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University of NigeriaVirtual Library

Serial No ISBN:978-37547-6-9

Author 1AGHA, U. Agha

Author 2

Author 3

Title Ethics of Responsible Self

Keywords

Description Ethics of Responsible Self

Category Social Sciences

Publisher Magnet Business Enterprises Enugu

Publication Date 2004

Signature

Alice

Okore

Digitally signed by Alice OkoreDN: CN = Alice Okore, C =NG, O = University of Nigeria,OU = Library DepartmentReason: I have reviewed thisdocumentDate: 2008.09.22 13:53:41+02'00'

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ETHICS OFRESPONSIBLE SELFA Study of Terms in Relation to ourResponsibility to the Society.

REV.DR AGHA U.AGHA(Senior Lecturer)Department of ReligionU.N.N.2004.

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DEDICATIONAs a token of administration and respect for

Elder Chief Ndukwo Ndukwo Ogbuja, Chairman &M anag ing D irector Gb uja s lntkrbiz, N igeria Ltd.For his ded icated life o f self-sacrifice and philanth ropicservices to humanity.

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O AGHA U. U G H AFirst Published 2004 byMagnet Business Enterprises Enugu

All rights Rcscrvcd.

ISBN 978 - 37547 - 6 - 9Printed by Saps N ig.7 lsuochi Street. Uwani Enugu.

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PREFACE

There can be other time more apposite than thiswhen Nigeria is overwhelmed with impeachmentcontroversy between the Law makers and the Presidentof Nigeria. Th is work is on the moral obligation ofevery individual to his neighbour and the society atlarge. The Moral Imperative is aimed at reminding ou rpoliticians and the general public of their Duty,Obligation, Responsibility to the nation and to ourneighbours and to remind them of the importance oftelling the truth always to one another. The work wasinformed by the non-challant attitude of the Nigerianleaders towards the suffering masses. The work isdivided into two Chapters only with sub-headings.The author is particularly grateful to ProfessorO.U. Kalu, Professor E.N. Onwu, the entire staff of theDepartment of Religion, University ofNige ria , Nsukkafor their incessant encouragement; and to Mr. & MrsJohn Nnachi Okoro who read the work and madevaluable suggestions and observations and who alsoaccepted to write the forward. The aythor is alsothankful to the authors whose works were consultedwhich also received adequate acknowledgment in thetext. The author is responsible for whatever infelicitiesof the subject matter or facts in this work.AGHA U. AGHADepartment of ReligionUniversity of NigeriaNsukka 2004

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FORWARD

In contemporary Nigerian Society, collectiveefforts are necessary for our daily moral lifeimprovement if Nigerians should develop or forgeahead to challenge other developed countries.However, in this context, Ethics has a lot to dowith limits, values and the inner life of a man, that isexamining thc notions of good, right and obligation tolife, which is broadly a moral enterprise. Nigeriansneed change and reformation in their behaviour pattern,that is a total change of life style because the world isfull of dynamism and innovations.The situation or trend of events in Nigeria haswarranted the writing of this book. Truth or sincerityis dead in our society. People are not dedicated anddevoted to duty. Diligent ways of life is a thing of thepast in Nigeria.In this book, the Ethics of Eternal Truth:Obligation, Duty and Responsibilty and the Nigeriansituation, Rev. Dr. A.U. Agha has addressed theproblems which touches all aspectsof life in the society- Moral Life shown and taught by Christ and proved tomankind.We, therefore, very strongly recommend thistext for scholars, political leaders, Christians and allworkers of life.MR. & MRS JOHN NNACHI OKOROLocal Govt. Education AuthorityAfikpo North, Ebonyi State.

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CONTENTSChapter 1Introduction ... ......uty ... ...Exegesis of the term Duty ...Obligation . . . . . . ...Responsibility ... ...Ethics of Responsibility ...Application in Nigeria TodayReflections and Conclusion ...Chapter I1 Eternal Truth and the Nigerian situationEternal Truth ... ... ... ... 34 - 4 4...he Corresponding Theory of Truth 44.5Jesus Tells the eternal Truth ...... ... 4 5 - 4 8Verification of Truth ... ... ... 4 8 - 5 1The Economy of Eternal Truth : ... 51.6Truth and Falsehood in the NigerianSituation . . . . . . ... ... ... 56.7Rejection of Truth for a Happy life ... 57.1Situational Falsehood and Conclusion ... 6 1 -6 3...ibliography ... ... ... 64- 67

.....ndex ... ... ... 68-83

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Chapter11. INTRODUCTIONWhat is happening in our society? What is happeningin the world today? What are the answers to theevents? These are questions we must ask in this ageof rapid, often chaotic, and frequently destructivechange. Although these questions do not yield anyconclusive answers, yet they are important inrevealing to us our duties, our responsibilities and Ourobligations to our neighbour, to the state and to God.Honestly these questions challenge Our faith in Godin a society where vice is the order of the day. Ours isa developing nation in which collective effort isnecessary for her success. Therefore, the descriptionof the terms-duty obligation and responsibility willlead to self-understanding, guidance and the comingto faith in God.The present essay sets forth to study the terms"Obligation", "Duty" and Responsibility" and theirrelationships. Our task is to investigate the use andmeaning of these terms and to state how the threeterms are ethically related. The understanding of theseterms are fundamentally important to the spirit ofcontemporary Nigerian society and her values. Inmany forms the daily use of these terms havepenetrated every aspect of human experience, often

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with consequences building or constructive tohabitual life-style and thought forms. We will pursuethis study tbough the examination and analysis ofthese terms as they appear in various texts so as tocapture the real meaning of these words as they affectour daily moral life. The christian life and thoughtrepresent no exception to this. A thorough knowledgeof the meaning of these terms becomes imparative insuch society as Ours which is in the midst of greatupheaval and yet matching forviard.2. DUTY

The term Duty is a word commonly used every day. Ithas been defined as conduct due to parents andsuperiors. It means an obligatory tasks, conduct,service, function that arises from one's position.' It isan assigned service or business, a moral or legalobligation-fprce of moral obligation. It is a measure ofefficiency expressed in terms of the amount of workdone in relation to the energy consumed. In itshnctional application, it means charge, responsibility,demand, function. It is synonymous to obligation,task, and responsibility. In a wider sense, duty isessentially implied in every system of morality andevery ethical theory. Yet the notion of duty is far lessprominent and exclusive in some systems of morality1. Websters' New Collegiate Dictionary 1 SO* Anniversary Edition.The G.& C. Merriam Company. 1831-1981.

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than in o thers2 In the Greek ethics the word is a typeof virtue or ejicellknce to be 'attain& Theji~ m i that:. , . &hati's good or t h e happiness, the

health of the soul, i s shown to .l ie ii.1 ' '- . - ,the life of virtue, 'the*perfonn&ce' of' ' ! 'th* 'wb* .Or'funition his.oh

- nature 'adl th e part he has to play in'I . . thegenciral- ife of the*com munitymark '

, a u t f i r him. Td se& h.this life*f virtue"his real happiness or good is miin's.true wisdom, ;whereas th q ,scepticism :\r;picg;sl&'h. it!:brdy ..ib&&*d ..&d.'arestraint imposed for the advantage of* .'. 1

, , . . o~&: i~~h&t ' -$$h ied&lly.3 . ' .. .. , , . . " . ' , ', ., . , . . 'The Atiori bf th ty i&r''id ahorig ih ' i 'a & ci into 'new ~distin&&s &id $iominefi& only when i t 'realiied: itl, obeying,. a . c o ~ r n i c a l ~aw 'of universal ;reai;oh.-nis'$ nbt.6 &i+&-the jinpre&idii fhat theSt&icsaid n&& he,g&niAf k U l a r as'o&ers ha& .

,& & sed a dl-ffe&htmeaningIi n the p ~ l ~ s o p & i ~A. stoicssed tGe term"Duty" to mean two different things: In orie sense itwas used9io efer to zih .action that WAS fitting Orprescribed by natiue 'w~?le ' .n.>thesecond sense, itimplied an actbn 'that w & c ~ n & p u sl y done for this' . .. '

, .. ,. . . - . . .2. James Hastings (ed.) Encyclopadia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. V,New York:Charles Scriner's Sons 1920, fi 1 19.3. .lbid.,Op. it., pp. 119.- 120. - .

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reason by the good or wise m an4 In other words theterm was used to express a distinction betweenabsolute and conditional duty.'Consequently, the notion of duty becameprominent when morality came to be seen primarily inthe light of conformity to the law. In the course oftime christianity that sees morality in the light ofobedience to a law adapted and used the term invarious forms.3. EXERGESISOF THPTERM DUTY

The first use of the term in Old Testamentreferred to it as the duty of everyday requirement 2Chro. 8:14.' Solomon appointed the divisions of thepriests for their duties... "according to each day'srequirement." During the greaf feast it was the duty ofEzra to read and expound the word of God to thepeople. (Ezra 8:18). The psalmist qpds it as hisduty to perform his vow'daily(h.1:8). The Biblemakes the keeping of comrnanQnent the whole dutyof man. It states:Now all has been h a d , Hcne is theconclusion of thematter:F m od and .keep His commandments for this iswhole duty of man. (Ecc 12.13).1. Ibid., Cit Op. P.120.5. E. Zeller's, Stoics Epicurans,and Sceptics. Eng. Tr., London,(1892). pt. ii.Chp. XI, pp. 287 - 290.

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For the fact thatT i scdW to ministry.Paul solemnly c k g e s T i d y before God to knowthat his duty is to discharge all his duties. He says:But you, keep your head in allsituations, e n d m hardship, do thework of an evangelist, discharge,all thedu ties of your ministry (2 Tim. 45 ) .When Pad was arraigned before the Sanhedrin, hecIaimed that he had fulfilled his duty. to God in a11 thegood conscience; thus, .Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrinand said, My brothers, I have fulfilledmy duty to God in all good conscience

to this day. (Act. 23:1).In I Corinthian 7:3, Paul urges the husbands l o fulfilltheir marital duty to their wives and vice-versa.The husbands should fulfill his maritalduty to his wife, and likewise the wifeto her husband. (I Corinth. 73).It is evident that there are duties we owe to otirselvesin the sense that we perform them all; while in themore literal sense there are situations in which a debtor obligation is owed from A to B and this involvestwo parties. J. S. Mill contends that:The only part of the conduct of anyone for which he is amenable tosociety is that which concerns others.

