Comments on: Send Me Your Ethics Questions!

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:57:33 +0000

@Lawrence Guest,
Hi. I’m a RN and currently working on my master’s degree in adult nursing at Liberty. Your church member friend is incorrect. In a nutshell, birth control pills work by making eggs impenetrable to sperm. (To get technical, the pills work by inhibiting LH secretion which prevents ovulation). It also changes the lining of the inside of the uterus so that implantation cannot occur (implantation is when the egg and sperm unite and then attach themselves to the wall of the uterus so that the embryo can begin to develop). Birth control pills have absolutely no effect on sperm. To quote the pharmacology textbook we are using at Liberty, Pharmacology for the Primary Care Provider by Edmunds and Mayhew, birth control pills “are not considered abortifacients because an existing pregnancy will not be disrupted by their administration”.

By: Lawrence Guest

Lawrence Guest — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:31:35 +0000

I am a first year MDiv student at Southern. I Co-pastor a church plant in Shawnee, OK. One of my church members presented me with a question that is difficult to answer. She has done some research on birth control pills. She says that all of them are designed to do the following things: to kill the sperm before it reaches the egg and if by chance the sperm does reach the egg and fertilize it it will then act as an aborticant and do away with the newly formed emybro. She said this is known among the leaders of most evangelical denominations including the SBC. Her question was this; if our leaders know about this why don’t they inform the pastors who can then inform their congregation so they can make an informed choice concerning other birth control methods.

By: Luke Hinton

Luke Hinton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:28:34 +0000

My question does not deal with a particular ethical situation but more with an ethical framework. As Christians, New-Covenant people, how should we use the Tanakh, or Hebrew Scriptures, when doing Christian ethics? To further clarify, we know that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law and Prophets and that we Christians are not under Mosaic Law. Yet Paul says that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for training in righteousness. However, we know that many OT commands are not applicable in the same way (if at all) to Christians (e.g. Do not boil a goat in its mother’s milk, do no eat pork, do not wear garments made from more than one material, etc.) Can we then bifurcate the OT and classify commands as civil, moral, etc., or should we read it through a redemptive-historical lens? To conclude, what role should the Old Testament play in Christian ethics, and how do we extrapolate ethical commands still applicable to Christians?

By: Jacob

Jacob — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:14:00 +0000

[To tag with Dan's question.]
How do you invest as a Christian. Many mutual funds and conglomerates have subsidiaries that are involved with pornography and other things listed by Dan. Should the church take money that comes from profits of member’s mutual funds and other investments that involve porn?

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:43:28 +0000

I’ll go ahead and ask a question here since I know I’ll forget to email you later. I once was part of a church that had members and attenders who contributed money they made from tobacco farming, tobacco research (how to make a better plant), working at hard liquor distilleries, and even from casinos and the lottery. Now I live in a state that has legalized medical marijuana, and I’m sure that sooner or later someone will want to donate a portion of their cannabis profits to the church. Where do we draw the line in making money as Christians, and where do we draw the line in accepting money as churches?

By: John Jaggers

John Jaggers — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:49:15 +0000

With the rise of social networks, like facebook, myspace and twitter, how do we effectively share the Gospel? To many, these networks are becoming their primary source of interaction with society, just as ATMs and drive thrus have become the preferred choice of daily interactions, our “accounts” are now our faces. We show our best side, or rather the side that we want people to see, and hide the blemishes of our lives. As, this is the only source of contact I have with many “friends” from the past and the only opportunity for me to communicate with them. Is it really possible to know or bond with someone through this filter? To share God’s love in an effective way? Our comments, in 140 characters or less, and without inflection, can be, and often are, misconstrued. Thus, creating ripples in our relationships, that cannot be addressed, because they are simply not known. At the same time, a simple response click of the “like” button, and we have nodded approval or an “I hear you!”, leaving us with an unknown connection at the heart level and without putting our thought into words. (Paul @timothy “like”!)
The question is as we move toward this “world”, how do we effectively witness to this generation, that shuns face to face interaction?

By: Lydia

Lydia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:34:56 +0000

Ok so heres the deal. My best friend and I have both been working part time for one of the local colleges. I have been working in Admissions for a little over a year and she has been working in Financial Aid for a few months. A full-time position opened up in the Financial Aid department, and we both desire to have it. We have basically been informed that the decision is down to the two of us. In the long run it is more along the line of work she wants to do for the rest of her life. She will be getting engaged and married soon, and I know she could use the full time job. If I was hired I would probably only work there for a year or two at the most, but I really want it too, not only for the substantial raise, but because I need a change from the job I have now. We both have certain advantages over eachother. We have been open and honest, and I am confident it won’t ruin our friendship. I am just wondering if I should really rally to get this job.