The Decalogue and a Human Future: The Meaning of the Commandments for Making and Keeping Human Life Human

238 Pages·1994·6.423 MB·English

by  Mr. Paul L. Lehmann, Mrs. Nancy J. Duff

The Decalogue and a
Human Future
The Meaning of the Commandments
for Making and Keeping Human Life Human
Paul L. Lehmann
With an introduction by
Nancy J. Duff
WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
© 1995 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
255 Jefferson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
00 99 98 97 96 95 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lehmann, Paul Louis, 1906-1994.
The Decalogue and a human future: the meaning of the commandments for
making and keeping human life human / Paul L. Lehmann.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-8028-0835-2 (pbk.)
1. Christian ethics. 2. Ten commandments. 3. Sociology, Christian. 4. Social ethics.
I. Title.
BJ1251.L37 1994
241.5'2 — dc20 94-23344
CIP
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Version
of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of Churches in the U.S.A., and used by permission.
Contents
Introduction by Nancy J. Duff 1
I Disregard, Disarray, and Discovery 13
1 On Not Keeping the Commandments 15
Gospel as Law vs. Law as Gospel 15
Rediscovering Luther 19
Catching Up with Brother Martin 25
2 Beyond Hierarchy and Equality 31
The "Age of Reason" in a "World Come of Age" 31
Sharp Swords for Rusty Ones 40
An Assist from Macrosociology 44
Hive, Anthill, or Human Community 48
3 The Structural Realism of the Decalogue 55
Secular Individualism and Social Responsibility 55
Reciprocal Responsibility and the Decalogue 63
Apperception, Structure, and Responsibility 66
The Structural Realism of the Decalogue 79
v
vi CONTENTS
II Pathways and Patterns of Reciprocal Responsibility 83
Prologue 85
"The Two Tablets of Moses" 85
Luther and the Bible 89
4 Of God and Creation: The Right Tablet of Moses
(The First, Second, and Third Commandments) 95
What Does It Mean to Have a God? The Heart and Its Trust
(The First Commandment: "You Shall Have No Other
Gods Besides Me") 96
The Loss of God's Name: The Heart Becomes Religion
and Trust Becomes Process
(The Second Commandment: "You Shall Not Go About
with the Name of God as Though It Made No Difference") 101
The Violation and the Restoration of God's Name:
The Feminist Repudiation of Patriarchal Co-optation 111
Shabat, Shalom, and Responsibility for Creation
(The Third Comandment: "You Shall Make a Day
for Celebration Holy") 145
5 The Family, Abortion, and Homosexuality
(The Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Commandments) 149
The "Left Tablet of Moses" 149
The Paradigm of Human Wholeness and the Question
of the Family
(The Fourth Commandment:
"You Shall Honor Your Father and Mother") 150
The Question of Abortion
(The Fifth Commandment: "You Shall Not Kill") 163
Sexuality and Human Fulfillment: The Question
of Homosexuality
(The Sixth Commandment:
"You Shall Not Commit Adultery") 172
Contents vii
6 Property, False Witness, Vocation, and Belonging
(The Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Commandments) 179
Christianity and Property
(The Seventh Commandment: "You Shall Not Steal") 179
Telling the Truth
(The Eighth Commandment: "You Shall
Not Bear False Witness against Your Neighbor") 199
A Question of Belonging
(The Ninth and Tenth
Commandments: "You Shall Not Covet") 207
Concluding Comments 224
Index 228
Dedicated to the memory of
John A. Mackay
1889-1983
President of Princeton Theological Seminary
1936-1959
Introduction
O
n March 26, 1979, Paul Lehmann gave the Annie Kinkaid Warfield
Lectures at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jer
sey. His series of six lectures was entitled, "The Commandments and the
Common Life." During his introductory remarks Lehmann described a
conversation that he had overheard shortly before beginning his lecture:
"Have you heard the good news?"
"No, what is it?"
"Paul Lehmann is giving the Warfield Lectures on the Ten Com
mandments."
"Well, what's so good about that? If Lehmann discusses the Com
mandments, they'll come out as multiple choice, anyway."
Undaunted by this characterization of his contextual approach to ethics,
Lehmann claimed that it is, after all, "the Decalogue itself which forbids
single-option living and confronts us with multiple choices that matter."1
Now some fifteen years later Lehmann's reflections on how the Decalogue
provides insights into these "multiple choices that matter" are appearing
in this long-promised book. Over the years the title of the project changed
from The Commandments and the Common Life to The Decalogue and a
Human Future. The subtitle of this new volume emphasizes his ongoing
concern for that which makes and keeps human life human, a concern
1. These lectures are available on audiotape from Princeton Theological Semi
nary's Media Services.
1
2 INTRODUCTION
that has occupied his attention since the publication of his book Ethics in
a Christian Context in 1963.2
It was in that book (Ethics in a Christian Context) that Lehmann first
promised a forthcoming volume that would include reflection on the role
of the Commandments in Christian ethics.3 In the meantime another
book, The Transfiguration of Politics,4 as well as numerous articles and
projects occupied his attention. Now, finally, Lehmann's reflections on the
Commandments are made available to us.5
Several key concepts employed by Lehmann in this volume are
critical for understanding his interpretation of the role of the Command
ments for a Christian ethic. In the pages that follow I will briefly describe
five aspects of Lehmann's work: (1) the contextual nature of Christian
ethics, (2) the descriptive (as opposed to prescriptive) nature of the Com
mandments, (3) the significance of "apperception" (or discernment) for
Christian ethics, (4) the contribution of Luther's thought to this volume
of work, and (5) the contribution of sociology to Lehmann's present work.
Finally, I will give a brief outline of the book.
The Contextual Nature of Christian Ethics6