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while in the which v l yconcerns himself, his independenceis, of right a b ~ o l u t e . ~

But this view is in the real sense, contrary to ourmoral judgment which asserts and condemnsextravagance, drunkenness arid idleness in themselveswithout waiting to see their di rectn r indirect harmfulconsequences on other agents other than the personhimself. Secondly it assumes discriminiition betweeninjury to self and injury to others. We have whatmight be described as immanent and transit &uties. Inthe former we practice the duty of temperance byourselves while in the later we practice the duty ofspeaking the truth only in relation to others. This latertype of duty can further ,be (classified) divided intothose that are general e.g. Keeping-promise, honesty,and those that depend on some more specificrelationship or institution e.g. Parental or filial duty-family. Other types of duties include: strict, perfectand imperfect. The fulfilment of Duty therefqre takesboth horizontal and vertical dimensions.

6 . Liberly, People's ed., 1865. p. 6 in encyclopadia of religion andEthics, Vol. V . p. 122

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-Vertical Duty to GodVertical Duty to God God's Duty to Man

The most important factor in the internal over-all development of modem ~ i ~ e r i $ s o c i e t ~as beenthe national conscious-ness forcefully expressingitself in political activity. The achievement of bothpolitical and economic stability solely depends oneach person performing his moral and political duties.For it is the duty of the Nigerian leaders to remove the"moral and intellectual rust,"' which had accumulatedon the principle of unguided disciplined freedom overthe past years. Our duty to the Nation must be seen asour obligation. This consuming loyalty to the Nationimpresses others of our genuineness 'to bring socialand moral changes to the Nation. . -3, OBLIGATIONThe word obligation is derived from the latin7. Roland W. Social Ethics in Modern Hinduism. Calcutta: Y M C A.Publishing House. 1953. p. 73

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word OMi' which means bound to some rule ornorm, It is the action of obligating aneself to a courseof action. It is the demand of conscienceor custom, inwhich one is bound to do or forbear something -social pressure, lawI conscience. It means duty - acondition or feeling of bei g indepted especiallylegally, ethically or socially. ? is not unusual for oneto feel a sense of the personality being bound by thatwhich may have no external authority to enforce it.The term has both moral and legal implications. In thelegal aspect, it involves some external coercion whilein moral aspect, it assumes an inner compulsion, the'oughbessS, the inner voice that says "I Must".However, in practical life it is not easy to separate theinner compulsion from the sense of the externalcoercion.In the African context it is shaped andsustained in an increasingly elaborate system of'taboos' (tabus) which form a connection between theexternal and internal powers. Obligation impliescompulsion, debt, duty, gooddeed, liability, necessity,promise, undertaking and biding.EXERGESIS OF THE TERM : BIBLICALCONTEXT

When the Jews were rebuilding the Temple inJerusalem following the permission granted them byking Cyrus, Rehum, the governor and Slwshai, theenemies of the Jews wrote to King Artaxerxes(Xerxes) of Persia to stop the rebuilding work. In their

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.etter they claimed that being his subje+, they weremder ob lig at im ~to is Majesty. They said.Now, %muse we are under obligationto Your Majesty, we do not want tosee his ha pp n, and sa we suggest thatyou order a search to be made in therecords your ancestoqs kep t If you do,you will discover that this city hasalways been rebellibus and that fromancient times it has given trouble tokings and to ruIers of the provinces...(Ezra 4! 14-15).

St. Paul desires that christians should live a life in thespirit. He posits that it is ,the obligation of christiansto put to death their sinfiil actions through the powerof the spirit so that they might live (Rom. 8:12). Inanother place Paul claimed that it is his obligation towin converts to God irrespective of nationality orstatus in life, for he said:

For I have an obligation to all peoples,to the civilized and to the savage, tothe educated and to the ignorant. Sothen, I am eager to preach the GoodNews to you also who live in Rome.(Row. 1: 14-15).

While in Galatia, Paul urged them not to give in forcircumcision for the fact that they have been set free

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. - . . . . . .;J . .by ~ h r k t ,rid thkrefore t h i i shbuld~b&ive hke freepeople. He reminded 'them that thbse who aObwthemselves to b e circum&sed & a l& ... blig&d. r to obeythe whole Jewish law. And ,hthosq o f then' who tryto be put with God by obji@'tht la(; I I.have cutthemseh& off from Chtist.(a.': 3,. 4).. , i : : b . p' ,Chrktenjoins sll,chrlibii ta,,.!, d & t, . .v it istheir o'bligation to f q i v e their *ies, ,not only"seven times, but until &venty ti- s+ny,:j~tt.. 18- 22). It is only those who w i t h ei r ,d d ftq forgiveall who &g them will in turn receive','$&jivenessfrom God. The injunction impties that people arebound to an unqtinted and ~mcalculatingorgiveness.God s loving kindness obliges m& to seek.'first:hekinidom. o f Heaven (MI& 6:33) arid::'& t ~ e i S a r n kreason ; ,man . .has :the obligation ' io , a , .cheerfulacce&mceof. . . . : 'Ood s will. (Mitt.. 7:11].. . . ::. . , : .

. .4 RESPONS~BILIT* .The term responsibility is "of rda&ely &entorigin and has taken a new meaning in our age.According to H. ~ i c h a r d i e b u h r ,here was a timewhen the word meant "C~rres~ondent ."~ne could

say "The mouth large but not responsible to so large abody."9 The word is not the only child of the motherfor it came into a family 'where there .were older. .. ,. ; - . .

I i8. 1-1. ~ ~ c h a i di ebuhr . he ~e&onsible~ c t ~ . ' : ~ e k ' ~ o r k : ' ~ a ~ k r s t o w n .' San Francisco. 1,ondon:Harper 811dR13uPublish'kis: 1963.'~.71'

9 Ihid.

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11\

siblings like the words duty, obligation, law,goodness, and morality. Niebuhr posits that every freehuman being has:The will to pleasure, the will to live,the will to power, the will toself-fulfilment, the will to love andto be loved, the will to death and manyother hormetic drive may be posited asmost natural to man, whether as mostcompulsive or as setting before himthe most attractive. future state o faffairs. O

Responsibility is the quality or state of beingmsw erable for all acts of thought and conduct. It- is astate of being responsible-as a moral, legal or mentalaccountab i l i ty . I t me .ans . re l iJabi l i ty andtrustworthiness. Christim-responsibility iSanswerableto the teachings of Jesus a i k civil responsibility isbeing answerable to the civi.1 or state laws. The wordor Term is synonymous to the terms: duty, attributioncommission, operation or supervision. Twosignificant elements have to be taken into accountbefore we proceed. First and foremost responsibilityrelates closely to freedom of choice and the object towhich it is answerable; and 3 human responsibility to' further matters require elucidation; the extended

10. Ibid., p. 50

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conscience as the authority which imposesordinance^.'^^ Jesus did not reject for'the most part,the Jewish culture of responsibility which wasessentially answerableness to God. It will be the dutyof every individual to give an account of himself onthe last day (Matt. 1236).Therefore every man has theobligation to pursue perfection in order to be withGod in heaven (Matt. 548). We owe duties to ourneighbours, love to our enemies, almsgiving to thepoor, food to the hungry, water to the thirsty andclothing to the naked according to Christ's injunction.As we fulfil these duties to our neighbours we dothem even to God.BIBLICAL USE OF THE WORD

When the people of Israel were in thewilderness during their journey to the promised land,the Levites were given the responsibility of protectingthe tabernacle. So they f o r m 4 a protective hedgeagainst trespassing by the non-Levites to keep themfrom experiencing the wrath of God. The ~ i b l etates:The Levites, however, are to set uptheir tents around the tabernacle of theTestimony so that wrath will not fall

on the Israelite community. The

12. James Hastings (ed.) Encyclopadia of Religion and Ethics, Val. X.New York: Charles seribner's Sons, 1920. pp. 439 - 40.I ?

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Levites are to be responsible for thecare of the tabernacle of theTesdmony. (Nun. 1 :53 (NIV).

In the New Testament Jesus enlarged man s sphere ofresponsibility and increased the feeling of it. Theneighbour is not only the man of our own nation, butit indudes any person whom circumstance gives usthe opportunity o f assisting (Lk. 10:25-27).The story of the Good Samaritan defied allartificial barries through which people seek to limittheir obligations to their neighbour. A new set ofobligations to hospitality are laid upon every christianby Jesus (LK. 14:14). He urges us to include in ourfriendship all men, friends, the poor and Our foesalike and even those who persecute and those whodespite fully use us (Matt. 544).Therefore Christ haslaid on all christians an extensive field ofresponsibility to the despair of the moralists.Responsibility does not only mean theoutward act but it includes inner thought. A man isheld answerable not only for murder but also forangry thought from which murder issues. (Matt. 522).We are held responsible not only for licentious deed,but also for unholy imagination. In fact, for theobligation to be moral, it must be an obligation thatpreserves the heart in purity and love because "out ofthe heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery. sexualimmorality. theft, false testimony slander.(Matt.1519).

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St. Paul was aware of his duty to minister theword of God first to the Jews. He did not hesitate todo that until the 'Jews questioned his authority to dcso. Then lie shook out his clothes in protest and saidto them: "Your blood be o n your ow n head! I am clearof my responsibility. From now on I will go to theGentiles." (Acts. 18:6).Paul enjoins every christian to realize that in aspiritual sense he belongs to C hrist and because o f hisallegiance to Christ he has it as a duty not to oppressthe underprivileged in the society.(I Cor. 7:24Cf. Eph. 6 : 5 , 9 ;Col. 3:22; 4: 1).5 VTHICS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Jesus constantly rebuked the Pharisees fortheir Legalism, that is , their tendency tooveremphasize external observance of the Law at theprice of forgetting the fundamental inner attitude olseeking always to do God s will. The danger oflegalism is not a thing of the past. it is present todayamong some Nigerian Christians. Some churchleaders do not even wadt to have anything inCom mon with other denom inations.Moral Responsibility dem ands that we avoid alegalistic attitude. I do not need to rem ind you that a11morality is about love of God and love of nei$;hbour.Jesus loved us as the Father loved him, therefme, wehave to live on in his love by keeping hiscommandments of loving one-a no the r as he loved us.

