Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1982
Publication Information
8 Soc. Resp.: Journalism L. Med. 34 (1982)
Abstract
I would like mainly to talk with you about, a consequential question, and that is whether the ethics of the New Testament are of any value in discussing professional morality. Such a question is probably f value to Jews and Christians; the New Testament is mostly about Jesus of Nazareth and (1) professionals to whom Jesus is of ultimate importance might claim to find value for their lives in his life. And (2) the God of Jesus is the God of Israel. The moral principles of Jesus are the moral principles of Israel. The question is of value, too, I hope, to (3) those who are neither Christians nor Jews. The moral principles of Jesus have often been of interest and influence in the lives of non-believers. Nineteenth-century American legal ethics, for example, regularly invoked what Judge Sharswood called "the high and pure morality, which breathes through the Sermon on the Mount," without implying that to be moral a lawyer would have to confess the faith of Israel and of the church.
Recommended Citation
Thomas L. Shaffer, The Legal Ethics of Servanthood, 8 Social Responsibility: Journalism, Law, Medicine 34-46 (1982).
