discussion board reply

Is it normal to have a different view on subject matters in society today or should we normalize all of us to have the same view on those subject matters? Has it ever occurred to you why you may have a different outlook on certain things in life compared to your partner, friend, family member, or classmates? If you have ever wondered about this, then you have experienced relativistic ethics. Relativistic ethics can be defined in many ways but the best one I have come across, is being defined as a view that is not necessarily “true” but true to an individual or a society that believes that view. Now, absolutist ethics is simply defined as “what is right is right” and “what is wrong is wrong,” in beliefs. Now is Christian Ethics relativist or absolutist?  

Relativistic to me holds that you are entitled to have your own opinion and view. There is no “right is right, wrong is wrong” and you being held accountable for being wrong. With, that is one of the strengths of relativist. Relativism promotes greater diversity and understanding of ethical differences and decreases the likelihood of an imperialist imposition of values. Something I have come across that may be looked at as a weakness of relativist, is that relativism views culture as the sole influence on human life and therefore on morality, which in result can have moral problems be viewed as complex. Now with absolutist, some strengths are that there is order and stability within the views. I mean if we all had the same view of things, it is projected that the world would run smoother, right? Well no. If that was true, then no one would be held accountable for their actions which brings me to my weakness of absolutist. It can be as condemnatory and harsh, but the law must be obeyed no matter the consequences for the individual. 

Now let talk about the difference between ethical relativism and the subjective aspects of Christian ethics, I mean is there really a difference? Let’s see, Christian ethics teach us how to live. Christian ethics are based off the bible as well. “One of the purposes of the Bible is to teach us how to live a life that is pleasing to God. Example verses (Col. 1:9–10; 1 Thess. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:17) The goal of ethics is to live a life to glorify GOD. In relation to relativistic, you can live your life based off what the bible is teaching you and how GOD would like you to live your life. Will you be held accountable for disobeying the views of the bible like you would if you were in another society? Not necessarily but it allows you to make mistakes and learn from them without being held to a high accountability. You can have a little freedom within your beliefs and will not be judged for being different. However, the only thing with that is that even though the goal is to live a life that glorifies GOD, is that when we do, we receive many blessings from him, “The joy of becoming a vessel for “honorable use” by God (2 Timothy 2:20-21)” When we don’t obey him, it’s called “sinning,” It is possible that when you sin you may not receive blessings. “Though we may utilize other sources for assistance in understanding and applying biblical truth, we shall treat the Bible as our final authority.” I live by this statement every day.