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(Jn. 15:12).Ethics of Responsibility is the theocentricethics in which the self and community are dominatedby the action of God-God is the center of action andattention. It involves the following dictum:Unrelenting faith in God;An active concern for the other-self - andwillingness to serve others - community andNation.It involves doing more than expected(Forgiveness) uncalculating forgiveness.Willingness to suffer for the sake of others,ever. the enemies.Prayer and good works done in a spirit ofhumility.It denotes a putting o f f Of the world's goodsin Perspective, using them, not becoming theirslave.

Responsibility is an ethics of faith which is the modeof life that issues mainly out of faith in God, given inand through Jesus Christ.It is an ethics of freedom- reedom from andfreedom to. When faith in God predominates, the selfis free from concern for itself and is able to acceptitself a s a forgiven self. The self is free from bondageof cultural values. At that point our entire valuesystem changes because God is our new centre andwe are related to Him. The self is also free from its

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bondage to the law. Our whole comprehension of thelaw is transformed because we are related to JesusChrist who kept the entire law for man. Responsibilitythen means freedom to love other people and freedomto deal creatively with the personal and socialsituations we encounter and are adequately able todeal with the situation.Ethics of Responsibility regards man as onewho is deeply involved in dialogue with another andwho tries to make fitting response to the address ofthe others' action upon him. It desires us to knowwhat is going on or happening and the properresponse to make. According to H. Richard Niebuhr ''the responsible self wants to know what is going onand what will be the most proper response to make. Itis fundamentally ethics of social character in whichself is understood as existing primarily in relation toother selves,

PEOPLE IN DIALOGUE

13. H . Richard Niebuhr, The Responsible Self. New York: Harper andRow. Publishen. (1968).pp. 55 - 68.

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Neibuhr has four characteristics of theResponsible Self:1. He maintains that persona1 action is aresponsive action which is like the action ofone who answers and responds to another.2 . It is a reaction to action, but i t must be aresponse to an interpreted action. This occursin accordance with the self interpretation of

the deed and the paw er to which it reacts.3 It involves accom tab ility .W e are accountablcto whatever responses we make or the actionwe take. Our deeds are responsible not onlyinsofar as they are reactions to the interpreted

actions that affect us. but also insofar as theyare made in anticipation of answers to ouranswers.We must point out here that our responses toactions upon us differ significantly simply because

our interpretations vary and also for the fact that thetime spans into which we fit our actions changedramatically.4. It dem onstrates social solidarity. Niebuhr, likeRoyce, Buber, and George Her-ben Mead, postulatesthat there is no sclfhood a part from the community.The self is not an island, but a social being who isdependent upon the faith response of others in thecommunity in order to form a reliable sense ofidentity. Niebuhr asserts that the self is hardly alone

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as a knower. valuer, initiator or responder.Thu s the self ushers into the present its socialpast and is challenged to act in the fu ture in a way thatis fitting. However, what a person may consider asfitting or unfitting response to an action dependmainly upon his understanding of its historicalcontext. In whatever situation he finds himself,response must be a total trust in God and universalresponsibility.

Duty Oblr(lsllonlResponslbili~ o

Jesus Christ brings to expression the true wqof life for man, and especially the Nigerians at thistime. He is the responsible man par excellence,responding in love and trust to his Father and bringingthe universal love o f his Father to bear upon all men.

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Universal Love of God through Christ.

Chris t fulf i l led His Duty, Obligat ion andResponsibility to man His Universal Love.6 APPLICATION IN NIGERIA TODAYGod made -man a social animal, and in sodoing He sanctions the formation of the State as thenecessary means of regulating man s social life andgives the state the authority for the fulfilment of thispurpose. Therefore, in the natural order the State isthe institution entrusted w ith the task of framing civillaws as the positive laws needed to supplement thenatural law. The civil law applies the natural law tohuman society. Moral obligation is implied in the

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civil law.In a developing nation like Nigeria it becom es

imperative for the citizens to conform their conduct tothe norms of morality which includes man s socialrelations to his fellow man. We are obliged to beobedient to the civil law which is indispensable to ourlife in the society. Human society, unlike the animalkingdom, must he guided by law.

The destruction of the state is inevitably byany acts of disobedience either collectively or byindividual citizens. It is the individuals that make upthe group, therefore, both the individual and the-group are obliged to be responsible to the state law.I4No one citizen has better right to disobey thananother, it is a case of all or none. It is not anoverstatement to say that as citizens we must beunited into one body demanding cooperative actionaimed at building the Nation, each contributing to thecommon good and that can only be achieved bykeeping the law.

The most peculiar question people ask in ourNigerian society is not "what is the Law " o r 'what isthe objective" but "what is happening and what is themost appropriate response to what is happening. The

14. Fagothey. p. 200

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prophets of Israel eg. Isaiah -were interested to knowthe intentions of God about what was going on. Likethe lsraelites who were worried about the drought, theenemy invasion, the fall of their great nation, theresponsible citizens in Nigeria should be concernedwith what is happening to our economy, collapse ofmorality, education and civil administration. It shouldbe the responsibility of the Nigerians to seek andunderstand the action of God in everything that ishappening and to make every effort to find thesolution through making fitting responses. Even Jesuswho points us to God was mainly concerned not withthe law but with what happens to man and he gave afitting response to the situation. It was his concern forhumanity that he came into the World. He fulfilled hisduty or responsibility by dying for man. This shouldoffer every christian an absolutely new way ofunderstanding our responsibility towards therebuilding of our country a Nigeria.

In Nigerian situation som e medical doctors donot keep up with the latest developments in medicinethereby causing patient S death certainly as if he hadneglected him. His moral responsibility is questioned.The drivers of Luxurious buses, Tracas, Publictransport drivers are blamed for not exercising duecare and for being irresponsible as well as rude in thesense of Traffic Code.

While we are aware that we are all human and

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make mistakes, it is nevertheless the duty every moralearnest man to make himself as wise and wellinformed as possible. All persons w ho drive a car onthe highway, or manages an enterprise which isclosely related to the welfare of other persons oweresponsibilities to the public.

If a man professes some special knowledge o rskill and, upon the basis of his claims, offers a serviceto society, those who accept the service assumeordinary care and diligence. If such a person showsgross neglect leading to injury, the courts have a dutyto support a claim against him. Those who employ theservices of people have the moral responsibility toremunerate them adequately according to their ou t putand not to intimidate them by threatening theirdismissal from the job for asking legally for theirrights. Those who maintain services or employagencies that may get out of order or do damage orescape, as in the case of animals, are expected toexercise care in keeping them within proper bounds.It is only on this basis can men go about their affairsin society without constant fear and worry andwithout danger to general security.

Those who offer such services to the publichave definite obligation, including willingness toserve all persons sincerely, equally and to beresponsible for safe delivery. Even little children areheld responsible for their acts, in proportion to their

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age and experience, especially when they can clearljgrasp the significance of a given act and it5wrongfulness, or rightfulness. They are heldaccountable. All we are trying to communicate to OUIreaders is that our system of reward and punishment,approval or disapproval, praise and balme shouldassume freedom and responsibility. Our responsibilityincreases with the growth of intelligence and one isheld liable in order to make one's future conductchange. It would be absurd to hold a coconut or anorange responsible when it falls from the tree andinjures a person or to blame falling tree which crushesa passer-by. These are inanimate objects that do notinteract with conditions about them as to learn, so asto modifl their attitudes and disposition^.'^7 REFLECTIONSRelationships: A careful study of our essay will showthat a cursory view of these three related terms isinstructive in understanding man's constructive moralduties. A few conclusions have issued from our study.(a) It is concluded that the use of each term reflectedto man's moral responsibilities. (b) There is the rightand wrong application of the the terms. (c) Theseterms (words) are equally related to morality and legalnorms.15. J . Dewey, and J. H.Tufts, Ethics. (Rev. Ed . ) New York: Henry Holtand co., 1932, p. 337.

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Obligation may be regarded as a divineimplanting in the human soul because it ascribes acertain absolute and fixed character that often endedin an unreal and static morality. Through religion andphilosophical history and reflectionhe have come torealize the fact that all codes are, in part at least,subject to constant change according as social,economic and political conditions change.

The three terms can hardly be dissected orseparated in their ethical, religious and legal use.They are inter-related.

We have also come to the conclusion thatResponsibility can either be perfect or imperfect. I t isperfect when an agent has full control and freedom ofchoice and full consent. It is imperfect responsibilityif there is something wanting in the person sknowledge. If either the knowledge or free choice waswholly lacking, so that there was no voluntariness at

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1 all, then it i s imperfect responsibtlity. If a person lacks! knowledge. while he is capabfe of it, he may not have! the obligation to have such knowledge. A duty willreceive perfect execution if one knew exactly whatone was supposed to do. That is one has fullknowledge of one s obligation.

ETHICAL VALU ES IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP~ i g u s t i n agothey contends that "Responsibleindividual is one who is consciously and hlly incontrol of his will. It is only on this ground can his actbe regarded as human act (actus h u m a n u s ) ' ~ n d anhe be held responsible for his act. But if a man is not

I the master of his act because he did not consciouslycontrol it, that act is not human act but "an act of aman" (actus hominis. Therefore the man will not beactively held responsible The acts we did in infancy,while asleep, delirium, insanity, or fits of abstractionare some examples, and they have no ethical values."Accordingly an agent is responsible, answerable,accountable for his act, and responsibility for a badact is called 'guilt . I 8 ~ ~ ~aintains that"Responsibility arid imputability are the consequenceof voluntariness, the essential constituent of a humanact, an act in-which man is master.'"

