Pauline “ethics of relinquishing”: “Implicit ethics” of the Bible as a source of inspiration for current ethical debate

Abstract

Enhancing life in the world of the future will only be possible if people relinquish their claim to some of the legitimate rights to which they are entitled. This article is developed in three sections. In the first section, I contend that the source of inspiration for this ethics is the Bible and, in particular, the writings of Paul, which open up insights into moral principles and the ethos of Early Christian communities. In the second section, I take up insights from biblical ethics and develop foundational aspects of, and criteria for how such an ethics of relinquishing can be described on both a theoretical and a terminological level. In the final section, I describe possible acts of relinquishing in different fields of current ethical debate such as, for instance, the appropriate extent of medical treatment at the end-of-life, the use of media, and big data.