We’re watching the ‘Truth Project’ again, and during the second tour, Dr. R.C. Sproul talks about the historical difference between morality and ethics. In the past these words were not used synonymously. It is another example of how the English language and to a larger extent, the way the world is changing how we use words. Being “politically correct” has become a euphemism to hide behind, so that we don’t have to name sin—sin.
Today in the West, moral relativism prevails. The majority of people in the United States, for example, say that there is no absolute truth. Few would confess any objective standards for behavior, preferring to say, “What is right for me, may not be right for you, and I cannot condemn you if you do not conform to my ideal.”
One of the reasons for this relativism is our culture’s confusion of the terms ethics and morals. Historically, ethics has referred to the foundations of civilization. It has been a normative science, concerned with discovering the norms that must govern our lives. Ethics tells us what we “ought to do.”
Morals, on the other hand, is traditionally a descriptive science. It surveys a given culture and tells us what the majority of its citizens practice. Morals describe what “is,” not necessarily what should be.
What is considered ethical today is based on the descriptive sciences, not on the normative ones. People look around and think that if the majority of people are acting in a particular way, then those actions must be okay. We have confused “isness” with “oughtness.”
However, Scripture tells us again and again that there is often a difference between what people are doing and what people should be doing. Just because most people act a certain way does not make it right. What the government grants us to do legally, our Father may in fact forbid. Our ethics must be based on the imperatives of His Word, not on the prevailing behavior of those around us.
From Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul. All rights reserved. Website: www.ligonier.org
If you haven’t already, I would encourage you to watch “The Truth Project” series.
just because everyone else is doing it, doesnt make it right. if “it” is not in line with Biblical standards, i wont do “it”. i use The WORD as my way-of-life. i follow the basic Laws of the State, and the Bible is my standard.
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