16 Fagothtv, 1). 7517. Ihid:18. [hid.. p . 1x7.19. 1 1 4 . . p. 1x7.

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~eeither from God through 'natu~w men politically organized ' in.. . I . ,.' .

One might like to pose the question. What isthis oughtness, or obliyation. or duty and how does itobtain its binding power? This is an importantquestion in ethics whose significance is evident. Insome cases we impose the oughtness, or obligation orduty on ourselves and in other cases it is imposed onus from the outside. When the later is the case, it mustcom ral law or fromfello to the state orgroup ~ivlng na in eacn case we reel a sense of dutyor obl igat i~n .~ 'mmanuel Kant argues that "the moralpositivists draw all moral oblieation from the state.thus makinequivalent,"idea of duty

Duty has been aennea as a moral omiyatlon orksponsibility to do or not to do something. Duty canbe taken subjectively or objectively. The former is themoral obligation to do or omit something while thelater is the moral obligation of that which must be'done or omitted. We can say "He has a duty"peaning that thek ,erson is morally obliged, and "Hedoes his duty" w& means that he does the thing heis obliged to do. According to Fagothey subjectiveand objective duty agrees with subjective and

"ig the moral law and the civil law2' and he centers his ethical system'on the

.- - .20.. Ihid.. p. 170.21. l&anual Rant, Foudationsoflhc Metaphysics?f Moral iqL.W.,Beck. Chictigo: llnivenity of Chicago Prean. 1949. S w h n 1.

. .

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objective right.* Therefore, one can conclude thatright is limited by duty. A person Can only exercisehis duty up to the point where his duty to otherssupercedes his right. Any right that injures otherrights ceases to be an objective right. So does duty.Parents, for instance have the moral duty or obligationto their children's training and obedience, but not intheir choice of a state of life. The child, in this casehas the inherent right to choose his state of life.

Fagothey contends that right and duties arem l a t i v e and complementary as a result of the factthat of moral inviolability of a right.23 f I have a right,everyone else had a duty to respect my right, in thatcase the term of a right becomes the subject of a duty.Fagothey posits that:

If I have a duty, someone else has aright to the the thing I must do or omit;If no other man appears to have such aright, then at least God has it, as in myduty to preserve my life. If I have aduty, I have also the right to fulfill thatduty mddo all the things necessary forits fhlfilment; otherwise it could not bea genuine d~ty .2~

Fagothy. p. 256.$1 Fagothey, p. 25724. Ibid.Cit.Op. P. 257.

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On the other hand if I have a right, it is not necessarilya duty to exercise that right. It is not possible for anyone to exercise all his rights, rather he must have tochoose between the incompatible and compatible, forinstance a right to stand and a right to sit.

All duties are moral obligations which comefrom the law. A part from the fact that dutiesd eclassified into natural or positive, divine or human,ecclesiastical or civil, yet the most significantclassification is the affirmative ,and negative.Affirmative duties stem from affirmative laws -(commands) which in turn require consumationof anact. Negative duties come as a result of negative laws(e.g. prohibition) which require the differencebetween the affirmative and the negative duties is thatthey impose a different type of obligation.EXECUTION OF' RIGHTS AND DUTIES

It is not unusual to find a situation in whichone man has moral power to execute a thing andanother has moral power to stop his fulfilling it. Insome cases a person may have two incompatibleduties to discharge for two separate individuals at thesame time, or the same man has a duty to one personto execute a thing and also a duty to another person torefiain from executing it. However, this idea ofconflict between rights and duties can hardly be overemphasized since there can be no real conflict of

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rights and duties. All duties and rights come from lawand all law is taken from the

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In that we prefer death to committing the offence.(b) A person can be excused from an AfErmativeduty which stems from the Natural law, as a result' ofthe excessive pains. The duty could be postponed fora more favourable opportunities when the hardshipwill not be present the omission of an act of worshipmust not be regarded as a denial of God.(c) One can be excused from a duty arising fromhuman positive law, whether afirmaIive'^or negqivebecause of the excessive hazards-Wghts of a child%sed on dutids to parents. Such law$ are not meant tobe a hindrancebut to help human exjstence.CONCLUSlONAll through Our essay we have shown in differentways how the three terms are closely related -ethically and legally. One can hardly claim to be aresponsible individual withkyt filfilling one s civilduties. Both the individual ahd corporate bodies oweboth ethical and legal obligations to the increasinscomplexity of the Nigerian society. This brings us towhat we might call corporate duty and responsibilitywhich ha's become a modem problem to our society.The failure of corporations and business organizationsto fulfil their obligations to the community in whichthey have established their business and to theirworkers has resulted to unbalanced development andhardships to the workers. It has also made possible

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great concentration of wealth and power on the fewhands while the masses suffer. Their refusal tcemploy more hands has contributed in no shallmeasure to heighten the problem of unemployment.

There are now numerous bandits who pressthe aut~matic istol to acquire quick wealth in oursociety. The lack of complying to corporateresponsibilities lead to committing group crimes andwhen this happens where to place responsibility andhow to distribute blame becomes a problem. Do norlet our brief discussion lead you into thinking that tticissue we have raised is a simple one. The constantincrease of price of commodities in the market comefrom these corporate bodies and big businessorganizations. Every effort should be made to allocateblame in order to hold the Officials responsible eitherindividually or collectiveIy for their unethical andillegal actions.

The problem of making people in our society torecognize their civic, ethical and legal responsibilitiesis continuos Progressive problem today. This can onlyhe brought to a halt when people act well their part tomaintain their honour and human dignity.\

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ENDNOTES1. Websters' New Colleeiate Dictionarv 150'Amiversary Edition, The G & C. MerriamCompany, 183 1 1981.2. James Hastings (ed.) Encvclo-pedia of Reli-

and. Ethics Vol. V, New York: CharlesScribner's Sons, 19 p. 119.3. Ibid., Op. Cit. pp. 1'19-120.d. Ibid. Op. Cit., p, 120.5 . E. Zeller's, Stoics. E~icureans. d ceptics,(Enq, tr.) hndon:(1892), pt. ii, Chp. Xi, pp.287-290.6. "Liberty, People'sWed.,1865, p.6 in Encyclopediaof and Ethics, ~ o l ., p. 122.7. Roland W. Scott, Social Ethics in ModernHinduism. Calcutta: YM.C.A. PuhlishingHouse, 1953, p. 73'.8. H. Richard Miehuhr, 'T'he'Restmnsible Self.New York, Hagerstown, San Francisco,London: Harper and Row Publishers, 1963, p.

47f,

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Chapter28 In our primary schdol days, we memorized allMathematical rules onl;r to realize later that the pursuitof knowledge, the recognition of truth and the wisdomof life is totally outside these well ordered rules. Andyet we can hardly ,ride forth on our quest of t ru thwithout considering in advance what we are lookingfor, and how we propose to seek it, and how we shallknow that we have Nchieved our objective We mightjoin Socrates to pose the question as to whethgr it ispossible for the humari to discover any universal truth 'The cultural differences between various races andpeoples have made the question to defy every possibleanswer to it so that the question about truth has becomedeeply implicated with the problem of goodness. Thegood must be done and the evil avoided is like sayitlgthe truth must be spoken and falsehood avoided. Butbow are these related to thew ord "Truth?' The sophistwere skeptical about the possibility of attaining myabsolute truth by which the society will have to orderits life. This skepticism came from making knowledge

1 . San~ue l noch Stnmpl: Socratcs to Sartre. A History of Philosophy.Ye\\ I'ark. St. L.ouis. San Francisco, London:McCmw-Hill BookCompany. 19GO. p. 32.

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to be a relative matter The purpose of this paper is torevisit the ethics of eternal truth which Jesus referred towhen He told Pilate that He came into the world tospeak about the truth (Jn 18 37") and perhaps be able todraw the attention of our readers to re examine theimpofi of ruthfblness and how it is applied in theirvarious situations. Our purpose here is to show thattruth is dynamic. W e want to examine the economy andthe ethics of the word 'Truth and how it could beused logically. Various theological and philosophicalaspects of the word will be briefly elucidated But as aresult of want of space in this type of paper, we will notclaim to have been comprehensive

We will be carefid not to Join the queue ofscholars who have constantly fallen into the error ofover-simplification of the 'Word 'Truth. The mysticsclaim that the truth that comes to them proves to be aforce that they can live b y . W e have no mandate to -doubt their claim Just because we have not had theexperience for they may be speaking the 'truth. Ourconscience usually assure u s of certain states o f facts,but the mystical experiences are said to be directperceptions of facts for those who have them as anysensations ever were for u s

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What is Truth?What did Jesus mean when He said: " .. I cameinto the world to testitjl to the truth. Every one on theside of truth listens to me?" (Jn. I 8 : U ) . Here the verytruth was affirming his testimony of the truth. Thisreminds us of what the Roman Viceroy - the RomanPilate, who shamelessly mishandled the word "Truth"but enriched the New Testament and the World byasking the important question "What is truth?" AnatoleFrance considers this to be the profoundest qrrestionever posed.' ,

The word 'Truth' has been defined as theconformity to fact or reality or the agreement betweenones thought and the objective condition.' It is ajudgement or proposition which has no .falsity6 astatement that is in accord involves with reality or fact.Truth is fidelity or constancy. However, this invoilvesthe intention and the responsibihty of the person.Truthfulness implies keeping ones agreements, statedor implied until they cease to be valid agreements. It isnot impossible for a truthful man t o say what is untrueor false, and the liar may speak the truth because he ismistaken.

