Moralism - A Moralist

Here is a working definition for what we will call moralism from The Jolly Blogger, David Wayne. I think it is a good one.

"When I describe moralism or a moralist I want to be careful to say that others may describe them differently. To my knowledge there is not commonly accepted definition of moralism that you might find in a theological dictionary or encyclopedia. So, I'll preface all of what I say here with an "it seems to me that . . . "

Those of us who use terms like moralist and moralism, use them loosely as a synonym for pharisee or pharisaism. There may not be an exact one to one correlation between the terms but it points us in the right directions. Moralists tend to follow the Pharisaic approach to life and ministry. Among other things, the Pharisees were characterized by:

1. A focus on external behavior.
2. A sense of moral superiority toward those who don't meet their standards.
3. A corresponding agenda of moral reformation in the lives of individuals and society.
4. A ministry of condemnation - i.e. it is very important to the moralist/phraisee to denounce sin.
5. A separatist mentality - "the world" as the moralist or pharisee sees it, is a source of corruption and defilement which they must avoid.

We could say more, but you can get the idea by just reading the gospels and observing the characteristics of the pharisees."