: Difficulty in Delineating
Responsibility
4. The
Guns of Navarone: The Movie and
the Target
5. A
Fantastically Rich and Serendipitous Irony
1. Common
Beginning: Seeking First God’s Kingdom
Chart 2. Seeking First God’s Kingdom
2. Common
End: God’s Greatness
3. Common
Responsibility: Perseverance
4. Common
Mystery: The Spiritual Realm
5. The
Four Elements in Perspective
1. The
Goal Is Easy, Getting There Is Difficult:
Initial Intelligence
<< Interjection >>
2.
Assessing the Threats to Ethical Cohesiveness: Tactical Estimates
a.
Responsibility Vector: SKETCH of
the Gun’s Range
b.
Responsibility Feared (Failure Denied):
SKETCH of the Guns’ Intimidation
Chart
3. The Great Shuffle of “Responsibility”
c. “Responsibility,” Not Buttery “Borderline”: SKETCH of the Guns’ Deception
d.
Euthanizing Stress: SKETCH of
the Guns’ Damage
e. Human
Compassion as Love & Justification:
SKETCH of the Guns’ Weakness
f. Loving
to the End: SKETCH of the Solution
3. The
Holy Spirit: Guidance from the General’s
Quarters
4.
Provisions for Battle
Chapter 2.
What Are the Major Terms?: Language
Training #1 & #2
A. Getting
Around in Hostile Territory
B.
Defining the Four Ethical Systems:
Language Training #1
Chart 4. Ethical Systems Contrasted
Chart 5. Kant, Augustine, Maness Ethical Dictums
C.
Teleology or “No” Teleology?
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics
D. The
Need for Criteria: Outlining the
Perimeter of Engagement
1. The
Three Systems & DA as More Balanced in the Push for Balancing the Demands
of the Absolutes
2. Why Did
We Chose the Three Systems to Contrast with DA: Criteria
3.
Criminal Code & Judgmental Christians: Similar Criteria
E.
Defining “Deontology” and “Teleology”:
Language Training #2
1.
Excursus on Love
2. The
SHORT Course To Deontology/Teleology
a. Origin
& Use of Deontology
b. Origin
& Use of Teleology
c.
Harboring the Wayward Teleology
d. Basic
Definitions of Deontology & Teleology
3. The
LONG Course To Mastery of Deontology & Teleology: Overlapping and the Three Elements
Chart 3. The Great Shuffle of “Responsibility” (Revisited)
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics (Revisited)
Chart 7. Three Foundational Categories of Judgment
Chart 8. Summary Definitions of Deontology & Teleology
4. The
IMPORTANCE of “Teleology” to the N.T. Ethic
Chapter 3.
What Are the Hardest Parts of the Ethical Dilemma?: Battlefield Logistics, Love, Absolutes & Limiting Factors
A. True
Love vs. Truth on the Battlefield
B. Nature
of Absolutes: Boundless and Timeless
1.
Absolutes Defined
2.
Differences in the Four Systems
3. Nature
of “DA” Absolutes: They Are
Absolute
4. Absolutes
Are Positively Stated Prescriptions:
the Ultimate Will of God
5.
Believer’s Fulfillment of God’s Absolutes
C.
Locating Tactical Obstacles & Breaking New Ground
1. Masada
and Obstacles
2. Ethical
Obstacles Not Unlike Masada
Chart 9. Thirteen Major Limiting Factors in Ethical Theorizing
3. The
Most Controversial Thesis:
Accountability
4. The
Greatest Limit: Demands of Perfection
D. Dynamic
Absolutism: One Battlefield Strategy
1.
DA—Dynamic absolutism
2. The
Ethical Prioritization of “Love” over “Truth”
3. Was the
Cross a Moral Conflict?: No, but a Teleological
Choice
4. Does
the Christian Martyr Face Conflicting Absolutes?
E.
Justification: Soldier’s
Essential Field Pack
Chapter 4.
What Is the Hermeneutical Foundation—1st Stone?:
Simplicity in Basic Biblical
Direction
A.
Simplicity In Basic Biblical Direction:
First Hermeneutical Principle
B. Other
Primary Hermeneutical Principles & Two Hermeneutical Presuppositions: How Complex Ethics Becomes
1. Five
Other Hermeneutical Principles Presupposed
2. Immer
on Hermeneutical Principles
3. Terry
on Hermeneutical Principles
4.