4. J .J . Brousson. "Analole France rn Piin~oullrs."On Litb and Lcnelx.First Scrics. Pnris; 1324: p. X\. Harold H . Titus. IMic For Todnv.New York: merican Bookcompany. 1957, p. 265.6 . Wzhslcr New Co llegii~lrDictiona~v150Ihh i v e w a n ) Ed.SprinJ ic ld . \ 4 ns s a ~h i1 wnz: Xr C \ lcn.i ;~ncorniipn!; 198 1

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However, there are sages who quip that there isnothing which is intrinsically true of intricically untrueTruth and falsehood are not built in, essential,unchangeable, qualities of anything, it is only a thingwhich happens to actions in different situationsBonhoeffer quiped that "truth telling, contrary to whatwe often think, doknot mean correspondence betweenwhat we say and what actually happened 'Every wordI utter he says, is subject to the requirement that itshall be true.""e must not overlook the relationalcharacter of truth. While the factual account of truthcould not be avoided, we must not fall into the error ofbeing literatist. Truth is only the description of things indifferent circumstances, it is not a property by apredicate. There may be statements that might be trueto me today in my own situation but it may not be trueto another person in a different situation. This is not aneternal truth. Yet there are those who posit that Truth isas absolute as love is. It was once held for instance, thatthe World is round but today the truth has changed.

Therefore, we might attempt to answer Pilate squestion by saying that truth is "What you taste, touch,smell, hear or see."RBut Plato who strongly objected tothis claim, opined that "if this is 'truth , there is no

7. Didrich BonhncHi-r. "What Is Meant hy Telling thc T~uth'"!nEthics, p. 365.X. Will G rant, ~ h l i n w i o n s f Philosophy. Nc'w I'ork: Simon andSshoster. 1929. p. 26 .

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'truth for we all taste, smell, hear, touch and seethings differently."' For Plato, reason was the test oftruth. Aristotle was in agreement with Plato. For himnothing could be considered true unless it is made to bethe conclusion of a perfect Syllogism, Sage Pyrrhoopposed Aristotle s proposition and concluded thatnothing is certain, Pyrrho himself w is in error inconcluding that nothing is certain. If he was correct inhis assertion then, we shall join his students in theirrefusal to mourn his death, for we are not sure that hewas dead. For if nothing is true then, the claim that heis dead is not true, It is not even true to say that he everexisted.

The School men in their age argued that truth isthe adequate correspondence of thought to things,thereby exalting reason.I0 deas, they say, were greaterrealities than and sights, for things of the flesh had theirbeginning and ceased to exist, but class-ideas weredeathless,, existing before, and in, and after those thingsfrodwhich they originated. Man was more real thanman and beauty more real than any rose. Man is theminister and interpreter of nature. Hc understands thetruth of his observation of the nature, and beyond whathe can, and he knows very little about the truth exceptto conjecture. Kant, Hegel and Bacon riddled the senseswith doubts and upheld the claims of human reasons as9. Ihid.10. Durranl. p.27

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the arbiter of all sense reports. On the other handHobbes and Locke and Mill Scorned as senseless areason that would seek the truths beyond the reach ofthe sense of sight, touch, taste, smell and sound."

Kant quiped that Mathematics was clearlyindependent of any sensation and truth a priori.According to him, the square of five (5' ) would betwenty-five)2S) no matter what the senses might say.Yet Mill objects to Kant's claim. On his part sageWhitehead made a significant contribution to thecomprehension of the word "truth" when he definedtruth as:

A form of words is true when it has acertain re l~ tio no a certain fact. Whatrelation to what fact? I think thefundamental relation is this: a form ofwords when he finds himself in anenvironment which contains featuresthat are the meanings of those words,and these features produce reactions inhim sufficiently strong for him to usewords which mean thern.I2

The author has clearly stated the meaning of truth in

I I . Ibid., p. 2812. A.N. Whitehead, Scienceand Modern World New York: Philosophy,1926,p. 262

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terms that even the business man, would understand.Truth is efficacious.John Dewey, in his book, "Democracy andEducation" contends that, "The conception of mind asa purely isolated possession of the self is at the veryantipodes of the t r ~ t h . " ' ~or him what is taken forknowledge - for fact and truth -'at a given time may not

be such in the course of time. The Sophists differ intheir conception of truth from the Pragmatists. TheSophists not only maintain that the senses are test oftruth, but they also contend that "Truth" is consistentsensation. v e t sensation can hardly be excluded fiomall that we learn from the instruments with which weenlarge and develop our sense. This means that truthbeing relative, it must always be one-sided andprecarious. There are various persons in the World andtheir senses and therefore their ''truths'' will not alwaysagree with ours. Durant holds that:Where more than one of us isconcerned, truth must be sociallyconsistent sensations; and when morethan one moment of time is concerned,it must be permanently consistentsensation. Reality is a dome of many -

13. John Dewey, Democracv and Education. Ne w York, London: CollierMacrnillan Publishers 1944, p. 295.14. Durant. p. 30

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colored glass - each of us sees adifferent combination ofcotours in theKaleidoscope. Perhaps truth is only thecommon denomina t ion o f ourdelusions, and certainly is an error inwhich all men agree.I5From the above it is easy to realize that the

definition of the word 'Truth' has been a subject ofdispute among scholars. Philip Phenix (1958) definedtruth as "know1edgewhich is confirmed by validationpr~cedure . " '~According to P.C. Okafor,I7 in theapproach of Phenix, there seem not to be any oneyardstick for measuring truth. We agree that it is noteasy to find "truth".

That not withstanding there are various criteriaof truth according to different fields of human pursuit.In any case, an item ofknowledge is regarded as 'truth'if and only if it agrees with the generally acceptedconcepts within the given system. It is our thesis thattruth is dynamic because it changeswith time' for in atheorem in geometry will depend mainly on itsconsistency with the axioms of the particular systembeing applied. In his Metaphysics, Aristotle postulates15. Ibid. p. 3 116. he nix Philip H . ~hilosophv f Ed. New York: Holt, Rinehart and

' Winston. 1958, p. 313.17. Festus C. ~kttfor. blosonhy of Educationand Third WorldPerspective Enugu: R ~ n s w i c k ublishing Company, 1992, p. 1164.

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12that "truth consists in affirming of being, thatit is, and non-being, that it is not."

Criteria of Truth and Levels o f TruthThere are various levels of truth which include:

Immanent Truth- his type o f truth is inherent andabiding.Transcendent Truth - This involves provenempirical data. The immanent truth is the theory oftruth that is always true.It is evident that 2 + 2 = 4 and this is an abiding truththat does not need any disputation. However, the truththat 2 + 2 = 4 can only change when the rnathematkalsign changes from plus to minus (2 - 2 ='0) sign.The Ontological truth: This occurs when truth isexamined in the abstract as the conformity between thething and its mental type.Temporary Truth: There are truths that are shortlived. If we say that Ada is a student in theDepartment of Sociology at Nsukka this year 1995, I tdoes not mean that Ada will ever be a studentthroughout the rest of her life. It is also not unlikely thatAda could change her course before she graduates. Thefact that A da is a student this pear is a t ru e statement.

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\IThe statement can only be true as long as Adacontinues to study as a student. Temporary truthchanges with time and season.~klational ruth: This is the truth that emerges at theend of reasoning. It is also called logical truth. It ismore correct to say that it emerges out of judgement.This is more so because in reasoning, we search for xnew knowledge or new truth in agreement with theknowledge already in existence. The truth is knownwhen judgement .ls made .and reasoning stops.

Ldgical Truth: Truth can be said to be logical underany circumstance. If for example, you were askedwhether Uka is aman, and in reality Uka is a man, ndyou affirm that Uka is a man, then your affirmation isa truth and logical too, because, no matter the situationand circumstance, Uka is a man. That truth isirrevocable. But on the other hand ifyouwere asked tostate whether the name Uka'applied to male or femaleand you stated that the name Uka was the name of aman, the statement may be true according to the systemof name giving in that particular area. But the samestatement may be untrue in another locality where thename Uka could be applied to either male or female.The Statement will become untrue because it does notcorrespond to, oragreewith the external reality- hecorrespondence theory.

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The CorrespondenceTheory ofTmtb:'"Aristotle was he father of what is now calledthe "Correspondence Theory of Truth'. He assertedthatWhat is, that it is, and what is not, that it is not."'9 Fromall indications, the concept of truth involving theviewof correspondence seems o show that truth is in someway relational. To conclude, therefore, that somethingis true is to say that it fits that claim that it correspondsto what is the case, and fitting and corresjhnding seemto be relations.

However, Austin and Frege object- to therelational concept, because, according to Frege, it iscontradicted by the use of the word "true," which heclaims, is not a relational word and contains noreference to anything else to which something mustcorrespond.20In any event, it is pertinent to observe that if truth wasa relational property of this kind, itwould mean hat itstood in a given relation to a given object, and to saythat was not true would tantamount to denying that it

18. Komer, p. 10119. Vide Supra, p.67 seq.20. Gottlob hge. "The Thoughtw n P.F. Sua wm e 4 PhRosphkdLogic. Oxford: O.U.P. 1967. p. 18. Also J.L. Austin, "Truth" inProddings Of The Aristotelian Society, Suppltmentafy Vol. 24,1950, reprinted in J.L Austin, PhilosophidPlpas.Oxford,O.U.P.1970 p. 120. and in Pitcher. Vide Infm p.31

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stood in that relation to that object. if the statement"Kalu sighed" is true, it would, on this concept, fit, orotherwise be related to, the fact that Kalu sighed.

Logically, the correspondence Theory must berejected if it implies that saying that something is truemeant saying that some relation holds between it andthe object. But otherwise the theory holds true . Inreality if Uka says that the door was unlocked and thedoor was in reality unlocked and then, what Uka saidwas truth.10 JESUS TELLS THE ETERNAL TRUTH

The golden rule requires that we should speakthe truth in love (Eph.4:15) and fear of God as wewould like others to speak to us. It was St. Augustinewho exclaimed in his book titled "Confessions" VII: 15,"I have met many who wished to be deceived." Truth issynonymous to the character of Jesus Christ. He spokethe eternal truth when he said that men love themselvesexcessively at the expense of their neighbours. He seesman s inordinate love of self as the main root of themoral decadence in our society. This is the main reasonwhy many people in the present age want to Fnjoypleasure to its full, and to escape the pains of life,without due regard to the rights and welfare of thesociety to which they belong. Self-love &the source ofmoral evil today.

