Editorial February 6, 1965 Issue

Morality and Identity

Carl J. Welz

There is much discussion today on the subject of morals. Some insist that civilization will perish if mankind fail to live in obedience to the moral law as set forth in the Ten Commandments. Others declare that such a moral code is unnatural and that civilization can progress only by evolving a moral code in keeping with natural law.

Anthropology and psychiatry present evidence which if viewed from a material standpoint alone would lead us to believe that we can live more satisfying lives by renouncing our commitments to the moral law. Accepting this evidence some theologians are joining in the trend toward a new morality. Others see in this trend the loss of man's identity as the child of God and the consequent decline of civilization.

Actually, the division of opinion is not over the practical value of the moral law. It is over the nature of man. The basic question is whether man is material or spiritual. If we were to concede that man is material, then we should have to yield to the weight of evidence on the side of materialism. But we have evidence that man is spiritual. Christ Jesus gave us this evidence in his reappearance after his crucifixion. We have further evidence today in the healing effect of a spiritual understanding of Life. And Paul said (I Cor. 3:19), "The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."

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