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Christian ethics is a branch of Christian theology that defines concepts of right (virtuous) and wrong (sinful) behavior from a Christian perspective. Various sources inform Christian ethics but "comprehensive Christian ethical writings use four distinguishable sources: (1) the Bible and the Christian tradition, (2) philosophical principles and methods, (3) science and other sources of knowledge about the world, and (4) human experience broadly conceived." Jewish ethics and the life of Jesus also figure prominently. According to D. Stephen Long, "The Bible is the universal and fundamental source of specifically ''Christian'' ethics",〔 as "Christian ethics finds its source in diverse means, but it primarily emerges from the biblical narrative.". Christians do not all follow one type of ethics. It depends on their view of Scripture and Tradition. Christian ethicists often engage with and draw from secular ethics. Like secular ethicists, different thinkers approach Christian ethics from different perspectives, variously using deontological, consequentialist, utilitarian and other frameworks for ethical reflection. The approach of virtue ethics has also become popular in recent decades, largely due to the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas.〔http://www.academia.edu/539377/A_Brief_Look_at_MacIntyres_Virtue_Ethics_and_Theological_Application 〕 Christian ethics developed during Early Christianity as Christianity arose in the Holy Land and other early centers of Christianity while Christianity emerged from Second Temple Judaism. Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire erupted periodically, beginning with the Crucifixion of Jesus in Roman Judaea (c.30-33 AD) and periodically continued until Christianity was legalized under Constantine in 313 and became the state church of the Roman Empire in 380. Consequently, early Christian ethics included discussions of how believers should relate to Roman authority and to the empire. It also included questions regarding how the rich should treat the poor, how women should be treated, and the morality of war. Christian ethics have been criticized for a variety of reasons, including ideas that exist in Biblical scripture that Christians have relied on to guide their actions. These include Old Testament stories that provide negative examples along with positive examples, as well as prescriptions that have caused some people to act in ways many modern observers would find wrong (such as permitting slavery).`Various ideas in the New Testament have also been criticized as being morally suspect. ==Early Church== The New Testament generally asserts that all morality flows from the Great Commandment, to love God with all one's heart, mind, strength, and soul, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. In this, Jesus was reaffirming a teaching of the Torah ( and ), commonly referred to as Judeo-Christian ethics. Christ united these commands together and proposed himself as a model of the love required in , known also as The New Commandment. The meaning of the word can be imprecise, so Thomas Aquinas defined "love" for the benefit of the Christian believer as "to will the good of another." The ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' article on ''Ethics''〔(''Catholic Encyclopedia'': Ethics )〕 makes the following observation: Paul is also the source of the phrase "Law of Christ", though its meaning and the relationship of Paul of Tarsus and Judaism are still disputed. Paul is also the source of the New Testament household code. The Council of Jerusalem was held in Jerusalem c.50 and recorded in Acts 15. Its decree, known as the ''Apostolic Decree'', was held as generally binding for several centuries and is still observed today by the Greek Orthodox.〔Karl Josef von Hefele's (commentary on canon II of Gangra ) notes: "We further see that, at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in force as their Euchologies still show. Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third Apostolic Canon, expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St. Augustine in his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then, when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third (731) forbade the eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuse, like other laws."〕 Under the Emperor Constantine I (312–337), Christianity became a legal religion. The Edict of Milan made the empire safe for Christian practice and belief. Consequently, issues of Christian doctrine, ethics and church practice were debated openly at the First seven Ecumenical Councils. By the time of Theodosius I (379–395), Christianity had become within the empire its state church. With Christianity now in power, ethical concerns broadened and included discussions of the proper role of the state. The Church Fathers had little occasion to treat moral questions from a purely philosophical standpoint and independently of divine revelation, but in the explanation of Christian doctrine their discussions naturally led to philosophical investigations. Ecclesiastical writers, such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Ambrose, Jerome, and Augustine of Hippo all wrote on ethics from a distinctly Christian point of view. They made use of philosophical and ethical principles laid down by their Greek philosopher forbears and the intersection of Greek and Jewish thought known as Hellenistic Judaism. This is particularly true of Augustine, who proceeded to develop thoroughly along philosophical lines and to establish firmly most of the truths of Christian morality. The eternal law (''lex aeterna''), the original type and source of all temporal laws, the natural law, conscience, the ultimate end of man, the cardinal virtues, sin, marriage, etc. were treated by him in the clearest and most penetrating manner. Broadly speaking, Augustine adapted the philosophy of Plato to Christian principles. His synthesis is called Augustinianism (alternatively, Augustinism). He presents hardly a single portion of ethics to us but what he does present is enriched with his keen philosophical commentaries. Late ecclesiastical writers followed in his footsteps. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christian ethics」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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