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Telling the truth is a virtue. The Scriptureunderscores this claim by listing lying as one of thedeadliest sins that God abhores and cannot tolerate(prov.6:17).The Word of God enjoins man to put offfalsehood and to speak the truth one to another(Zech.8:16) Jesus constantly informed his hearers thathe is the way, the truth and the life (John 11:25). Hewas telling the eternal truth, especially when he said: "1am telling you the truth: The man who does not enterthe sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other wayis a thief and a robber."(John 10:l). That means thatany person who does anything not in conformity withthe law is contravening God s law. His discourseswere often packed with the words "Verily, verily"which literally means "1 am telling you the truth ,Alternatively, 'I tell you the truth. This sentenceappears about (71 times) seventy one times in thefour(4) Gospels of the N.T. his underscores the claimthat the word 'truth was very important to Jesus.

If Christ is the truth and spoke the truth always,it then means that truth and truth telling are consistentwith Jesus Christ. He is the truth that bore witness tothe truth. He expects that our character shouldcorrespond with his qualities. H e said that he came tobear witness to the truth - that is Himself - 'Christ .

When truth is allowed to be potentially truth,then the very truth retreats, lying takes precedence,society suffers and morality is trampled underfoot and

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/ the very truth is denied. .1 It was .C.S. Lewis who averred that:All religions except Christianity arepartial truths masquerading as the wholetruth and drawing their power fromtheir element of truth. The partial truthsisolated from the whole truth becomedeadly and end u p destroyingthemselves as well as everythingelse.(Case for the Christian Faith

198:92)Truth telling and falsehood are therefore, incompatibleoptions and as moral agents we are bound to prefertruth telling to telling lies.

When Christ claimed to be one with God, hewas either telling the truth, or he was insane, or he wasa liar. Christ was neither insane nor a liar. Therefore hisclaim was authentic - the truth. Who can forgive sinsexcept God? Jesus told the paralyzed man, "My sonyour sins are Torgiven, (Matt.2:12) and he healed himwithout due reference to any other higher power. H ehealed the sick in his own name. When a leper came tohim he said to him, "If you want to, you can make meclean." Jesus filled with pity said to him, "I want, bethou clean." (Matt. 811-3)

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God-the eternal truth jqives life to the sick, andeven the dead. He said to Lazarus who was dead forfour days, "Lazarus come forth."(John 11 35f) in a loudvoice and Lazarus came forth, and was a life again.Who can give life except God? These and othernumerous miracles of healing sustain the claim that heis the truth and lift?

Before he departed thts earth he promised tosend his disciples the Spirit of truth which proceedethfrom the l at her (John 15:26). On the Day of Pentecostthe promise was fblfilled for the truth descended on allwho were there. Therefore, man should allow the spiritof truth to guide him into all truth (Jn. 16:13).11 Verifioation of TruthTruth is something that can hardly be separated f i o n ~experience, therefore, its criterion must be founded inexperience. Otherwise it stands to reason that nothingcould be considered as true unless it is experientiallyand emperically verifiable. If the statement "There is agoat in the next classroom" is a true. statement, it isverifiable because anyone who goes there will see thegoat. Although a thought dogs not agree with anyreality, yet it is said to be 'true on the basis that it'works out convincingly in practical terms.Abstractions can hardly be considered as truth unless itcan be scientificalry verified. Therefore, inmetaphysical realm, the concert of the existence of

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God, which is d i h t rom a scientific hypothesis andwhich is tested by experien~e,~'an not be verifiedexperientially, and the proposition cannot be acceptedas truth because it cannot be verified because in ourpresent human situation our knowledge of God is verylimitedt? But that is false, because it is true to thosewho perceive it so. Truth therefore isverifiable.The Coherency of Truth

Brand ~lanshard* laims that truth is coherent,a claim which r&s on a theory of the relation ofthought to reality which forms the central problem ofthe theory of knowledge. Truth, it is said, is the core oflife, when spoken you dam all evil machinations.

The claim presupposes that the test ot truth isthe actual conformity of a representative idea with theobject which it is required to portray. It is true to saythat idea and object are two separate entities, distinctfrom each other just as a man and his portrait orphotograph are possessed of a separate existence. Truth

22. M, .17323. Brad l3bddW, ThtN.lwo d'lhou*. Loadoa:Gwrgo Allen dtUmvfnhl,10 1939.AQo 8hcbto# , William T.(od)., MeaningmdErrbtcnuaNew Yark, Chiorgo:Halt,R h b r l nd Winutone.lw.,1971,p. 657,

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and false are, for the fobelonging to arguments,

from the h o w l S q gd1LeWty of thc contradictoryof this propositim.fIkp n p w eme beEaWeeethey P O ~ Y ~ *an ideal that&'M$4exists is an ideal truth although this claim may be

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12 T he Economy of Eternal T ruth.What did Jesus mean when he said, "I am the way, thetruth and the life?' ((John14:6). This implies that thevery truth says that he is the truth. I t is doubtfi~lwhetherthere can be any other truth other than the eternal truthitself. Christ who is also God is divine, and if there isno other truth than God, to be true therefore, is to bedivine. The vrovosition is: God is divine. Divine is.truth. Therefore, God is truth. Contingently, there seemto be corruptible truth. The claim that. God is truth is in.. . . . . . . .no way corruptible, therelore the claim is the supremetruth. It is the eternal truth that Jesus taught hisdisciples. It is also immutable for even when we receiveadmonition through a changeable creature we are led3f truth is thecumstance. Nothat which is

I re thatBeing a ~ ly nething is eternal. ~nererore , nly rrurn is eternal in theeconomy of theology.24 In this case then, truth meansa proportion and commensuration. Thus something isbelieved to be true j

[n the study of Epistemology we belie\nd the truth are interchangeable. But onA. - 1 -1 . . P - . t r I 1 .- A. 1

-lust as it is said to be commensurate.

24. Reginald F.O'Neill, SJ. Readings in Epistemology. EnglewoodClitis, New J a y : Prentke-Hall. Inc., 1962,p.49.2 F Ibid.,

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Similarly, a thing can be said to be true in two ways -by its inherent truth or by an extrinsic In theIatter all thines receive the name truth fiom the firstllect ishat notVtruth, and since it is evident that truth in the inte:meaured by things themselves, i t then follows tl

*..I

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Yet there are schools of thought who pose thequestion as to whether "there are some items ofknowledge that are not only seen by people as true, butthat are always and eternally true in every century andfor all time, and universally true in all societies and inall places."27Is there any Truth that is absolutely truewithout qualification? They ask. These sages doubt ifsuch kind of knowledge can be found in the universe.However, some sages generally will accept thestatement that "The internal angles of a triangle equal180degrees is an absolute truth.28But there are thosewho have challenged this assertion because Morris andPai opined that in non-Euclidean geometry, suchstatement does not hold water.

Augustine asserts that men s heart is empty oftruth although they cry 'Truth , 'Truth and speakmuch about it, yet they do not have the truth. They paylip service to 'truth . He stated our genuine concernaptly by saying that: "We are not so much concernedwith philosophical truth or the truth as conceived of bythe philosopher or logicians." The main concern here isto treat or the "real" truth, the eternal truth as it existsnow or will exist in hture. Augustine lamented on howhe had been deceived by the philosophers who claimed

27. VanCieve Morris and Young Pai, Philosophymd American School.Boston,Atlanta, JMlas elat.: HoughtonMilllin Company. 196 1, p.106.

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to be speaking the truth. Thus:... hey spake falsely not of thee only -who verily, art the Truth - but al- nfthese elements of this world,creatures. And I, in truth, shouldn a a o n r l htr m h ; l r \ a n n h o r a t h m m fnr t n s r nYLL0PL.U V J ~ i I l 1 V ~ W ~ l I ~ l ~ ~11U111 IU1 1W V Uof Thee, my Father, Supremely good.,beauty of all things beautifitl!0 ruth,- . . . . ... ..lTuth! how Inwardly even then dld themarrow of my soul pant after Thee,when they frequently, and inmultiplicity of ways, and in qumerousand huge books, sounded out Thy nameto me, though it was but a voice.. 29

~ u b that he had the expe1-:1---- I --- --.L- -I-:---

ence with theA - 1 * L A

nd who may be regarded in various ways asI to modern Rationalism. According 'to:.- r. 3 TT ! * r : LL - T-.*l- - - - .--LL --a

There is little dc :riManicheaean pnilosopners wnu cliurned to Know metruth a.kindredAugustine, uoa nirnselr is me I rum,wm wnorn mereis no variableness, He went on to describe truth as the'Artificer 30 of the creature, which means that ~ o d ' i sthe craftsman of the creature and which theManicheaeans failed to recognize. They changedGod s Truth into a lie.

29 Whitney J. Oat- (sd) asic Writingm of ' lainl AuguslineGrandRapids, Michigan:Baker Book House, vol. I .P . 33

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l"hornas Aquinas quipped that if we wiped outthe created being, the pure meaning of essense wouldstill persist; if all human beings are destroyed,nationality would still remain a predicate of humannature."This is because theoretical Truths are eternal intheir content, and that the first truth is the eternalfoundation which is the universal cause containingevery Joseph Fletcher says "Every word I utteris subject to the requirement that it shall be true."i3Bonhoeffer an his own maintains that "Man's chiefconcern in all situations is to discern what God's willis."34 This calls for truth telling always.Subjectivity and Objectivity of Truth

Soren Kierkegaard holds to the duality of truth.For him truth is both subjective and. objective. Thetruth for him is subjective in the sense that for theexisting, striving, deciding persons, there is notavailable "out there" an already existing tmth.j5Contending with the pragmatic view of William James,

. - . . . - -. , . - - . . .. . . ... ..Oilby. Durham, North Carolina:The Labyrinth Press 1982, ed. P.30f32 lbid. D. 60 ~ f f e r ,What Is Meant by Te- ... - .*. .-33 ~ i e k j c h onhc lling the Truth?" inEthics, p. 36534 Dietrich Bonhoerter, waco, lexas: wora moks, Publisher, 1972, p.

9435 Samuel E.nmh Stumpt, Smrates ta Sartn - A History o f Philosophy.

New York. London, Tokyo e l al: McGraw-Hill Book Company.

