Students at the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy receive instructions in diverse subjects including apologetics, epistemology, worldview, and ethics. During our three-hour ethics dialogue, students were placed in groups and assigned questions to examine, and where possible, to solve. Their mission was to break down the issues presented by each question into their various component parts, identify the critical available facts, search for applicable biblical laws and principles, and attempt to determine a policy result which is consistent with Scripture.

The following question (paraphrased) presented at the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy, this year requires the student to examine a host of foundational ethical issues, and the implications of their conclusions, including the question: According to the Scripture what different duties do the state, the family, and the Church have to widows and orphans?

A widow of excellent reputation in her community suffers a tremendous calamity. Her house is burned to the ground and she is left destitute. Her congressman brings her plight to the other members of the United States House of Representatives. He submits legislation raising sufficient funds to pay for a new house. As a member, you are asked to speak before the House. What will you say and how will you vote?

For more on this subject, you might consider my message on the same subject entitled: “Defending the Fatherless.”