According to Lehmann, a Christian ethic should embrace neither absolute
laws nor utilitarian principles. For him a different direction for Christian
ethics is established by the fundamental ethical question, "What am I as
a believer in Jesus Christ and as a member of his Church to do?"7 Neither
an ethic of law nor a utilitarian ethic can adequately respond to this
question.
2. Paul Lehmann, Ethics in a Christian Context (New York: Harper & Row,
1963).
3. Lehmann, Ethics in a Christian Context, pp. 148, 223-24, 346.
4. Paul Lehmann, The Transfiguration of Politics (New York: Harper & Row, 1975).
5. A bibliography of Lehmann's published work up to 1972 can be found in
Theology Today 29, 1 (April 1992): 120-32.
6. For a fuller discussion of Lehmann's contextual ethic see my book Humani-
zation and the Politics of God: The Koinonia Ethics of Paul Lehmann (Grand Rapids:
William B. Eerdmans, 1992).
7. Lehmann, Ethics in a Christian Context, p. 45.
Introduction 3
Rejection of an Ethic of Absolute Law
Lehmann describes an ethic of law or absolutist ethics in the following
way:
Absolutist ethics declares that the proper answer to the question: 'What
am I to do?' is supplied by an 'absolute.' And what is an 'absolute'?
Ethically speaking, an 'absolute' is a standard of conduct which can be
and must be applied to all people in all situations in exactly the same
way. The standard may be an ideal, a value, or a law. Its ethical reality
and significance, however, lie in its absolute character.8
Lehmann identifies three major weaknesses of the absolutist position.9 First,
it is unable to take seriously the complexity of human life. Even when an
ethic of law includes a carefully formulated casuistry (whereby absolute laws
are applied to specific situations), adherence to absolute laws often requires
one to overlook certain aspects of the particular situation. Life is simply more
complicated than application of absolute laws recognizes. Second, adherence
to absolute law can lead to a disregard for human welfare, when following
the moral law becomes more important than genuine concern for the
neighbor. One can maintain a righteous and clear conscience when the
dictates of the law are fulfilled even if, as a result of following the law, human
suffering increases or is not directly addressed. Third, Lehmann forswears an
ethic of absolute law for Christian ethics because it makes one's faith in Jesus
Christ peripheral to the ethical enterprise. For Christians, it is our relation
ship to God and to one another that informs our ethic, not absolute
prohibitions or instructions for behavior that can be gleaned from the Bible
and/or from reason and then severed from faith.
Rejection of a Utilitarian Ethic
At the same time that Lehmann's contextual approach to ethics was being
presented, another ethic that also rejected the absolute character of moral
law and concentrated attention on particular situations was widely read
— namely, the work of Joseph Fletcher, especially as expressed in his book
8. Lehmann, Ethics in a Christian Context, p. 125.
9. I have gleaned these three objections from an overview of Lehmann's work;
to my knowledge he does not enumerate them in precisely this way.
4 INTRODUCTION
Situation Ethics. Because Fletchers term "situation ethics" and Lehmann's
term "contextual ethics" are so closely associated, and because both ethicists
reject absolute law, it has often been assumed that they are saying the same
thing. In fact, their approaches to ethics differ widely, and throughout
their careers as teachers and scholars they were in rigorous, albeit friendly,
debate with one another. Whereas Fletcher consciously and purposely
establishes his ethic upon the principles of utilitarianism, Lehmann rejects
utilitarianism as alien to the gospel.10
Lehmann objects to both the pragmatic emphasis of utilitarianism and
its tendency to make the Christian gospel superfluous to Christian moral
decision making (similar to his claim against an ethic of law). Because
utilitarianism evaluates the morality of an action based on the consequences
of the action, it has a highly practical aspect. One embraces action if it
"works." While Lehmann agrees that no one should build a tower without
first sitting down to count the cost (see Luke 14:28), he also understands
that the Christian does not always embrace the most practical solutions to
moral dilemmas. In fact, at times the Christian is called upon to do what is
foolish in the eyes of the world (see 1 Cor. 1:20-25). Furthermore, just as
with an ethic of law, Lehmann believes that utilitarianism marginalizes faith
in Christ, even when, as in the case of Fletcher's work, it is presented as a
Christian ethic. Once one has identified the greatest good with a biblical
theme (in Fletcher's case, agape), no further reference to Christ, to the activity
of God in the world, or to Christian faith is necessary.
In opposition to an ethic of law and a utilitarian ethic, Lehmann
proposes a contextual ethic, which he says is a koinonia ethic (koinonia
being a Greek word referring to the gathering of Christians that we call
the church). In describing his understanding of a koinonia ethic, Lehmann
gives three references to the word contextual.11 By context he refers to
(1) God's activity in the world, (2) the Christian koinonia, and (3) the
particular situation in which one is called to make a moral decision. In
the first case, Christians are called upon to act in ways consistent with the
activity of God. (How one discerns divine activity must be one of the
10. See Lehmann's review of Fletcher's Situation Ethics published in the Sep
tember 1966 issue of the Episcopal Theological School Bulletin. A shorter version of the
review was published in The Situation Ethics Debate, ed. Harvey Cox (Philadelphia:
Westminster Press, 1968). See also my discussion of Fletcher and Lehmann in Humani-
zation and the Politics of God, pp. 45-51.
11. For further discussion of Lehmann's three interpretations of "context" see
my Humanization and the Politics of God, pp. 67ff.