Date : December 21, 2017

To : Br. Rey Allan B. Balderosa, Sc

By : Cyril Jed G. Martel
Re : Reflection Paper 2 – The Possible Rewards of Doing What is Right Old
and New Testaments Perspectives on Ethics

Ethical Questions: Based on the Biblical Story of Noah.

1. What was his ethical challenge?

2. What was his ethical action?
3. What was his temptation?
4. What was the cost of his doing what was right?
5. What was the reward of doing what was right?

Answers:

1. Noah’s ethical challenge was on how to remain strong in his faith despite all the distractions and
temptations the world was having during his days. He could have readily abandoned his faith to the lord
and succumb to the earthly desires. It is difficult to remain true to your faith when all the people around
you mock you for your beliefs. It is even more difficult to believe in your faith when you yourself want to
do the things you’re not permitted to do. Noah’s challenge was to remain true to his faith and follow the
Lord and not succumb to the temptations in the world.

2. Noah’s ethical actions were to follow the word of the Lord. He remained true to his faith and did what
the Lord wanted him to do. Yes, there were temptations; there were challenges along the way. But Noah
remained strong in his faith, followed the word of God, and did what was righteous back then. He did
not mind of what the people would think of him and his family. He did what he was told all for the
greater glory of the Lord.

3. The world in Noah’s days was full of earthly temptations. People forgot about the teachings of God
and chose to go down the path of evil. The words of the Lord were not followed and evil things were
being done left and right. Noah was tempted to follow the others and turn his back on the Lord. It was so
easy to do bad things back then because of the evil lurking in the environment. People readily
succumbed to the will of the devil and forgot about the teachings of the lord. They did things that were
not supposed to be done and disrespected the Lord despite his great love for humanity. The greatest
temptation Noah ever faced was to surrender his faith in the lord and succumb to the will of the devil
just like everybody else.

4. The cost of doing what was right was the loss of everything Noah had in his life. He lost his livelihood;
he lost his friends; he even lost his pride just to follow the word of God. People mocked Noah when he
chose to believe in the word of the lord. They called him crazy for building an ark in the mountains not
knowing that all the orders of the lord have a purpose. Still, Noah didn’t mind all of these and he
remained true to his faith and followed the orders of God.

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5. As such, because Noah followed the orders of God, he and his family was spared by the Lord from the
great flood. They were rewarded for being true to their faith. By following the orders of God, they were
blesses. They were able to live a full life. The power of God is so great that it sustains his flock during
times of great difficulty. The power of faith is strong is can move mountains. As long as we remain true to
our faith to the lord, we can fear no one. The Lord is our stronghold, the lord is our saviour.

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