Friday, February 29, 2008

Van Til, Piper and Triperspectival Ethics

In Van Til's "Christian Theistic Ethics" Van Til gives us a tri-perspectival approach to dealing with ethics he says, "All ethics then deals with these three questions: a.) What is the motive of human action? b.) what is the standard of human action? c.) What is the end or purpose of human action?" All three aspects must exist in any good ethical system.

I am reading "Christian Theistic Ethics" and I have been running this part of the first chapter through my head for sometime. Yesterday, I finished reading John Pipers "God is the Gospel." Van Til answers these questions is a slightly different manner than I think Piper would. However, I think that they would agree but simply use different language. Anyhow, I think that Piper would answer these questions this way: The motive of our actions should the Glory of God. The standard of our actions should be the word of God. The end or purpose of human action is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.

Written by Stephen Stanford

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