Excursus: God’s Guidance &
the Less Scrupulous Who Do Not Believe They Need to Think at All
5.
Summarizing the Essence of Biblical Hermeneutics for Ethics: Simplicity Rides Supreme
6. 1st
Simplistic Hermeneutical Presupposition:
Priority of the Basic Meaning of the New Testament
7. 2nd
Simplistic Hermeneutical Presupposition:
Revelation Is Consistent in a Progressive Understanding into the Unity
of Truth
C. A
Primer on Accountability
D.
Biblical Statements: First
Prioritization of Ethical Principles
1. Two
Sets: Direct & Implied Biblically
Ethical Principles
2. Two
Categories: Universal &
Individually Specific
a.
Individually Specific Principles
b.
Universal Principles
3. DA
Basic Structure: Love Predominant
Chapter 5.
What Is the Ethical Foundation—2nd Stone?:
“Ought” From / Returned To God
A. The
Ethical Foundation—2nd stone: “Ought”
Is From & Returned to God
1.
Consistent Nature of God
2. Origin
& Unity of Truth
3. With “Ought”
From & Returned to God, “Rightness” has Permanence
B.
Biblical Virtues & Ideals:
Second Prioritization of Ethical Principles
1. Need
for Ideals and Virtues
2. Bennett’s
Ten Virtues
3. The Ten
Virtues & “Trust” in Four Categories
Chart 10. Four Categories of Virtues Express True Love
4.
Trust—the Great Virtue & Noble Ideal
5. Great
Arbitrators of Trust: Wisdom &
Utopian Vision
a. Wisdom
and Trust
b. Utopian
Vision & Trust: Ideals of Justice
& Unselfishness
6. “Love”
the Highest Action, “Trust” the Highest State of Affairs
7. Part of
the Essence of Love & Heaven:
Exhibiting Virtues, Striving Toward Ideals
a. Sources
for Direction Unambiguous
b. God a
Vital Factor in Good Relations
c.
Summation on 1st & 2nd Foundation Stones
d. Heaven—In
Part
Chapter 6.
What Is the Theological Foundation—3rd Stone?:
Teleological Thrust of New
Testament
A.
Ubiquity of Teleological Concerns, Even Eschatological Concerns
1.
Ubiquity of Teleological Concerns
2. The
Teleological vs. the Eschatological Concerns
3. Point
of “Ethical” Concurrence Between Teleology & Eschatology
B.
Teleological Emphasis of the N.T.:
To Love or Not to Love
1.
LOVE: Deontological and
Teleological
2. From
O.T. to N.T., From the Deontological to the Teleological
C. Relation
of the Law to the New Testament
1.
Substantiating a Relevance for All of the O.T. in the N.T. Ethic
2.
Substantiating the “Degree” of Obligation of Portions of the O.T. in the
N.T. Ethic
Chart 11. DA’s determination of the Law’s Applicability, Value &
Relevance
Chart 12. Summary Explanation of Chart 11
3.
Substantiating the “Results” of Each O.T. Injunction
4. Summing
Up the Relation of the O.T. in N.T. Ethic
D. The
Four Systems and Their Relation to the Teleological Thrust of the New Testament
Chart 13. System Legality
E. Summary
of Three Foundation Stones
Chapter 7.
What Is the Full Context of Bucher’s Horrendous Dilemma?: Stress Pressing the Limits of Absolutes
A. War Not
for the Faint of Heart: Let Us Climb!
B. The
Full Context of Bucher’s Dilemma
1. Feeling
“Right” and “Justifying Right” at Odds
2. The
Small Window of Time Where the Crisis Peaks
3. The
History of the USS Pueblo Recalled and Aftershocks
4. “Stress”
Pressing the Theoretical Limits
5.
Considering the Small Window of Time
6. A
Hypothetical Murder: Same Ethical
Import, Greater Clarity
C. How
Does Our Responsibility Compare with Bucher’s? (???)
1. Our
Responsibility “With” Bucher & “Distinct” from Bucher—
Though Not a Surrogate Accountability
2. With
Respect to GA and NCA
3.
Comparing the Ethical and the Medical Sciences
a. There
Is No Difference in Impetus to Find a Solution, But a Greater Responsibility in
Ethics with Respect to Scope
b. Ultimate
Scheme of Things: Medical Science
Secondary
c. The
Teleological in Ethics More Complicated than the Medical Sciences
Chart 14. UNIQUE Arenas of Individuals
D.
