Accountability as Part of the Human Moral Condition and as a Virtue

Although accountability is a fundamental part of human life, it is something we often do not like. We do not like it when the presence or gaze of another places demands on us. In Christian ethics today there is a massive swing away from talk about God’s commands and God’s law and toward virtue ethics. There is nothing wrong with recognizing the importance of the virtues. But an ethic of virtue cannot in this life replace or supplant an ethic of law. Biblically, there is no competition between God’s law and the virtues God wants to instill in us. Rather, God’s law is a gracious gift that is an essential tool in acquiring the virtues God wants us to have, one of which is in fact faithful obedience. Evans concludes by offering theological reflections that can help Christians recover a sense of gratitude and joy for our accountability to God.