ASSIGNMENT
How are the virtues acquired? Virtues are acquired by prayer, fasting, and persistent effort. He taught by example, exhortation and he himself fasted and prayed.
How are humans motivated psychologically?
Jesus is not a modern day psychologist or one to develop a theory of human motivation for its own sake. Nonetheless the gospels show a person well acquainted with human behavior. He recognizes that there is a deep seated tendency to break laws, however he also attempts to call out the best in humanity.
What are the basic intrinsic goods of human life? (e.g. goods which are valued for their own sake)
What are the external goods at which humans aim?
Jesus notes that wealth is one thing that many people. Without simply condemning it en toto he wards that it can easily be a form of idolatry.
Are there any unconditioned goods in human life? (An unconditional good is something that is good without any qualification or condition put upon it– it is something that is always good.)
God alone is good without condition. God choses to share his holiness by calling humans into fellowship with God.
What is the human purpose in the cosmos (if there is any purpose in the cosmos as a whole)?
The human purpose for Jesus is fellowship with God, membership in God’s kingdom is the purpose that God has established in the cosmos.
What method is the proper method to use in attempting to establish proper norms of behavior and character?
Method— Jesus teaches in parables and expects people to learn indirectly from these stories, he also teaches by example and at times teaches by his authority (e.g. in the Sermon on the mount Jesus’ sayings take the form “you have heard it said of old, thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you whoever looks with lust . . .) Jesus also appeals to scripture and comments upon scripture as part of his ethical teaching. As he confronts some of the groups that tussle with him, (the Sadducees and the Pharisees) he engages in traditional Jewish halakah—that is deliberation about right action based on the scriptures and covenant. A good part of understanding Jesus’ ethics is based on scripture and he engages in alternate interpretations. Against the Pharisees one of the chief complaints he has is that they are so strict that they forget mercy but he also shares a lot of common ground with them at times praising their zeal.
What are the difficulties that this theory faces either internally as a theory or with respect to applied ethics?
How does this ethic apply to those who might reject God’s existence or Jesus’ Authority?
Some of Jesus’ ethical requirements seem to require heroic sacrifices that seem beyond the ability of what most ordinary people can do (e.g. turning the other cheek) is this ethic realistic in what it requires of people
How to use Jesus’ ethical theory:
Jesus’ ethics:
Ask how the action would fit in with the kingdom of heaven and God’s will on earth?
Is the action proposed in keeping with the good of the community of members reconciled to God and to one another? Does the action reflect harmony with God and neighbor?
Who are the insiders and the outsiders, the “first and last” in this situation and how would the coming of a harmonious reunion be facilitated?
Are the motives of the action in harmony with the character of a person mentioned in the beatitudes? Is this the kind of action a blessed person would undertake and does it reflect a beatified character?
What actions in the life of Jesus are relevant to and similar to the action being considered?
Questions for discussion:
Prepare yourself for discussion of the following questions
Knowing questions
Do you know:
The meaning of the word eschatology
Realized eschatology?
The meaning of the word blessed (macarios)?
The meaning of the term Kingdom of God (as used by Jesus)?
The meaning of the specific beatitudes as discussed by Jesus?
Poor in spirit—
Mourning
Meek
Hunger and thirst for justice
Pure in heart
Peacemakers
Persecuted for justice sake
What a macarism is?
Do you understand
How the term eschatology is important to understand in relation to Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God?
How to compare Jesus’ “blessed person” with Aristotle’s virtuous person?
How to use Jesus’ beatitudes to determine how a person might act as a blessed person? (Can you apply these blessings to everyday situations?)
How the Psalms are a background for Jesus’ beatitudes?
How wisdom literature, like the Wisdom of Sirach or like Proverbs are a background for Jesus’ beatitudes?
Thinking questions
Do you think Jesus’ understanding of the highest good is a better “highest good” than Aristotle’s—in what ways is it better in what ways is it worse?
Do you think Jesus’ teaching to be perfect as God is perfect is realistic or possible? Should an ethics aim for perfection?
Do you think that the love of enemies is a good thing? Is it realistically possible?
