1.1.3: Selfishness, Greed, Ignorance and Sin Flashcards
Identify three stories about selfishness in the Bible.
Contents may include: The Parable of the Good Samaritan, The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, the Rich Young Ruler
Outline two differences between Thomas Hobbes’ view of selfishness and the Christian view of selfishness.
Contents may include: Christianity says that people are to have an active concern for other people and that selfishness is wrong even if it does not harm other people. Thomas Hobbes, on the other hand, said that all people are geared towards survival and we are entitled to do whatever we want to achieve it: we have no reason to be anything other than selfish.
Explain the Christian attitude on greed.
Greed is related to selfishness but specifically with the use of resources, and it is a sin according to the Bible(“The love of money is the root of all evil”, “No one can serve two masters. You will love one and hate the other, be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”), as it causes lack of faith in God to provide and prioritizes wealth over the welfare of others.
Explain why there are some positive aspects to greed.
Contents may include: It is argued that greed is necessary in a society, particularly a capitalist society that runs on greed, and that a greedy society has produced the idea of free trade which is ultimately a way to improve everyone’s standard of living. Secondly, if people were not greedy there would be no incentive to work hard to achieve, or to innovate: for example technology has advanced to meet standards and pharmaceutical companies find new drugs to make a profit. Finally, generosity is not always productive, as aid can make people dependent upon it, and greed might enable the suffering to improve their situation.
Outline two examples of greed and selfishness in the real world.
Contents may vary. Some examples are:
Apartheid, consumerism, unfair laws, tax evasion, slavery, unethical habits
Explain Aquinas’ view on ignorance.
According to Aquinas, all people are essentially good and the Fall damaged human conscience, causing people to mistake apparent goods(what seems good but harms a person) for real goods(something that is actually good for a person), and this is ignorance. It is a Christian duty to prevent ignorance by educating the conscience through reading the Bible and attending church.
What is sin?
Sin is any act against the law of God.
Explain different Christian views on sins told in the Bible.
Fundamentalists believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and therefore anything in the Bible listed as a sin is truly so. Liberal Christians believe that the Bible contains many inaccurate, outdated teachings and that are often just reflections of another age, and therefore what the Bible says is a sin must fit modern society. Conservative Christians believe that a majority of teachings in the Bible genuinely reflect God’s will.
Outline two teachings in the Bible about sin.
Content may include: “Be perfect just as your heavenly father is perfect” shows we are to avoid not just sinful actions but sinful thoughts. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”, shows sin are against the law of God.
Provide arguments for and against the statement: “Hatred, injustice, violence and war will always be caused by greed, selfishness and ignorance.”
Content may include:
Greed can cause injustice and war as people are taken advantage of or harmed to gain more resources, ignorance produces crime often, and selfishness can cause antisocial behavior as people ignore others’ needs.
If hatred, injustice, violence and war have always been present in human history then the causes of them are likely to remain to and it is unlikely to change as humans “have fallen short of the glory of God” and are all inclined to sin.
Not all hatred, injustice, violence and war is caused by these 3: natural disasters, diseases, upbringing or ideology can also play a part.
People in society are less likely to get away with harming others and it may be possible to eradicate evil by following Jesus’ teaching.
