In the report from the Congregational Ethics Study Committee it was suggested that consideration be given to updating and revising the 1966 Theological Basis of Personal Ethics.
That document can be downloaded here.
What do you think of its content?
Do you think it still speaks to our current understanding and living of Christianity in a Brethren Accent?
I mentally re-write all the male stuff in my head to being sex-neutral. I find it an amazing paper, with so much to think about.
The basis of all personal ethics is to honor God and love our neighbors….good question to ask of ourselves in everything on which we choose to spend our time or speak about.
Here are some great quotes: “The profit motive in business does not change the fact that the primary duty of man is service and loving concern for his neighbor. The Christian businessman is called to conduct his business primarily for the service of his neighbor, and to consider his employees and competitors as those for whom he has responsibility.
He will not engage in a business that does not truly serve the consumer, nor will he conduct his business in a way that ignores his neighbor’s welfare. So, also, the Christian laborer will care for his employer as well as for fellow laborers. He will not engage in labor that clearly and directly disregards the neighbor, nor will he misrepresent his labor to his employer.”
“What is so very much needed today is the realization that God’s claim is upon every person in his secular occupation in the world. Be it in home or office, field or factory, every Christian is being claimed and judged by God within the special activities of that occupation.”
” To divorce sexuality from personal commitment
and to use it as a passing pleasure or as a means of making material products
more marketable is a violation of God’s gift to man.”
“The sale of pornography is a serious social problem in our day. The Christian is called away from that literature and those entertainments of which the primary purpose and effect are sexual stimulation with no real concern for the persons involved.”
There is a lot of good material in there.