THE MORAL MIRACLE OF FAITHBrian Haymes
The title of this brief note, an exercise in pastoral theology, is taken from a
standard textbook on Christian ethics.^1 It is the subtitle of a section in
which the author examines the ethics of Paul. It is not the purpose of this
note to discuss and analyze the precise argument put forward but to reflect
on the nature of baptism in the light of the phrase 'The moral miracle of
faith'. The author, R.E.O.White, clearly sees a connection in Paul between
the nature of baptism and a whole life of moral existence which relates to
it. It is this relationship which I wish to explore.
I begin with the key words of the title. By 'moral' I mean all that is
involved in behaviour, actions, forms of life, character and virtue. Effec-
tively I shall equate morals and ethics for the sake of my argument. The
concentration will be on the integration of belief and action where 'action'
means not only discrete acts but the whole manner of life that is pursued. I
shall argue that baptism implies living the life in Christ, a particular way
of life. I recognize that this is more than a moral issue but it does have
moral and ethical consequences.
'Miracle' is a term notoriously hard to define. For my purposes, mira-
cles are not to be identified only with strange and unexpected events.
'Miracle', on my understanding, means some event or development which
would not have happened had not there been the work of God. Such a
development might be observed by others without it provoking any
reference to God in their mind at all. This is the case because 'miracle' is
first of all a religious term and needs a religious context of meaning and
interpretation. It will be obvious from all this that I believe that 'god' is
more than a linguistic concept of our making. The meaning of 'God', I
shall assume, includes transcendence, consciousness and agency. Thus, to
trail my coat, I shall argue that God is necessarily creatively present in
- R.E.O. White, The Changing Continuity of Christian Ethics. I. Biblical Ethics
(Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1979), p. 150.