TLAC Video Session 8 - The Christian Worldview of ETHICS

From the founding of America until 1962 the Ten Commandments were proudly posted throughout the nation on the walls of our courthouses, our classrooms, our living rooms, and our civic centers. As such, Americans were continually confronted with the moral laws handed down through Moses and Christ, which had provided our country with the highest moral standard of ethics the world has ever seen. Our crime rate was the lowest in the world. Contracts were regularly made based solely upon a man's word and a handshake. Wherever in the world the Ten Commandments were honored, the results were the same.

But our current culture, from the schools through the media, has been preaching to us for the last fifty years that Judeo-Christian ethics are out-of-date. There is no such thing as right and wrong; and all personal decisions and actions are relative to an individual's situation. This idea is called "situational ethics", and even a majority of Christians today have been swept into this morally bankrupt ethical philosophy.

The result upon our society has been no less than catastrophic!

Without Christians holding society accountable to live by Biblical ethics, all "hell has broken loose". From the family, to the church, to the culture, we now live in a state of virtual lawlessness where what has always been judged to be wrong behavior is now considered acceptable – and even praiseworthy. Our prisons are as overcrowded as our cities, resulting in more and more violent offenders being released back into society daily, where they can continue to terrorize peaceful citizens. And this violence is increasing year-by-year.

Without God's eternal, unchanging moral laws to hold individuals accountable for their behavior, man must invent an endless array of external laws to keep society under control. Freedom is forfeited. Private property is violated often without penalty to the thief. Even the government justifies theft from one class in order to "provide economic equality".

The founders of America's Constitution stated:

 "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters."
Benjamin Franklin

"Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government . . . can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any despotic or oppressive form so long as there is any virtue in the body of the people."
George Washington

". . . Virtue, morality, and religion. This is the armor, my friend, and this alone that renders us invincible. These are the tactics we should study. If we lose these, we are conquered, fallen indeed . . . so long as our manners and principles remain sound, there is no danger."
Patrick Henry

Why is the study of ethics important? Because if a society is not supported by virtuous families living my morally excellent ethical standards, it will not - - it cannot - survive.  BUT God promises success in all we do if we embrace His moral code and live by it (Psalm 1, Joshua 1:8).

(Video Length: Approx. 60 Min.)