Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 63:2 (Jun 2020)
Article: The Sermon On The Mount And Moral Theology: A Deontological Virtue Ethic Of Response Approach
Author: Charles Nathan Ridlehoover

JETS 63:2 (June 2020) p. 267

The Sermon On The Mount And Moral Theology:
A Deontological Virtue Ethic Of Response Approach

Charles Nathan Ridlehoover

Charles Nathan Ridlehoover holds a Ph.D. in NT from the University of Bristol, Trinity College and resides in North Carolina. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: In The Sermon the Mount and Moral Theology: A Virtue Perspective, William Mattison has recently called for a renaissance in two areas of Sermon studies. First, the Sermon should be returned to a central place in ethical discussions of the New Testament. Second, a virtue theory best explains the nature of the Sermon’s teachings. Along with Mattison’s proposal, Jonathan Pennington’s The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary has argued similarly for a virtue reading of the Sermon. While agreeing with their arguments in principle, I will suggest that the Sermon’s complex matrix of ethical principles is best understood as a deontological virtue ethic of response. The Sermon teaches its kingdom righteousness by instructing the would-be follower to emulate Christ by obedience to the divine will (deontology), character development (virtue theory), and response to the Father while bearing the concerns of others (ethics of response). I will focus on four key passages that are representative of the Sermon’s ethical teachings: Matthew 5:3–12; 6:7–15; 7:12; and 7:24–27. These texts are at structurally significant points and function in a summative fashion for the Sermon’s ethic.

Key words: Sermon on the Mount, Lord’s Prayer, ethics, human flourishing, virtue theory, moral theology

I. Introduction

An important and ongoing question among Matthean scholars concerns the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount. What exactly is Jesus commanding his would-be disciple to do and/or to be in Matthew 5–7? The most recent books on the Sermon on the Mount and moral theology have resoundingly answered the question with an appeal to virtue theory.1 Consider Jonathan Pennington’s newest commentary, The Sermon on the Mount and Human Flourishing: A Theological Commentary. In Pennington’s words, “Jesus provides in the Sermon a Christocentric, flourishing-oriented, kingdom-awaiting, eschatological wisdom exhortation.”2 He continues, “I will seek to sh...