Bible And Ethics In The Bible In The Bible

When thinking of the Bible and ethics, my first thought it that yes, the Bible is ethical. After these first few weeks of class, I think it is a little more complicated than that. I think that overall, the Bible does have a general ethical message. However, there are also many things in the Bible that seem to be unethical. First of all, I think it is important to keep in mind that times and lifestyles have changed significantly between biblical times and current times. I think that what was considered ethical then and what is considered ethical now may be a little different. However, things like murder, adultery, etc., are generally considered unethical by both the Bible and current day standards. The example that comes to mind is the Ten

Abraham went through the steps, and was stopped by God just before killing his son. A ram was then provided for the offering instead. This was a test of Abraham’s faith, and I believe that it was unethical. It doesn’t seem like God had really planned on allowing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, but something unexpected could have happened. I understand sacrificing is different than murder, but ethically, is it all that different? Expecting someone to kill (or sacrifice) their only child is hard to understand. This would be considered unethical today, especially since sacrifices are no longer performed as they used to be. Not everything in the Bible is unethical. There are many stories in the Bible which are moral words to live by, such as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), and comforting words from Jesus, such as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). I think it is safe to say that most of us have been to church, and heard a very uplifting sermon, with passages from the Bible that were exactly what we need to hear. There are also many stories in the Bible of Jesus feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and teaching His