Imposing & Crucial Element of Time
Chapter 8.
How Do We Justify a Biblically Ethical Course of Action?: Assault on the Forward Gun
A. The
Dilemma of Lying to Save a Life
1. The
Actual Dilemma:
Drawing a Line for Reasonable and Accountable Extrapolation
Chart 15. Line & Sphere of Accountability in Decision-Making
2. On the
Nature of Lying: Abraham, Jesus, Rahab
& the Midwives
a. Lying
& the Unifying Principle of Love
b. Abraham
Chart 16. Abraham’s Moral Conflict:
Only Person Given a True Conflict Between Absolutes
c. Jesus
d. Rahab
& Midwives
3. How Is
the “Lie” of Bucher More Courageous and Different From the “Lies” of Rahab and
the Midwives?
4. On the
Nature of What Is Truth & Validating Ultimate Truth
B.
ATTACK! Assaulting the Behemoth
of “Personal Responsibility”
1. Having
Cleared the Path, We Are Ready to Assault
2.
Implementing Our Plan—We Begin Our Assault
Chart 13. System Legality (Revisited)
3. On
NCA—Non-Conflicting Absolutism
a.
Rakestraw’s NCA Negates Responsibility to All Absolutes
b. NCA
Recognizes “Love,” Just Does Not Know How
c. DA vs.
NCA: We “Want” People to Feel
Responsible & Be Accountable & Think Ahead
d. NCA
Actually Denies the Nature of Absolutes in the Removal of Consequences &
Denies the Essence of Love Itself
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics (Revisited)
e. DA vs.
NCA: NCA Is a Dead Man’s Ethic
4. On
GA—Graded Absolutism
a. GA
Complicates the Simplicity of the “Absoluteness” of Absolutes
b. Geisler’s
Competence (?) to Discern the FULL Nature of God Actually Denies the Unity of
God & Truth
c. Geisler’s
Ethical Cosmology More an Fundamentalist Elitist Declaration
d. Geisler’s
GA Institutionalizes the Degradation of Absolutes
e. DA vs.
GA: God Does Not Give Conflicting
Absolutes
5. On
P—Principleism
C. Basic
Conclusions and the Pervasiveness of Teleological Concerns
1. Initial
Conclusions on Geisler & Rakestraw:
Teleological Thrust of Love
2. “DA”
Pro/Con with the Other Three Systems:
With DA, “Right” Action Never Absent
3. The “Fundamental”
Reason Finding the “Right” Choice Is Complex:
the Absolutes’ Eternal Nature and Divine Origin
Chapter 9.
What Is the Scope of Our Ethical “Responsibility”?: Assessing the Assault #1
A. The
Dilemma of God’s Providence & Our Responsibility
1. The
Bedraggled Soldiers Return
2. “Responsibility”
Versus “Accountability”
Chart 17. Responsibility vs. Accountability
3.
Responsibility Lines
Chart 18. Two Lines of Responsibility:
Our Line, God’s Line—
The Difference Between Providence & Free Will
4. Third “Right”
Option—Jesus’ Option
Chart 19. Elements Obscuring the “Right” Choice
B.
Calculating a Solution: Jesus’
Option
1. Jesus’
Option—the Absolutely “Right” Choice
a. “Justification”
of a Choice when the “Right” Choice Is Elusive
b. Bucher’s
Responsibility: Bill’s Life
c. Jesus’
Responsibility: the Same
d. Jesus
Invoking the Role of Soldier
2.
Available Third Option
Chart 20. Drawing Lines of Individual Responsibility
3. The
Solution: Deciding Which Absolute Has
More Claims in Ethical Prioritization
Chart 21. Decision-Making When Absolutes Are in Apparent Conflict
C. Guilty
of Ignorance and God’s Responsibility
1. What
Part Does “Ignorance” Have In Responsibility?
a. Is
There a Guilt of Ignorance for a Failure to Appropriate One’s Potential in
Christ?
b. How Do “Sins
of Omission” and Bucher’s “Ethical Choice” Compare?
c. How
Bucher’s Titanic Struggle with His Ability and Knowledge Bring an Extraordinary
Level of Honor and Participation in Christ’s Sufferings
d. Fine
Line Between Our Accountability to Our Potential and God’s Enabling
e. The Two
Struggles with Our Ability: the Two
Issues of Competence & Rebellion
Chart 22. Two Struggles of Ability:
Competence & Rebellion
f. How
Responsible Is God to Lead?
