Theological ethics is “not just a playground…it’s a discipline meant to be applied,” said Principal +Stephen Andrews as he addressed guests at the dinner which opened Wycliffe’s series of ethics-focused events. Held March 20 and 21 at the College, these events – a fundraising dinner, public lecture, and Theology Pub Night - signalled Wycliffe’s desire to develop an Institute for Christian Ethics that will equip Christian professionals with the tools to engage ethical issues in the public sphere, while underlining the essential role of faith in shaping ethics. “Do we live by our ethics?” asked Principal Andrews in his opening remarks. “God’s design for human flourishing...is a good design.”
His question, and his assertion of the goodness of God’s design, rightly framed the space in which subjects like sex, suicide, medical assistance in dying (MAID), death, empire, conversion, faith, and values were unpacked by theological ethicist Dr Brian Brock who spoke at all three events. Brock was joined by panelists Dr Julia Lee, and Father Pishoy Salama at the public lecture, while social scientist Dr Julien Musolino joined him for spirited dialogue at Theology Pub Night.
For Brock, good theology is more than right ideas or right teachings. Theological ethics must be connected to daily acts and language. “Lived tensions…provide openings for growth in faithful living…Scriptural proximity offers endless insights that speak into the tensions of today, and dialogue with our precursors helps us form the ethical questions” we need to ask.
Delving into precursors as varied as Augustine’s City of God, Genesis 1 through 4, and Karl Barth, Dr Brock invited listeners to consider how we live –theological anthropology- while understanding the activist, definitional and/or existential filters that inform our questions.
He offered challenging questions and opinions at every event: Does the fall of a city prove the truth or futility of religion? Should Christians embrace the Greco-Roman honour-suicide Augustine writes about in City of God? What do our assumptions about corpses tell us about the assumptions we make about our living bodies? Ethics is in the Bible. Don’t fear death. Ethics cannot be an esoteric discipline. It must connect with people. Modernity overvalues life (though not in the way we would believe). Referencing Genesis 1 through 4, he asked whether we can “organize our lives by resting in the sequence of God’s text.”
“What is essential and sure is the character of God,” posits Brock, and all that we do stems from that truth. No surprise then that one feels a tender expansiveness, an unexpected generosity, in his invitation to consider what it means to be human and to live as a Christian in today’s shifting moral landscape. “Living in faith and hope, we suspend judgement.” Rather, we seek clarity in our hearing of God and His directives. “Theology must begin ever anew and always where we are at.”
The lived experiences shared by Dr Julia Lee and Father Pishoy Salama at the panel discussion brought this truth home. Both these Christian professionals have faced situations demanding responses that seemingly contradicted their Christian beliefs. Their testimonies showed us a fresh orthopraxy, a biblical model of strong flexibility rooted and grounded in Christ (Psalm 1).
Do we live by our ethics? Principal Andrews opened the dinner with this question. Reading Proverbs 3:13, Dr Ewan Goligher concluded the event with a call to champion wisdom. “Ethics is wisdom at its sharpest and finest,” he said. “It seeks to apply how we understand the world, how we understand ourselves, how we understand the human condition, and seeks to answer the question, ‘How shall we then live? How shall we then act?’”
How indeed.
Now, more than ever, is the time to champion a space for Christian ethics in the square of Canadian public discourse. Wycliffe College is uniquely situated to lead the way. Learn more at www.wycliffecollege.ca/ethics
