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Fletcher Situation Ethics

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Should a person use situation ethics? When considering this question, the term must first be defined. The best definition comes from Joseph Fletcher, an American professor who founded the theory of situation ethics in the 1960s. According to his book, Situation Ethics: The New Morality, “Situation ethics goes part of the way with natural law, by accepting reason as the instrument of moral judgment, while rejecting the notion that the good is ‘given’ in the nature of things, objectively. It goes part of the way with Scriptural law by accepting revelation as the source of the norm while rejecting all ‘revealed’ norms or laws but one command—to love God in the neighbor. The situationist follows a moral law or violates it according to love’s need.” …show more content…

The only difference is that Fletcher attempts to add Scripture and Christian love to his theory. According to Fletcher, “If an act is loving, it is good and therefore right. If it is loving, it is right and therefore good. In each case it depends upon the situation, and upon how we understand it…the only guilt and sin in situation ethics is in being unfaithful to love.” This would mean that the situation determines whether something is loving or not, but that is not how God defines love. Fletcher says Jesus “spearheaded a moral revolt. He was a Jew, not a Christian – but a Jew whose morality was centered on love instead of law.” Fletcher makes the assertion by implication, that Jesus taught situation ethics in Matthew 22:39, which reads, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” Fletcher uses Paul’s statement in Galatians 5:14, which reads, “For all …show more content…

In each case it depends upon the situation, and upon how we understand it.” This author would agree that if an act is truly loving, then it is right, but not that love is determined by the situation and how one would understand it. Fletcher asserts that to define love “there is no law – only a rule of thumb: ‘Seek the best welfare and deepest happiness of the most people in the situation.’ ” This is not what the Bible teaches about love. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 the ‘love chapter’ clearly defines what love is and gives a clear standard as to define if one is being loving. John also gives a clear standard for how love is to be defined. 1 John 4:8 reads: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” If God is love, then Fletcher’s definition of love being “seek the best welfare and deepest happiness of the most people in the situation” would be incorrect, because it is not what Jesus did. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” God does not take the majority into consideration when making a law, and He did not change the rules because the majority are not going to make it to heaven. By Fletcher’s definition, Jesus did not seek the best welfare and deepest

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