Final answer:
The question Niebuhr raised regards whether ethics are an expression of the divine or if they stand separate, challenging the understanding of Jesus's commandment to love one's neighbor and how it applies amidst human behavior and societal structures. Hegel's philosophical contributions and the early Christian stance on universal love add context to this ethical discourse. These discussions also grapple with the presence of suffering and evil, and how the church can embody the love ethics that Jesus taught.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question Niebuhr raised in his development of Jesus's love ethics is whether ethics are an expression of the divine or are better understood separate from divine authority. This query touches upon the foundation of moral values, concerning whether they are inherent in God's character or if they exist apart from any religious framework. Reinhold Niebuhr's consideration of ethics within Christian thought delves into the role and nature of divine love in ethics, reflecting the tension between following Jesus's commandment to 'love thy neighbor as thyself' and the range of human behaviors that diverge from such teachings.
Hegel contributes to this dialogue by presenting the evolution of the Absolute Spirit, seeing Jesus as a rational philosopher and presenting the birth of Christianity as the synthesis of this spiritual and moral evolution. Christians, following Jesus's example, were tasked with practicing universalism, loving neighbors without social distinction, which contradicted the Roman societal structure that was heavily reliant on hierarchy.
Conversely, the problem of evil and suffering in the world has been addressed by thinkers such as St. Augustine, who suggests that the divine shows its love through the Christ for soul-making. The presence of evil challenges the understanding of an all-good, all-powerful deity, and prompts the question of how love, as commanded by God, can reconcile with the suffering and hatred seen in the world. The existential challenge posed by Niebuhr's question is whether the church can indeed embody divine love in action rather than merely through doctrine or prayer.