2. Where
Is the Chosen Choice “To Love” Teleologically and Deontologically?
Chart 23. Teleological / Deontological Analysis of Choices
3. How
Complicated the Analysis Is: Chart 23’s
Five Implications
a. 1st
Implication: On the Nature of the
Totals Found
b. 2nd
Implication: On How It Undergirds Our
Thesis that Each System Has Elements that Are Both Teleological and
Deontological
c. 3rd
Implication: On the Nature of Choosing
Itself as Either Teleological or Deontological
d. 4th
Implication: On the Ease of Finding
Decision Once the “Right” Choice Has Been Found to Be Elusive
e. 5th Implication: On What the Chart Does Not Say
E.
Responsibility = Priesthood of the Believer
1. Our
Three-Fold Responsibility to Teleological Concerns
Chart 24. Individual Three-Fold Responsibility to Teleological Concerns
2. The
Three-Fold Responsibility as the Priesthood of the Believer
3. Our
BASIC Responsibility in Bucher’s Horrendous Dilemma
Chapter 10.
What Is the Scope of Our Ethical “Accountability” and the Degree of
Complexity?: Assessing the Assault #2
A.
Uncharted Waters of Accountability
1.
Uncharted Waters: Accountability
for Another Generally
2.
Accountability for Another Person’s Actions
3.
Accountability and Biblical Wisdom Literature
4. Scope
of Accountability
5. Bucher’s
Accountability and Need to Lie
B.
Unaccounted Pressure of Complexity
1.
Complexity Integral Part of Ethical Determination
Chart 25. Temporal Intractable Ethical Determinations
2.
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle & Ethical Complexity
3.
Complexity of Hermeneutics and Language Lesser than Ethics
4. A
Unified Theory of Physics and Ethics?
C. Though
Complex, Accountable to the End
1. Sin of
Lying Less than Murder
2. The End
Beyond This Life Paramount
Chart 13. System Legality (Revisited)
3.
Accountability in Even Smaller Situations
a.
Scenario Changed Again: Witness
Is Hampered
b. With “Accountability,”
Extravagance Is Worse than Lying
c. “Feelings”
Should Not Be Subject to the Democratic Process, But They Do Count
d.
Scenario Changed Again: Not
Without Guidance
e. When
Rehashing Becomes Sin
Chapter 11.
Why the “Right” Answer Is Elusive?: God’s
or Our fault?
A. Most
Significance Weakness of DA: That Elusive
“Right” Choice
1. A Most
Significant Weakness of DA
2. The
Weakness of DA Is Also Its Strength
B. A
Critical Question: Do We Have a “Free
Will”?
C. What Is
the Influence of Our Depravity on Our Ethical Ability to Find the “Right”
Choice
1. Our
Depravity Influences Our Ethical Ability
Chart 26. Reasons for Shortcoming in Perfection
2. We Are
Depraved in the Midst of God’s Leadership
a. A Fine
Line Between God’s Enabling and Our Sin
b. The
Approaching of God’s “Absolute” Will
c. How Far
Do We Have To Go?
d.
Illustrating Our Depravity
e. Our
Depravity as Influenced by Evil
Chart 27. John Newport’s Eight Biblical Reasons for Evil
3. The
Influence of Our Depravity upon Complexity
4. The
Resulting Perspective of the Depraved & Ignorant Sinner
D. Other
Reasons an Absolutely “Right” Choice Is Elusive
1. Based
on Sins of Omission
2. We May
Be More “Depraved” Than We Think
3. “Knowledge”
May Play a More Important Part in God’s Leadership of Us Than We Think
4. Our “Will”
May Play a More Important Part in “Sanctification” Than We Think
5. Our “Will”
May Play a More Important Part in “Obscuring” the “Right” Action Than We Think
a. God’s
shining light is stopped by God at the refusal of our will, for God will not
coerce
b. Our “Will”
in rebellion stops or prevents the shining of God’s light in our life, for we
can and will sin against God
6. We May
Not Be that Smart
Chapter 12.
What Then Necessarily Applies to EVERY Biblical Ethic?: The Battlefield Discoveries
A.
