ETHICS
of
the
subject,
all
that
can
be
done
Is
to
gather
from
the
Jewish
and
Christian
writings
the
moral
conceptions
that
were
formed
by
historians,
prophets,
poets,
apostles.
The
old
history
culminates
in
the
story
of
the
perfect
One,
the
Lord
Jesus
Christ,
from
whom
there
issued
a
life
of
higher
order
and
ampler
range.
I.
OT
Ethics.
—
As
the
dates
of
many
of
the
books
are
uncertain,
special
diflSculty
attends
any
endeavour
to
trace
with
precision
the
stages
of
moral
development
amongst
the
Hebrews.
The
existence
of
a
moral
order
of
the
world
is
assumed;
human
beings
are
credited
with
the
freedom,
the
intelligence,
etc.,
which
make
morality
possible.
The
term
'conscience'
does
not
appear
till
NT
times,
and
perhaps
it
was
then
borrowed
from
the
Stoics;
but
the
thing
itself
is
conspicuous
enough
in
the
records
of
God's
ancient
people.
In
Gn
35
we
have
the
two
categories
'good'
and
'evil';
the
former
seems
to
signify
in
1"'
'answering
to
design'
and
in
2i«
'conducive
to
well-being.'
These
terms
—
applied
sometimes
to
ends,
sometimes
to
means
—
probably
denote
ultimates
of
consciousness,
and
so,
like
pain
and
pleasure,
are
not
to
be
defined.
Moral
phenomena
present
themselves,
of
course,
in
the
story
of
the
patriarchs;
men
are
described
as
mean
or
chival-rous,
truthful
or
false,
meritorious
or
blameworthy,
long
before
legislation
—
Mosaic
or
other
—
takes
shape.
1.
In
Hebrew
literature
the
religiaus
aspects
of
life
are
of
vital
moment,
and
therefore
morals
and
worship
are
inextricably
entangled.
God
is
seen:
there
is
desire
to
please
Him;
there
is
a
shrinking
from
aught
that
would
arouse
His
anger
(Gn
20"
39').
Hence
the
immoral
is
sinful.
Allegiance
is
due
—
not
to
an
im-personal
law,
but
to
a
Holy
Person,
and
duty
to
man
is
duty
also
to
God.
Morality
is
under
Divine
protec-tion:
are
not
the
tables
of
the
Law
in
the
Ark
that
occupies
the
most
sacred
place
In
Jehovah's
shrine
(Ex
40™,
Dt
10»,
1
K
8',
He
9<)?
The
commandments,
instead
of
being
arbitrary,
are
the
outflowings
of
the
character
of
God.
He
who
enjoins
righteousness
and
mercy
calls
men
to
possess
attributes
which
He
Himself
prizes
as
His
own
peculiar
glory
(Ex
33i8-
'»
3#-
').
Hosea
represents
the
Divine
love
as
longing
for
the
response
of
human
love,
and
Amos
demands
righteous-ness
in
the
name
of
the
Righteous
One.
Man's
goodness
is
the
same
in
kind
as
the
goodness
of
God,
so
that
both
may
be
characterized
by
the
same
terms;
as
appears
from
a
comparison
of
Pss
HI
and
112.
2.
The
or
outlook
is
national
rather
than
individual.
The
elements
of
the
community
count
for
little,
unless
they
contribute
to
the
common
good.
A
man
is
only
a
fractional
part
of
an
organism,
and
he
may
be
slain
with
the
group
to
which
he
belongs,
if
grievous
sin
can
be
brought
home
to
any
part
of
that
group
(Jos
7"-").
It
is
Israel^the
people
as
a
whole
—
that
is
called
God's
son.
Prayers,
sacrifices,
festivals,
fasts,
are
national
affairs.
The
highest
form
of
excellence
is
willingness
to
perish
if
only
Israel
may
be
saved
(Ex
32"-
s^,
Jg
515-is).
Frequently
the
laws
are.
such
as
only
a
judge
may
administer:
thus
the
claim
of
'an
eye
for
an
eye,
and
a
tooth
.for
a
tooth'
(Dt
19^'),
being
a
maxim
of
fairness
to
be
observed
by
a
magistrate
who
has
to
decide
between
contending
parties,
is
too
harsh
for
guidance
outside
a
court
of
law
(Mt
5'*-
").
When
Israel
sirmed,
it
was
punished;
when
it
obeyed
God,
it
prospered.
It
was
not
till
Hebrew
national
life
was
destroyed
that
individual
experiences
excited
questions
as
to
the
equity
of
Providence
(Job,
Pss
37.
73)
and
in
regard
to
personal
immortality.
In
the
later
prophets,
even
when
the
soul
of
each
man
is
deemed
to
be
of
immense
interest
(Ezk
18)
,
national
ideals
have
the
ascendency
in
thought.
It
is
the
nation
that
is
to
have
a
resurrection
(Is
25',
Ezk
37'-",
Hos
13",
Zee
S'-s).
This
ardent
devotion
to
corporate
well-being
—
a
noble
protest
against
absorp-tion
in
individual
interests
—
is
the
golden
thread
on
which
the
finest
pearls
of
Hebrew
history
are
strung.
3.
The
Covenant
is
always
regarded
as
the
standard
ETHICS
by
which
conduct
is
to
be
judged.
Deference
to
the
Covenant
is
deference
to
God
(Hos
6'
8',
Am
S'-').
