Choose Better: Five Biblical Models for Making Ethical Decisions

by T. David Gordon

When trying to make good choices, how do we know what is best? Historically, Christians have emphasized five different ways of making ethical decisions. Gordon explains the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Genres: Religion

144 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2024

About the author

Dr. T. David Gordon is professor of religion and Greek at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Melany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this quite informative. I liked that it's concise and not confusing. Straight forward and easy to understand. It has really good points and helpful tips. I think this was overall a wonderful and beneficial read!

[Tim Minge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished one of the most helpful books I’ve read in quite a while. It’s very practical, simple to understand, and informative. The book considers the act of decision making through 5 biblical lenses. Do yourself a favor and read this!

[Amy Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this should be required reading. I have found myself in an incredibly difficult spot, basically immobilized by my fear of making a wrong decision and dishonoring God in some way. I saw this book and bought it hoping to find help, and God used it in my life and my family.

The treatment of each godly decision-making model, along with the study questions, helped me to prayerfully work through this situation and reach a conclusion that I would not have come to before.

This book helped me to view the situation from all sides and see more clearly what is going on and how I can better serve my family and remove stumbling blocks without fear of making a huge mistake.

I love his pastoral reminder in the end that, ultimately, the work of God is to believe in Christ. We can trust Him to guide us faithfully even when we make mistakes. Our salvation is His doing, and He will bring us all the way home.

[Caleb Severn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be long.
As a personal read this is 3*
In a good discussion group it's probably a 4 or 5 star.

Firstly I think the title is misleading, this should be, categorize how you make choices better. This book doesn't really aim to help you make better more biblical choices but rather, what frameworks exist by which we make choices. At the very end the author kinda gives an idea of an order that you should approach the methodologies in, but that's it. The whole book would have benefitted from difficult scenarios and difficult decisions suggested by the author rather than relying on you to come up with your own case study and then throwing in some easy win decisions (should the mother of 3 who is massively over worked sign up to this evangelistic event?). The frameworks are as follows

1. The imitation model - what would Jesus do

2. The law model - 10 commandments etc

3. The wisdom model - listening to wise people and learning from them

4. The communion model - weakest chapter in my opinion, totally omits communion with others and lacks nuance in favor of us becoming monks

5. The warfare model - the chapter that made me think the most

Ultimately it would have been much more insightful to propose examples where the models disagree or don't align easily and then give the reader tools for how to make informed biblical decisions.

[Faith Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to finish this one because I found it dry at first, but the more I got into it the more I loved it. I never had given decision making much though, other than, is it biblical? But this is a much more nuanced way of thinking about it from five different angles:
1. The imitation model - does this decision allow me to emulate God or to cultivate human traits that reflect his image?
2. The Law model - has God, in scripture, commanded or prohibited this behavior?
3. The wisdom model - what is the likely outcome of this decision?
4. The communion model - how might this decision enhance or inhibit my communion with God?
5. The warfare model - will this decision likely serve the forces is good or the forces of evil?

Each chapter ends with questions. I’d love to do this as a book study or Sunday school class and discuss it further with other people. The case study at the end of chapter five is helpful to applying all five methods.

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The great virtue of this book is that it’s a different approach than the typical “issues” focused ethics works. Those have an important role to play but this book helps readers to think about all of life and everyday decisions through the lens of these five biblical models. This was great as a launch pad for an adult education class I led at church and would be very effective for high school and college students to read and discuss.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It systematically walks through five different biblical models for ethical decision-making and gives categories and frameworks for thinking through each of them. I found the author's writing technical but endearing and loved how it was seasoned with little moments of the his dry and witty humor throughout the book. Gordon is thoughtful and clear but best of all, he is succinct. This book is just as long as it needs to be and not a word more.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent exploration of five biblical models for making ethical decisions, such as 'law,' 'imitation,' and 'wisdom.' This nuanced approach to the biblical teaching on ethics is worth consulting for any busy pastor or thoughtful Christian. The questions at the end of each chapter aid in applying these three models.

[Belinda M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really liked the concept of each model & the questions to go with it. Gave me some things to ponder for later.
The language used made it harder for me to understand as there were quite a few words I didn’t know the exact meaning of.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Eye opening to see the five models of decision making laid side by side. All five are properly used together to bring biblical clarity to decision making. Recommended to everyone.

[Roger Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely excellent.

[Joshua Schwisow · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and short book on how to make decisions using five different categories of Scriptural analysis. It is a helpful book in getting one to think on new levels. I have a few quibbles with some of the examples and points but overall it is an excellent little book. It complements well John Frame’s book on ethics.