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Now for some "variations" on the theme that religion and ethics cannot be separated. The first one is short, and involves only a recognition of some ideas in a familiar verse:
He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
( Micah 6: 8)
Most people, whether "religious"' or not, would agree that it is a good thing to "do justice" and to "love kindness" (though they might not agree to the walking-humbly-with-God part). "That's what we need," they would say, "more justice, more kindness."
But notice that the Biblical view is utterly different. Justice and kindness are not important merely in themselves, even though they are ethical demands of a high order. They are significant because they are what God requires of us. It is because he wills us to do justice and to love kindness that we must take them seriously.
Thus in the field of Biblical ethics, the important questions are not such abstract queries as, "What is the good?" or, "What is a reasonable way to live?" or, "Is this a wise thing to do?" The important question is the specific and concrete question, "What is the will of God?" Ethical questions do not stand alone; they are considered in the light of God's will, and how it can best be fulfilled. Religion and ethics go together.
Christ Jesus, it is He."
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