As
God
is
always
faithful,
His
people
prosper
so
long
as
they
observe
the
conditions
to
which
their
fathers
gave
solemn
assent
(Ex
24S'
').
The
Decalogue,
which
is
an
outline
of
the
demands
made
by
the
Covenant
on
Israel,
requires
in
its
early
clauses
faith,
reverence,
and
service;
then
(Ex
20,
Commandments
S
to
9)
the
duty
of
man
to
man
is
set
forth
as
part
of
man's
duty
to
Jehovah,
for
Moses
and
all
the
prophets
declare
that
God
is
pleased
or
displeased
by
our
behaviour
to
one
another.
The
Tenth
Commandment,
penetrating
as
it
does
to
the
inward
hfe,
should
be
taken
as
a
reminder
that
all
commandments
are
to
be
read
in
the
spirit
and
not
in
the
letter
alone
(Lv
19"-
",
Dt
&■
«,
Ps
139,
Ro
7").
Human
obligations
—
details
of
which
are
sometimes
massed
together
as
in
Ex
20-23,
Pss
16
and
24
—
include
both
moral
and
ceremonial
requirements.
Nothing
is
more
common
in
the
prophets
than
com-plaints
of
a
disposition
to
neglect
the
former
(Is
1"'-,
Jer
62"
721
'■,
Hos
6«,
Am
S^").
The
requirements
embrace
a
great
number
of
particulars,
and
every
department
of
experience
is
recognized.
Stress
is
laid
upon
kindness
to
the
physically
defective
(Lv
19"),
and
to
the
poor
and
to
strangers
(Dt
10"-
"
15'-"
24i'«-,
Job
SI"-
»,
Ps
411,
Is
588ff-,
Jer
7^-
22»,
Zee
7").
Parents
and
aged
persons
are
to
be
reverenced
(Ex
20'^
Dt
5",
Lv
1932).
The
education
of
children
is
enjoined
(Ex
12»'.
138-
",
Dt
4»
6»-
™-»
11"
31«-
"
32",
Ps
78i>-
•).
In
Proverbs
emphasis
is
laid
upon
industry
(6'-"),
purity
(7'
etc.),
kindness
to
the
needy
(I421),
truthfulness
(17'
etc.),
forethought
(24").
The
claims
of
animals
are
not
omitted
(Ex
23",
Lv
25',
Dt
22'-
«
25<,
Ps
104»-
12
148",
Pr
12'«,
Jon
4").
Occasionally
there
are
charming
pictures
of
special
characters
(the
housewife,
Pr
31;
the
king,
2
S
23'-^;
the
priest,
Mai
2S'
••
').
God's
rule
over
man
is
parallel
with
His
rule
over
the
universe,
and
men
should
feel
that
God
embraces
all
interests
in
His
thought,
for
He
is
so
great
that
He
can
attend
equally
to
the
stars
and
to
human
sorrows
(Ps
19.
33.
147»-«).
4.
The
sanctions
of
conduct
are
chiefly
temporal
(harvests,
droughts,
victories
over
enemies,
etc.),
yet,
as
they
are
national,
self-regard
is
not
obtrusive.
More-over,
it
would
be
a
mistake
to
suppose
that
no
Hebrew
minds
felt
the
intrinsic
value
of
morality.
The
legal
spirit
was
not
universal.
The
prophets
were
glad
to
think
that
God
was
not
limiting
Himself
to
the
letter
of
the
Covenant,
the
very
existence
of
which
impUed
that
Jehovah,
in
the
greatness
of
His
love,
had
chosen
Israel
to
be
His
pecuUar
treasure.
By
grace
and
not
by
bare
justice
Divine
action
was
guided.
God
was
the
compassionate
Redeemer
(Dt
7',
Hos
11'
14<).
Even
the
people's
disregard
of
the
Law
did
not
extinguish
His
forgiving
love
(Ps
25««-
103»-,
Is
63»,
Jer
3"
31'
33"-,
Mic
7"').
In
response
to
this
manifested
generosity,
an
unmercenary
spirit
was
begotten
in
Israel,
so
that
God
was
loved
for
His
own
sake,
and
His
smile
was
regarded
as
wealth
and
light
when
poverty
and
darkness
had
to
be
endured.
'
Whom
have
I
in
heaven
but
thee?'
'Oh,
how
I
love
thy
law
I'
are
expressions
the
like
of
which
abound
in
the
devotional
literature
of
Israel,
and
they
evince
a
disinterested
devotion
to
God
Himself
and
a
genuine
delight
in
duty.
To
the
same
purport
is
the
remarkable
appreciation
of
the
beauty
and
splendour
of
wisdom
recorded
in
Pr
8.
n.
NT
Ethics.
—
While
admitting
many
novel
ele-ments
(Mt
11"
131'-
»•
62,
Mk
2"-
»,
Jn
13",
Eph
2is,
He
10'",
Rev
2"
312
5»),
Christianity
reaffirmed
the
best
portions
of
OT
teaching
(Mt
5",
Ro
3").
Whatsoever
things
were
valuable,
Christ
conserved,
unified,
and
de-veloped.
The
old
doctrine
acquired
wings,
and
sang
a
nobler,
sweeter
song
(Jn
1").
But
the
glad
and
noble
life
which
Jesus
came
to
produce
could
come
only
from
close
attention
to
man's
actual
condition.
1.
Accordingly,
Christian
Ethics
takes
full
account
of
