Christian moral principles Flashcards
living (16 cards)
Christians
-take many different approaches to moral decision making
-draw upon:
-The Bible (scripture)
-tradition (Church)
-reason
-situational love
Bible – believing Christians
-if Christians only uses the Bible as source of ethics = sola scriptura (scripture alone)
-the Bible is: supreme authority in all matter of doctrine and practice, self authenticating, without need for interpretation, clear and obvious in its meaning = propositional revelation (literal word)
-writers aren’t authors but scribes of God’s word
-“then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘i have put my words in your mouth’” -Jeremiah
faith and revelation
-revelation – to reveal, knowledge gained about God that wouldn’t be known
-propositional and non propositional, not mutually exclusive, can be joined together
faith and revelation: propositional
-truth revealed by God
-to be accepted
-God speaking to his people - passing information to his listeners
-God is revealed directly to the reader through words on the page
-commandments and teachings are fixed moral principles
faith and revelation: non propositional
-belief or faith in God
-gaining knowledge of God through:
-experiencing a sense of God’s presence or guidance
-nature
-when God revealed himself in Jesus there was no book, was about a human life and death
= more personal and about how the Bible is experienced in the believer’s life
Bible – being Christians: evaluation: strengths
-belief that the Bible is the direct and without mistake word of God = infallible source of information
-means Bible is without error
-no need for interpretation
Bible – being Christians: evaluation: weaknesses
-how is it possible to read the Bible ‘straight’ without any interpretations? our own experiences and interpretations will cloud how we read it
-if God did dictate the words of the Bible, why is there so many different styles of writing
-example, Matthew never explains Jewish practices, whereas Luke explains parts of Judaism as if his readers were unfamiliar
-what about conflicting texts? the Sermon on the Mount conflicts with many old testaments teachings, wouldn’t God be consistent?
-some rules don’t seem relevant to an ethical life
Hays
-warns “The interpretation of scripture can never occur in a vacuum”
-can’t just have scripture, need to recognise it was written by different people, highly edited and made many centuries ago
Ruether
-feminist theologian
-argues that both tradition and the Bible are shaped almost exclusively by male experiences of life = the universality and authority of tradition can be questioned
-current tradition and interpretation of Bible is one sided, partial and incomplete
-Bible was written by men
Protestant/Anglican approach to tradition and reason
-over 2000 years, Church has interpreted the Bible, this interpretation should guide people in their moral lives
-Churches are governed by councils or synods that guide people in how to live
-Church = bridge between the first century and today, its journey is as important as the journey of the first christians
-preaching = a valid method of interpretation for Christians
-prayer and worship are ways Christians use scripture, learn from it
-Bible was written after Christianity had existed for some time, what was written down was written for the specific context
Catholic approach to tradition and reason
-authority of the Church was given by Jesus to Peter and the apostles, already existed when the NT was put together
-tradition comes from spoken tradition given to apostles and handed down over time, has the same criterion of apostolicity
-authentic interpretation of Bible is one of the jobs of the Church, under influence of Holy Spirit
-“To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles” Catechism
-with this authority comes assertion that there are moral absolutes, some things = wrong or right
-humans are weak and sinful, cannot rely on themselves to make moral decisions properly, Bible and Church are needed
criticisms of ‘Bible, Church and Reason’ approaches
-Protestant concerns about ‘sacred traditions’ – is the process of following traditions a distraction from moral commands in the Bible?
-Jesus’ attitude to tradition – some Biblical texts refer to Jesus being
agape
-for Christians the fundamental new testament principle of love = essential guide throughout their lives
-root of Jesus’ teachings and actions
-John 15:12: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you”
-Corinthians 16:14: “Do everything in love.”
Tillich on agape
-agape includes all dimensions of love:
-Eros = love of goodness and beauty
-Philia = love of friendship and trust
-libido = sexual love
-argues that rules must be interpreted through love in accordance with the people involved and dilemma at hand – not to follow rules without question
Pope Francis
-advocates for a more compassionate approach
-questions attempts to control people using rules
-don’t just the Bible, don’t just follow it blindly
-the Bible contains both wisdom and is the reality of family life such as marriage difficulties
-“nor it is helpful to try to impose rules by sheer authority”
-don’t blindly follow the Bible, not helpful
agape: the problems
-Richard Mouw, ‘From Christ to the World’ – just because one Biblical passage focuses upon love, doesn’t rule out the possibility of other Biblical teachings (criticism: lots of passages in NT have love in them, it is the core of it)
-does recognise that not all Biblical commandments are about morality today