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who asserted that "truth is made" by an act of will, S.K.posited that what is "Out there" is "an objectiveuncertainty" and argued that "the highest truthattainable for an existing person "is (simp1y)merely anobjective uncertainty held fast in the most passionatepersonal experierice .."36 He regarded Spcrate's claimto ignorance as a good example of the-notion of truth,and he regarded his silence on the questfon of truth asan expression or the principle that the eternal truth isrelated to the Existing individual. God is describedphilosophically or rationally as the Absolute andknowable Truth and therefore, objective.37Truth and Falsehood in the Nigerian Situation

Thn s h i & r n f tha t h m nm r r r f trnrth rran hsvA1.r

true under the same circumstance because truth Iopposed to falsehood. The statement: "God is" ca. a * . .

compl 1Falseh hwhen it is devoid 01falsehood. What is false cannot'beis

mnever be false at the same time but the statement mavbe conceived and interppersons. According to 1nothing or saysmore than one thrng, the question of thetruth or falsity of what the person said does not arise.--.e two

eeted differently by differeitStrawson, if a person says- . -

3(

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different claims which are true and false respectivelycannot be disputed.md the Truthr be to thosemvoivea. ~t is m e ro say mar lwgeria is blessed withcrude oil, at least in this century, but there is falsehood

in the disbursement of the revenue derived from it.However, some people may contend that the claim is adangerous generalisation although the truth is evident.The ~ r o b l e m hat is hunting Nigerians todav is thatYmany prefer falsehood to truth telling, because theybelieve that those who speak th e truth are always poorand inconsequential.

accepted way of life in Nigeria. We therefore, claimthat it is the major cause of emotional, social andeconomic instability in Nigeria. It bas also causedinsubordination and deviance in ch ilden and the youngadults.n G J G F I l U U U 1 I 1UIU 1 U I - I ZIIppy J A l G

n n ~ n ~ cnnt need tn A n anv ~ u t ~ n c i v qinvestigations to discover the nature of honesty anddishonesty in Nigeria today. Many people today in\ I . . C . . ..N1 .. . . .I .. .I*IN igena may rina it atrriculr to answer wnetner rney w11iratherrejoice in truthor in falsehood. They will hesitateto say in truth, and will prefer to say that they desire to

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be happy. We need to appreciate the fact that a happylife, joy In the truth. Everyone wishes to live a happylife, therc.1.m only in truth do people find happiness.

attltuaes w n m nave been mantpulatea su cc es sru ~~y.Evert people who tell Iies frown at being told lies. Menlike truth that is whv thev will not want to be deceived.- . ' aHappy life cannot come part from the truth.

A L ---. 1:c.. :--..*L:-- -I-,. L.4 :*.. :- +-.Afi l l z l y y y I l l C la l l U l l l l I l g C lJ C UUL JVY 111 LIULII,therefore, men certainly love truth. Yet people areunhappy when the truth is told because they hate to betold their faults. Truth can hardly be hidden for a longtime. Truth should be treasured above falsehood.TTIL-. &-.&L LA--&..d"...a ..-.I..L.. A- -..--I-w lly u v ~ sULIIucgci rraucu lulu wr~y u yc;uylcwho speak the truth easily make enemies? The simple

answer to this question is that people do not love thetruth which the old addais loved people will ncAugustine posits that:...hey hate the tturn lur ine sat: ol uiutthing which they love instead of thetnith T h ~ r rnve trrlth urhen E ~ Dhinee

ge saysTisbitter*. Unless truth,t see themselves as they are.

L I U C I I . 11s-J A U I U b l U L l l V . A A V I 1 01.U OI I I I IUYon them, and hate her when she rebukesthem. For, because they are not willing. . . . . . . . .to be deceived, and w s h to deceive,they love her when she reveals herself,

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and hate her when she reveals them. 38Indeed people hate to be exposed to light by truth.Augustine quipped that he found the truth where hefound God who is truth itself.

- UnclerStOOd and imbibed are now taken lor granted,trodden underfoot, and deceptive principles nowmeticulously observed both.in lower and high places,and everyone still rides on the streetbuss withoutregarding himself a thief. The result is that an entirelyhonest may he embarrassed, shocked and.insulted. even at the Air port in foreign countries.Today in Nigeria, deception seems to be the order ofthe day. Banks are robbed, offices set ablaze to coverup crime of embezzlement, people are assassinated tomake way for another politician, to fose-tallprofessional ingenuity and competition and to concealcrime; electoral votes are sold and purchased;examination results, question papers and admission intoinstitutions of learning are sold, essential commoditiesare hoarded, prices of commoditiesare increased daily,people buy employment, contracts are sold, even anhonest election was cancelled, you name them. No one

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would doubt,why a foreigner was courageous to saj"Everything is possible in Nigeria if you just givcmoney."

Deception is so common among the people thatit has become worse than the 'AID syndrome andthere is no attempt being made to cure it but ratherthere is a care fiee attitude towards it. Situations inwhich some honest people are placed have forced themto toe the line of the general public to avoid beingregarded as the odd men and the black legs, becausesituations in Nigeria today have common elements.Everybody seem to have joined to learn to be dishonestalthough no one will pretend not to be aware of theimplications and the consequencesof dish~nesty.~~. .However, we believe that God will not !&veHimself without a witness. There are still a few honest. . . .. . .. . .* . . .. . ..people wno s p a ne trutn to the snarne ot the devtland still do honest business. This group of peoplestrongly disapprove of dishonesty and. deception in theNigerian society. They advocate the reordering of .ourpriorities, reconstruction or remolding the attitudes andhabits of our children in schools, We recognize thetruth of their suggestion, but even that will not be aneasy task because the school teachers suffer the samenational sickness. How can one expect a faitffil deal

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Although w e have stated already that truth mustbe spoken, yet there are exceptions which should beallowed when some greater value is at stake or whengreater hart can thereby be avoided, We call thatsituational falsehood, That is when a person may befree t o play falsehood in order t o save lives therebym r a o a - . a n r r r a o + a r ..ol..a T h n * m e n - n + k n + +.- .~+ho - r n n 4p 1 ~ 3 ~ 1G a 61 a w a v a l u e . I l l a L I I lF ;a ua L I ~ L IUCII zuay I l w rbe spokefi at this particular situation. Harold H. Titusrefers to this a s "mnventional lies," o r "white lies" and"Polit,e lies:"(p. 270). In this case, no one is seriouslymisled, no embarrassment caused and no f iends lost.Let u s take som e examples:

suspecrea or oeing a wlzaro in me commurury. Burmany people including his friends know him to beinnocent s o he w as informed of the intent of the people.He ran to the reverend minister at mission compoundand hid. When the mob asked the reverend gentle manif he knew where the man was he did not feel obligatedt o tell the truth, t o avoid the man being lynched.

A grand mother and a mother lost a son whow a s th e source of their livelihood and who was also

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old parents the truth to avoid burying more than onecorpse. He announced to the villagers to conceal thetruth from the parents until after the burial. When hewent to see the parents before the corpse was broughlhome, he toid them that everything was alright and thathe had come home for a specific purpose. If you werethe man would you tell them about the death of theirson? Will you like to tell them the tru th even before the. . . m

- - - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - -- - - - - - - -. - - - - - - - - - - -- --.feel remorse if asked to deviate from telling the truthbut the same people may feel more remorse if asked todeviate from telling the truth but the same people mayfeel more remorse'if their insistence upon the truthcaused a catastrophe which could have been avoided."If a guest, though still hungry, sees that the food isrunning short (in fact, no other food in the house) is itwrong for him to say "No, thank you" when the hostessinquires to know if he cared for rn ~re ."~"f a man visitsa home where a girl who is t o get married the next day,is mourning the sudden death of her parents in anaccident, will it be right to infonn her of the intendedI - - - - -

- .-- - . .husband's death? However, truth still maintains itsvalidity, we must hold fast to it.

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CONCLUSION

w exceptions as noted above. 01cases must not be seen as a de. -. ,.-. .

Although we have stated that there may beexceptional cases when a higher value may takeprecedence over tnithfulness, yet, we have consistentlymaintained that tmthfblness is a virtue which should becultured. It is important not only for personal but alsofor social well-being of the people. It is the believe ofthe author that the dutv of truthhlness is more thanabsolute with fe ur casefor exceptional nial oftruthfulness. Because accordlnn to I ~ t u sKrght actionis action lepresented.'synonymous and must not be contused. Both of themappear in the same person but only one of them willmanifest in a particular cituation. Therefore, truth mustbe spoken and decepdeception on the part ofinimical to progress, peaw a11u siaulniy. 11 IS LIICgteatest obstacle of the society. It keeps people awayfrom God. Pursue the truth at all cost and at any timeand you will f

- -:ading to theagreatestgood in the situation'4 ' Truthfblness and untruthfblness are not. a - . ...*

tion avoided. Falsehood and'the members of any society are,,,,, A -L-L:I:L-. TL :- L L -ind God.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aquinas, Thomas, Philosophical Texts. TranslatedwithNotes by Thomas Gilby. Dorham, NorthCarolina: The Labyrinth Press, 1982 ed.

m m n a r a , ~ a n a . ne Nature or ~nounnt,mnaon:A **-.- 0. T T---..: A > I n-n

Blaokstone, William% T -..-r--1. A

Cabot, Richard C. Honestv New York: The MacmillanCo; 1938.The Meaning of R i ~ h tnd Wrong. New York:The Macmillan Co., 1933. ,

Charters, W.W. The Teaching of Ideals. N ew York:The MacmiIian Co., 1927.Columbia University, Teacher College, Studies in the

Nature of Character.New York .T ' ? vM;lrrl-r;lh

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Co., 1930 Vol. I.Dewey, John. Democrac~nd Education. New York,London: Collier M7acmillan Publishers, 1944.Drake,Durant.Problemsof Conduct. 2 rev.ed. Boston:Houghton Mifflin Co., 1935.

and Practice. St. Louis: The C.V. MosbyCompany, 1953.Frege, Gottlob,, "The Thought" inP.F. Strawson (ed).-I . I . w I . El . A . I - . f i r -Hartrnann, Nicolai. Ethics. (Trais. by Stanton Coit)New York The Macmillan Co., 1932.James,William. Pragmatism-A NewName for SomeOld Wavs of Thinkina. London: Longmans,Green& Co.,Ltd., 1907.Lmdgren, Henry Clay. Ps~choJogyof Personal andSocial Adiustment_,Ncw Y wk: American Book

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66 Co. 1953.Lehmann, Paul L. 'Telling the Truth." in The Princeton

Seminarv Bullentin vol.XV No.3 1974.... Introduction tdcGregor, Geddes o ReligiousP h i l o s o ~ h ~ .ondon, Basington: The ~ a c m i l l a t lPre.ss, 1Mckeon, Rich-,. ,,,,,,,,, , ,,,,,vLv . ,,LO-sophv New York, Chicago, Boston: CharlesScribner's Sons, 1921 .Morris, Van Cleve & Young Pai. Philosophy and The

American School. Boston,Xtlanta,Oeilas (et al)Houghton Mifflin Co., 1961.dunn. Normal 1,. Psvcholoev: The FI- -. - - , -__---,, . - _ _ _ - mdamentals ofI-Iuman Ad-iustment 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin Co. 1951Oates, Whitney J., Basic Writings of Saint Augustine2vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker BookHouse, 1948Okafor, Festus C. Ph ild so ph ~ f Education and ThirdWorld and Third World Perspective. EnuguBrunswick Publishing Company, 1992.O'Neill; Reginald F.S.J. Readings in Evistemologv.

