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Running head: UNQUALIFIED ABSOLUTISM 1
Ethic Systems – Unqualified Absolutism
Joe R. Estrada
Liberty University
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Sharon, great choice in selecting unqualified absolutism ethics to discuss the weight we
place on our conscious to make the right, or wrong choices. I’m in total agreement with your
understanding in Christian absolute thinking, do we lie to protect, and assumed all is forgiven.
Allow me to incorporate your thinking with my, to build on how eloquently you describe
unqualified absolutism to your readers.
Unqualified absolutism is one of the three forms of ethical absolutism, and it is a belief
that there are numerous absolute laws and neither should ever be broken. In subscribing to this
ethical perspective as it is only focused on the means or actions and not the end. People commit
sins or crimes due to their focus on the end rather the means as they are compelled to do
anything to achieve the end. A good example is a focus on money or material wealth, which is
the primary driver of wrongdoing in the contemporary world (King, 2010). People do all sorts of
things including killing because of money. But what if they were focused on their actions instead
of the end (money), the world would have been a different place as people would opt for just
means of acquiring wealth.
Unqualified absolutism notes that moral laws are superior to any other laws on the land
(Obengo, 2016). The superiority of moral laws is obtained from God. In any situation or
dilemma, there is always a way out, and the way out is doing the right thing despite the
consequences. “Even if a murderer is determined to kill your friend and asks you whether the
victim is at home, do not lie” (Gulyga, 2012). The point here is to understand what God wants
and not what we want therefore is lying to protect right or wrong. God wants us to do the right
thing like telling the truth, but what we want is to save a life by telling a lie. It is never about us;
it is about God. According to Geisler (2010), “god exempts one from his/her duty to keep the
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lower moral law since he/she could not keep it without breaking the higher moral law”, i.e. thou
shall not kill (p.104).
All in all, relativism gives the humans a chance to sin in the guise of facing different
situations. As a Christian, on has a duty to their creator to do the right thing regardless of the
outcomes. Unqualified absolutism is based on the premise that God never changes, so should the
Christians. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”
(Proverbs 3:5, NIV).
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References
Geisler, N. L. (2010). Christian ethics: contemporary issues and options. Grand Rapids,
MI: Baker Academic.
Gulyga, A. (2012). Immanuel kant: His Life and Thought, 1987. Boston, MA: Birkhäuser;
Springer Science & Business Media.
King, F. (2010). Leading Cross-Culturally: Covenant Relationships for Effective Christian
Leadership by Lingenfelter, Sherwood. Mission Studies: Journal of the International
Association for Mission Studies, 27(1), p. 108–109. Retrieved from: https://doi-
org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1163/157338310X498378
Obengo, T. (2016). The quest for human dignity in the ethics of pregnancy termination. Eugene,
OR: WIPF & Stock Publishers.