Conclusion: Sad—but Not Chagrined
or Shamed
B. Few
Fundamental Principles in a Biblical Ethic at the Foundational Level
1.
Significant Principles Discerned from Unique Battle
2. Seven
Essential & Fundamental “Principles” in Every Biblical Ethic
Chart 28. Seven Fundamental “Principles” to Every Biblical Ethic
3. “Feeling
Right”—Bucher’s Choice as Concurring with Common Christian Experience
4. “Speaking
the Truth in Love” & the Radical Fundamentalist Mocking of Love
5. “Degree”
of Complexity in Ethics Greater than the Complexity of Physics
a. Unified
Theory of Ethics Similar to Unified Theory of Physics
b. A
Unified Theory of Ethics: We Know What
It Will Look Like!
c. Ethics
as a More “Fundamental” Science with a Broader “Scope” than Physics, Hence Even
More Complicated
d. “Scope
of Operations” in Ethics & Perimeters of Individualism
C.
Discerning a Few of the Peculiar & Exceedingly Complex Elements in
Every Biblical Decision
1. “Complexity”
Ever Present & Pervading Element in Every Biblical Decision
2. The Two
Sides of Spiritual Complexity
a. One,
the Spiritual Demands of Perfection—Perfect Obedience
b. Two,
the Spiritual Influence of Evil Forces
(1) The Simple N.T. Strategy of “Living for God”
as THE Strategy Against the Evil Spiritual Forces
(2) The Fallacious Use of “Jesus’ Name” as a
Cure-All Panacea
3. Seven
Ethical Fine Lines in DA
(1) Between God’s Foreknowledge and Our
Participation
(2) Between God’s Light and Our Rebellion
(3) Between the Deontological and the Teleological
Concerns of Every Absolute in Every Decision
(4) Between When a Person Is or Is Not Accountable
for the Actions of Others
(5) Between Where a High or Low Degree of
Accountability Determines Between a More Teleological or More Deontological
Choice
(6) Between “Fruitful” and “Redundant” Hermeneutical
Study
(7) Between “Valuable Ethical Deliberation” and “Wasting
Time”
[ 8 ] An Eighth Fine Line Is
Perceived: Between Ethics and Science
4.
Depravity & Evil Forces Interlaced Throughout ALL Issues of
Complexity
5.
Twenty-Six Areas of Complexity in Every Biblical Decision
Chart 29. Twenty-Six Intrinsic & Intractable Variables Complicating
Biblical Ethics in Every Decision
Chapter 13.
How Then Shall We Live and Discern the Course of a Biblical Ethic at the
Foundational Level?
A.
Recapitulation: No Clear “Absolutely
Right” Choice—Love and Truth Converge on the Concourse of Life
B. Scarlet
Thread Through “Time,” Our Imago Dei, Christ the Criteria
C. The
First Stage of Fundamentals in Christian Decision-making
Chart 30. Stage One of Christian Decision-Making
D. God’s
Sufficient Guidance in the First Stage, Even When the “Right” Choice Is Elusive
1. The
Bible Gives the Answer to All Significant Problems, Not to All Problems
Categorically
2. Our
Imperfection Points Clearly to Times in Which We Will Fail to Find the “Right” Choice
3. The
Nature of the Self-Righteous Bigot
4. How the
Failure to Find the “Right” Action Does Not Contradict the Sufficiency of the
Bible
5. The
Difference Between the “Practical” and “Actual” Impossibility of Finding Every
Absolutely “Right” Choice
6. God’s
Sufficient Guidance in Stage One
E. The Two
Stages of Fundamentals in Christian Decision-making
Chart 31. Two Stages of Biblically-Based Ethical Determination
Chapter 14.
What Is the Veracity of Dynamic
Absolutism?: Our Own Battlefield
Analysis
A. The
Triple Irony: Not as Simple, Fewer “Right”
Choices and De-Emphasis on System Making
B. DA
Peace of Mind: “Data” Secondary to “Relationship”—Climb
the Mountain
C.
Truncating the Arrogance and Superiority of the Radical Fundamentalist
D.
Reaching Forth, Let Us Run with Patience
E.
Ultimate Rightness = Will of God:
Grace, Guidance and a Great Salvation
A.