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. .,..,., ~ o o dliffs, New Jersey Prentice- ail,Inc. 1961'.Phenix, Philip H. Philosophy ofEducation. New York:Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1958.Russel, pertrand.The ProbClarendon Press, 1'Stumpf, Samuel Enoch. S ~ w a w s J .XUUG-aUW I vof Philoso~hv. ew York, London, Tokyo (etal) McGraw-Hill J3ook Company, 1966.Titus, Harold H. EthicsFqAmerican Book Cc. ,,

4

:Todav(3rd ed.) ~ e wo r k :rmnanv 1 0 4 7

Thouless, Robert H. How To Think Strainht. NewYork: Simon & Schwter, Inc., 1946.Walhout, Donald. Intemretinn Relinion, EnglewoodCliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1965.Williams, C.J.F. What is Truth? London,. New York,Cambridge (et al) C.U.P.,1976.Whitehead, A.N., Science and Modem World. New

c: 1926

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GENERAL INDEXNote: This Index does not include the mainheadings given in the table of contents.

t a r t a n k a nbq oArraigned, 5Accumulated, 7Authority, 8,15A oman+nnea rF OA ' s 1.611 1AI LLLbYCa1JC .G Va U\N D 11111, A VAbsolute freedoni, 12Answerableness to God, 13' _ _ _Angry thought, 14Adultery, 14Administration, 22Accountable, 24Affirmative, 29Aristotle,'41,46,Ada, 45,46Austin, 47,Augustine, 48,55,56,57,62Adinomition, 53Anselem, 55RIDS, 63BBible, 4, 13

.13

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DDuty, 1Divine, 12,54Desires, 17Developing nation, 21,Destruction,.21,Disobedience, 2 I ,Developments, 22piligence, 23Disapproval, 24Discover, 37,

EEffort, 1 ,Experienck, 1,24,51,57,59Efficiency, i,Energy, 2,Extravagance,6Economic stability, 7External, 8,46,53,

1I ,

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Ethics, 16,17,32,Exprmion,l9,59Evident, .Z7,Exercise,29,Eternal, 40 ,49 ,51 ,54 ,56 ,57,59Efficacious,43Enemies, 61Emperically, 51Experientially, 5 1,52,Epistermology, 54,Euclidean, 56,Embezzlement 62,FForth, 1,37,Fumtion, 2,3,Formular, 3,Filial, 6,Fulfiment, 6 , l l , 20,28,Freedom, 7,11,12,16,17,Friends, 14,64,Fundamental, 15,42,Father, 15,19,Formation, 20,Fitting response, 22,Fagothey, 27,28,30,Fidelity, 39,Falsity, 53,59,Foundation, 58False hood, 59,60,64,6

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Foreigner,63GGreek, 3,Good, 3,9,14,21,Galatia,9,Goodness, l l , 3 7 ,George, 18,Group 32,Gospels49,Guest, 63

HHonestly, 1,Human experience, 1,Happiness, 3,Hardship, 5Husbands, 5Heaven, loyHormetic, 1 1Hungry, 13,65,Hedge, 13,Hospitality, 14Hesitate, 15,Happening, 17,However, 19 ,29,3 9 ,40 ,65Historical, 19,Human society, 2 1 I

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Hypothesis, 52,Hippo, 55,Harold H. Titus, 64IIndependence,6,Indirect, 6Imperfect, 6,26,Implications 8Internal, 8,56,Influence, 12Immanent, 12,45Injunction, 13,Imagination, 14Immonality, 14Interpretation, 18Identity, 18,Island, 18,Indispensable, 21Intimidate, 23,Insanity, 26,Immanuel Kant, 27,Inviolability, 28Inc~m patible, 9,Illegitimate, 30,Int-lly, 30,40Intricically, 40Inordinate, 48

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Ingenuity, 62Judgement, 6Jerusalem, 8Jews, 8,15 IJewish4 10,13 . .Jesus, 11, l3,15,16, 17, 19 ,35 ,36 ,45 ,46 ,47 ,5l,~ ,,.;Journey, 18 . ,Job, 23, .IJoin, 34,60 , 4 p , ,Just, 35,John Dewey 40 < . .. ,Judgement, 43, , a ' l iJoseph Fletcher, 55, . .,- 1- 'K

t ' .Knowledge, 2,25,26,40,48,52, . . . , -Keep, 5,23 . , + i t ;King Cyrus, 8, . . . .Keeping, 15,23, 7 ,Know, 22,30,49,54,60

- . - - ., ,, .. ,L . . .' . , . I ' . .Life-style, 2, ._ .,..., . . ..Life, 2,3,9, 16,20,28,57, . , . , . . , .( + &. .Legal, 2,24 ,25,31,32, ., i , . :. , . - . ..*Light, 4,Law,4,15,17 ,20 ,21 ,27 ,29 ,30 ,31 ,Literal, 5

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75Loyalty, 7Latin, 7Liability, 8Letter, 9,Like, 10,18,21,27,Love, 11 ,14,15,Levites, 13,14,Licentious, 14,Legalism, 15,Liable, 24Lead, 32Learn, 39,Levels, 41Logical, 42Lying, 45Lewis, 46,Lazarus, 47Loud, 47,Legician, 49

i.caning, 1,3,10,.orality, 2,4,11,22,24,25,45histry, 5.oral;7,8,11,24,27,28,~9,46.ems, 8,38,41,43,45,,aesty, 9,,other, 10

11,12,13,14,20,21,22,35,39,42,45,46

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Murder, 14Mainly, 19,22,40Maintain, 23,26,32,39,Master, 26,Masses, 2,Memorized, 33,Mathematical, 33,38,41Mystics, 34,Mourn, 38,Mill, 38,Mind, 39Metaphysics, 40,

NNecessary, 1,Nature, 3,56,Nation, 4 ,7 ,2 1 ,Nigeria, 7 , 2 1,22,56,58,59Nation, 7, 14,22,National, 7,Norm, 8,NOW, ,Niebuhr, 10,11,18,Natural, 20,27,30,31,None, 2 1,Norms, 24Negative, 29,31,Numerous, 32,47 ,

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0Obligation, 1,2,8,9,10,11,14,231,Obligtory, 2,Others, 3,4,6,17Obedience, 4,Our, 7, 13,14; 17,18,22,24,31,34,Oneself, 8,Oughtness, 8,27,Operation, 11,Owe, 13,Opportunity, 14,3 1,outward 14,Overemphasize, 15,Observance, 15,Order, 18,Officials, 32,PPosition, 2,Parents, 2,31,Prominence, 3,4,Psalmist, 4,Paul, 5,9,15,Perform, 5,Person, 6,19,23,31,35,39,45,5Sractice, 6,Principle, 7,55,58,Political, 7,25,

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78Promise 8,13,47Permission, 8,30,Provinces, 9,Power, 9 ,27,32,Perfection 13,Persecute, 14,Pharisees, 15,Prayer, 16,PredominatesPersonal, 17,18,Prophets, 22,Philosophical, 25,52,Pilate, 34,35,36,Plato, 36,37,38,Pyrrho, 38,Pragmatists, 39,Philip Phenix, 40,

QQuality 1 1 ,Questioned, 22,Question, 27 ,33 ,35 ,36,52 ,55,57 ,Quick, 32,Quest, 33,Qualities, 36,45,Qualification, 52

k

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19,20,22,23,24,25,26,Repreknt , 2,Relation 2,6,21,Requirement, 4,36,54,Rehum, 8,Reliability, 11,Religiousmind, 12,25,Responsible self, 18 ,19 ,2 1,Reactions, 18,Responses 17,18,19,21 ,22Remunerate, 23, ,Rightfulness, 24,Realize, 25,Reflection 25,Responsibility 24 ,25,26 ,27,32 ,Refrain 29,Relational 43,Representative, 48,Rationalism 53,SStudy 1,Spirit, 1,Society, 2 , 5 , 7 , 2 0 , 2 1 , 2 3 , 3 1 , 3 2 , 3 3 ,Synonymous, 2,11 ,Stoics, 3,Solomon, 4,Sanhedrin 5,System 8,16,27 ,40,42 ,Sustained, 8,

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Slumshai 8, Transformed 17,Subjects 9, Trust 19,Seventy 10, Trafic Code 22,Siblings 1I, Tracas 22,Supervision, 11, Te rm s 1,2,4,25 ,39,Samaritan, 14, Truth 33,34,35,36,37,38,Suffer, 16, 39,40,41,42,43,44,Social situations, 17, 4% 4bJ47, 48,49,50,51,52,Spans 18, 53,54,55,56,57,58, 60,Solidarity, 18, Tantam o