A Manual of Moral PhilosophyPeabody, Andrew P. (Andrew Preston)
Philosophy
A Manual of Moral Philosophy
Peabody, Andrew P. (Andrew Preston)
Ethics
That *Christianity gives a fuller knowledge of the right* than can be
attained independently of its teachings, is shown by the review of all
extra-Christian ethical systems. There is not one of these which does not
confessedly omit essential portions of the right, and hardly one which
does not sanction dispositions and modes of conduct confessedly wrong and
evil; while even those who disclaim Christianity as a Divine revelation,
fail to detect like omissions and blemishes in the ethics of the New
Testament. Thus, though there is hardly a precept of Jesus Christ, the
like of which cannot be found in the ethical writings of Greece, China,
India, or Persia, the faultlessness and completeness of his teachings give
them a position by themselves, and are among the strongest internal
evidences of their divinity. They are also distinguished from the ethical
systems of other teachers by their positiveness. Others say, “Thou shalt
not;” Jesus Christ says, “Thou shalt.” They forbid and prohibit; He
commands. They prescribe abstinence from evil; He, a constant approach to
perfection. Buddhism is, in our time, often referred to as occupying a
higher plane than Christianity; but its precepts are all negative, its
virtues are negative, and its disciple is deemed most nearly perfect, when
in body, mind, and soul he has made himself utterly quiescent and inert.
Christianity, on the other hand, enjoins the unresting activity of all the
powers and faculties in pursuit of the highest ends.
Chapter VI.
RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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