Bible Midterm Oct 2025

morality

a society's conclusions regarding what is right and wrong

creational norms

the design of God’s created order translated into divine laws that govern the way human individuals and cultures ought to operate

• Governs the social world

ethics

the branch of philosophy that studies how man ought to live

Christian ethics

seeks to determine how man ought to live in particular circumstances through studying God's word

Worldview

Philosophy

Religion

3 key relationships with ethics

metanarrative

beliefs and values

personal group behavior

3 ingredients of a biblical worldview

Philosophy

the pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of all the world

Authority

Creational Order

Man’s Chief End

Virtue

Wisdom

5 biblical worldview themes

Authority

There is only one God who made all things, and He is the ultimate authority

Creational Order

God created not only the physical world but also the moral norms by which people and societies function

Man’s Chief End

Man’s purpose is to glorify God, make his name known, and enjoy Him forever

Virtue

God’s goal is not merely for people to do the right thing but also to become the right kind of people

Wisdom

The ability to discern creational norms, communicate them to others, and live by them

Your knowledge

Your personal growth

Your testimony

What are the personal benefits of studying ethics?

Prayer

Humility

Reason

Effort

Praise

the right approaches to studying ethics

Holiness

Love

Goodness

Righteousness

Trustworthiness

Attributes of God

Holiness

God is altogether perfect

and pure and separate from any form of sin

(Isaiah 6:3, 1 Peter 2:9)

Love

God is love, an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person

Obedience to the law looks like this

(Matthew 22:37-40)

Goodness

God's grace revealed,

goodness doesn't contradict justice

God’s gift of mercy

(Titus 3:4-5)

Righteousness

Doing the right thing,

God is righteous

God judges rightly

(Jeremiah 9:24)

Trustworthiness

God is faithful and reliable.

God's character is stable, permanent, and steadfast.

Faithful reliability brings about stable permanence and steadfastness.

(Proverbs 3:5-7)

observe creation

study scripture

have God's common grace

Steps to discovering creational norms

father son spirit

God's structure

body soul spirit

Man's structure

Role of Special Revelation

helps to accurately interpret creational norms

direct

Type of Communication of Special Revelation

Scripture

Where Special Revelation is found in

God's design reveals creational norms

Role of General Revelation

indirect, implied

Type of Communication of General Revelation

creation

Where General Revelation is found in

image of God

the whole person is made to be "like God in everything in which a creature can be like God."

All other creational norms make sense in the light of this primary creational norm

creation

fall

redemption

3 elements that make up a metanarrative in a biblical worldview

sovereignty

God’s authority over the entire universe

attribute

an essential characteristic of God’s nature

being made in God’s image

where human dignity and value comes from

God’s character

• ultimate basis of ethics

• what people must conform to in order to live ethically

• what virtue is measured based on

TRUE

Most secular philosophers maintain that wisdom can be obtained through reason and intellect alone, apart from any kind of divine revelation. (True/False)

TRUE

Ethical knowledge and spiritual wisdom are important because believers can’t do the right thing without knowing how to arrive at the choice. (True/False)

FALSE

The majority opinion of a popular culture is a reliable measure of what is right. (True/False)

FALSE

Since the fall, creational norms no longer govern the world. (True/False)

TRUE

All people have an innate sense of creational norms due to being made in the image of God and being surrounded by God’s general revelation.

TRUE

Although people may reject God and his word, they cannot completely escape the creational norms that reflect his character.

TRUE

Being transformed into Christ’s image is the same as becoming virtuous.

• Metaphysics

• Epistemology

• Ethics

• Aesthetics

four branches of philosophy

• Deontological

• Consequentialist

• Virtue Ethics

• Existentialist

four major approaches to ethics

• Look for internal consistency;

• Look for external coherence;

• Look to God’s word

the three rules of thumb for ethics

The way of the righteous and the wicked

What does Psalm 1 describe?

• The world’s Wisdom (who you listen to);

• Actions (way of doing things);

• Philosophy (the way they think)

what we should avoid in the world (Psalm 1)

• Rooted in truth (God’s word)

• Trust God’s timing (God’s sovereignty)

• Abide in God’s power (God’s grace)

• Bear fruit in God’s will (Obedience)

what the righteous must be (Psalm 1)

creational norms

God’s wise design built into the world for the successful functioning of people within this world

natural laws

The physical ordering and design for this world’s functioning (e.g., gravity)

Genesis 3:14–19; Romans 8:18–23

verses for effects on the created order

Metaphysics

the study of nature and reality itself

Epistemology

the study of knowledge (how we know what is true and how we know what we know)

Ethics

the study of what ought to direct behavior, attitudes, and character (what makes something right or wrong)

Aesthetics

the study of beauty

Deontological

Driven by objective, absolute, universal rules or principles

Consequentialist

Driven by results or goals (for the individual or society)

Virtue ethics

Driven by inward virtue or character (ideals)

Existentialist

Driven by just being who one is naturally

The last rule of thumb presupposes that you are a Christian who trusts God’s mind over your own.

Perhaps the unbeliever will not listen to the correct presuppositions found in God’s Word for interpreting the evidence in this world.

Internal consistency and external coherence can remove the unbeliever’s confidence in faulty ethical systems, leaving him or her helpless and in need of something else.

(Prov. 26:4-5; Cor. 10:5)

Then you can present the biblical truth.

How to point an unbeliever towards the truth using the three rules of thumb.

internal consistency

does the ethical system contradict or undermine itself?

external coherence

does the ethical system match up with how things work in real life according to God’s creational design?

look to God’s word

does the ethical system contradict the explicit teachings of God’s word?