Introduction
I. God Has
a Plan for Every Human Life
II. Jesus
and the Will of God
III. The
Apostles and the Will of God
IV. The
Principle of Surrender of the Self Is a Reasonable One and Fundamental in Other
Departments of Life, as well as Crucial to Doing God’s Will
V. The Relation
of the Act of Surrender of Self to Other Religious Rites and Spiritual
Experiences
VI. The
Alternatives to Doing God’s Will as a Life Purpose
VII. The
Spiritual Crisis Involved in Facing the Issue of Surrender of Self: Its Symptoms and Its Course
VIII. To
Find Out and To Do God’s Will for One’s Life Is an Achievement Possible for Any
Person
IX. God’s
Will May Be Done in Any Honorable Trade or Profession, Either at Home or Abroad
X. The
Necessity for Absolute Surrender of Self
XI. The
Finding Out of God’s Will: Willingness
To Do God’s Will Is the Necessary Condition for Knowledge of It
XII. The
Universal Will of God for All Persons
XIII. The
Particular Will of God for Each Individual Person, for Career, Mate, etc.
XIV. How
to Know the Particular Will of God: the
Four-Fold Touchstone of Jesus and the Apostles
XV. The
Four-Fold Touchstone: (a) The First
Test—Purity
XVI. The
Four-Fold Touchstone: (b) The Second
Test—Honesty
XVII. The
Four-Fold Touchstone: (c) The Third
Test—Unselfishness
XVIII. The
Four-Fold Touchstone: (d) The Fourth
Test—Love
D. The
Issues of Facing the Problem of Doing God’s Will
XIX.
Issues of Rejection and Disobedience
XX. Issues
of Obedience: A. Knowledge
XXI.
Issues of Obedience (continued):
B. Protection from Harm and
Provision for All Needs
XXII.
Issues of Obedience: C. Assurance as to One’s Duty and Power to
Achieve Results
XXIII.
Issues of Obedience: D. Constant Companionship
XXIV.
Issues of Obedience: E. Eternal Life
On Bucher & the USS Pueblo
On Ethics, Theology, Hermeneutics &
Philosophy
On the Will of God
On Empathy, Listening &
Communication
On Crime, Prison & the Criminal
Mind
Other References
Chart 1. Bucher’s Apparent Conflict of Absolutes
Chart 2. Seeking First God’s Kingdom
Chart 3. The Great Shuffle of “Responsibility”
Chart 4. Ethical Systems Contrasted
Chart 5. Kant, Augustine, Maness Ethical Dictums
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics
Chart 3. The Great Shuffle of “Responsibility” (Revisited)
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics (Revisited)
Chart 7. Three Foundational Categories of Judgment
Chart 8. Summary Definitions of Deontology & Teleology
Chart 9. Thirteen Major Limiting Factors in Ethical Theorizing
Chart 10. Four Categories of Virtues Express True Love
Chart 11. DA’s determination of the Law’s Applicability, Value &
Relevance
Chart 12. Summary Explanation of Chart 11
Chart 13. System Legality
Chart 14. UNIQUE Arenas of Individuals
Chart 15: Line & Sphere of Accountability in Decision-Making
Chart 16: Abraham’s Moral Conflict:
Only Person Given a True Conflict Between Absolutes
Chart 13. System Legality (Revisited)
Chart 6. Teleology a DECISIVE ISSUE for Biblical Ethics (Revisited)
Chart 17. Responsibility vs. Accountability
Chart 18. Two Lines of Responsibility:
Our Line, God’s Line—The Difference Between Providence & Free Will
Chart 19. Elements Obscuring the “Right” Choice
Chart 20. Drawing Lines of Individual Responsibility
Chart 21. Decision-Making When Absolutes Are in Apparent Conflict
Chart 22. Two Struggles of Ability:
Competence & Rebellion
Chart 23. Teleological / Deontological Analysis of Choices
Chart 24. Individual Three-Fold Responsibility to Teleological Concerns
Chart 25. Temporal Intractable Ethical Determinations
Chart 13. System Legality (Revisited)
Chart 26. Reasons for Shortcoming in Perfection
Chart 27. John Newport’s Eight Biblical Reasons for Evil
Chart 28. Seven Fundamental “Principles” to Every Biblical Ethic
Chart 29. Twenty-Six Intrinsic & Intractable Variables
Complicating Biblical Ethics in Every Decision
Chart 30. Stage One of Christian Decision-Making
Chart 31. Two Stages of Biblically-Based Ethical Determination