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The New Morality?

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ú ociated with Jo eph Fletcher (who coined

the phra e)

Fletcher wa an ú
erican Chri tian prie t (1905-

(1905-
1991)

He renounced hi faith in later life and beca
e

an athei t.

Hi book Situation Ethic wa publi hed in

1966.
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To under tand SE it i nece ary to have o
e

knowledge of it context.

Fletcher root hi idea in the very root of

Chri tianity ² the go pel account of Je u 
teaching but i
portantly not in the traditional
teaching of the Chri tian Church.

To properly under tand it let do a pot of Bible

ba hing and look at Mark go pel.
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~egali tic Ethic . There i a code of
oral law.

Your duty i to follow thi code no
atter how
difficult.

úntino
ian Ethic . There are no rule . Do

whatever you feel like doing.

Situation Ethic . Only one rule: follow the
o t

loving cour e of action.
 


One Sabbath Je u wa going through the grain field  and a hi

di ciple walked along they began to pick o
e head of grain.
The Phari ee aid to hi
 "~ook why are they doing what i
unlawful on the Sabbath?"

He an wered "Have you never read what David did when he

and hi co
panion were hungry and in need? In the day of
úbiathar the high prie t he entered the hou e of God and ate
the con ecrated bread which i lawful only for prie t to eat.
únd he al o gave o
e to hi co
panion ."

Then he aid to the
 "The Sabbath wa
ade for
an not

an for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man i ~ord even of the
Sabbath."
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Thi took place on the Sabbath

On the Sabbath it wa forbidden to«

«work.

To thi day certain Orthodox Jew will ob erve thi rule

to a very high degree.

The witching on of light would be forbidden on the

Sabbath for exa
ple.

In thi tory Je u  di ciple are critici ed for picking

corn on the Sabbath a they walk through a field on
their way to the ynagogue. Technically thi i
harve ting.
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Je u  re pon e to thi critici
fro
the

Phari ee i twofold.

Fir t he cite a precedent King David
en

breaking a religiou rule due to hunger.

But the econd i
ore ignificant for our

purpo e . Je u ay that "The Sabbath wa

ade for
an not
an for the Sabbath. So the
Son of Man i ~ord even of the Sabbath."
   



The co

and
ent are not to be followed lavi hly a

if life i a ga
e of Si
on ( or Jehovah) Say and that
heaven i a reward for tho e who obey.

The co

and
ent are there for the benefit of

hu
ankind and that he Je u ha di cretion over how
they hould be interpreted.

What
ight have been the original intention of the

co

and
ent forbidding work on the Sabbath?
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In another pa age Je u ay thi ..

"The
o t i
portant one" an wered Je u  "i thi : 'Hear O I rael the ~ord our God
the ~ord i one. ~ove the ~ord your God with all your heart and with all your oul and
with all your
ind and with all your trength. 'The econd i thi : '~ove your neighbour
a your elf. There i no co

and
ent greater than the e."

For Fletcher thi ha enor
ou ignificance.

For Chri tian all of the co

and
ent are to be een

in the light of love.

When a Chri tian act they hould follow the cour e of

action that lead to the
o t love being hown.
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«the only rule i that you hould act in the way that
re ult in the
o t love being hown. (~ove i the law)

«a no two ituation are exactly alike thi need to be

recon idered every ti
e. On o
e occa ion you
ay
have to tell the truth on other you hould not. It ju t
depend on the Situation«(hence the na
e)

«all you need i love (no Fletcher wa nt a Beatle) but

it wa the ixtie .
 V 6  !

Prag
ati

elativi

Po itivi

Per onali

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6  !

Only one thing i intrin ically good na
ely love:

nothing el e at all.

The ruling nor
of Chri tian Deci ion i love: nothing

el e.

~ove and Ju tice are the a
e for love i ju tice

di tributed nothing el e.

~ove will the neighbour good whether we like hi

or not.

Only the end ju tifie the
ean  nothing el e.

~ove deci ion are
ade ituationally not

pre criptively.