Christian Moral Principles

Question 1

What 4 things do Christians believe we can use to work out what is the right thing to do?

Answer 1

1. The Bible
2. Church teachings/traditions
3. Reason
4. Our conscience

Question 2

Why can the Bible be seen as a source of morality?

Answer 2

• Because it is a collection of writings that help guides Christians

Question 3

Who argues there are 3 different views of the Bible?

Answer 3

• Messer

Question 4

What 3 different view of the Bible does Messer believe there are?

Answer 4

1. Biblicist
2. Classic
3. Word of God and words of humans

Question 5

What do biblicists believe?

Answer 5

•They believe that the Bible is the word of God written down
- This means they believe that God told human authors what to write
* This means the Bible should be taken seriously and that all rules should be followed

Question 6

Who believes that “the Bible is a book written by 30 secretaries”?

Answer 6

•Graham
- This means he supports biblicists as he believes the Bible is directly from God

Question 7

How does the Bible support biblicists?

Answer 7

•It declares that “all scripture is God-breathed”

Question 8

What does the classic view of the Bible believe?

Answer 8

•It believes that the Bible is like other great works of literature
- This means they believe that the Bible gives profound insight into what it means to be human and also provides different ways to approach ethical dilemmas
* This approach shows the importance of tradition in shaping Christian beliefs and the Bible

Question 9

Who supports the classic view of the Bible?

Answer 9

•MacNamara

Question 10

Who argues “we must have an understanding of scripture in which the divine word and human words are not confused, divided, changed or separated”?

Answer 10

•Verhey
- This means that he supports the Bible as the word of God and the words of humans

Question 11

How does Barth support the view that the Bible is the word of God and the word of humans?

Answer 11

•He believes the Bible is a unique witness to God’s revelation of himself in Jesus
- This means the words are written by humans but tell us about God

Question 12

What do Roman Catholics believe about the Bible?

Answer 12

•They believe that the Bible was formed by the Church which means Church tradition precedes the Bible
* This means Church tradition is important as well as the Bible

Question 13

What is the Roman Catholic belief of ‘sacred tradition’?

Answer 13

•It is when traditions are passed on orally
- This is displayed by Jesus telling the Apostles God’s will and then the Apostles telling the first Christian Leaders, etc.

Question 14

How does the Bible support ‘sacred tradition’?

Answer 14

• It states that “I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you”

Question 15

What is the Roman Catholic belief of magisterium?

Answer 15

•It is the authority given by God to the Popes and Bishops of the Catholic Church
- This means they have been appointed by God so speak with God’s authority

Question 16

What does it mean when the Pope speaks ‘ex cathedra’?

Answer 16

•It means that what the Pope says is infallible

Question 17

What was the Reformation?

Answer 17

•It was the attempt to reform and change the Catholic Church
- This happened due to Catholics relying on church traditions and teaching too heavily, instead of the Bible

Question 18

What is the Protestant belief of ‘sola scripture’?

Answer 18

•It means ‘only scripture’
- This is when they believe only the Bible contains the truth about God

Question 19

What is the alternative belief to ‘sola scripture’?

Answer 19

•’Prima scripture’
- This means that the Bible is the most important source of truth, putting Church traditions and teachings second to the Bible

Question 20

What did biblicists believe about our reason?

Answer 20

•They believe it plays a very limited role in ethical decision making
- They believe this due to the Bible already providing the rules God wants us to follow

Question 21

What do other theologians believe about reason?

Answer 21

•They believe that reason plays an important role and it allows us to interpret scripture, develop Church teachings and apply Jesus’ greatest commandment to our individual situations

Question 22

What does Aquinas believe about reason?

Answer 22

•He believes that faith is more important than reason, but also believes reason can be used to prove some of our beliefs about God, illustrate/explain our beliefs about God while also arguing against false beliefs

Question 23

Why do some scholars believe reason is not objective?

Answer 23

•They believe reason is not objective due to it actually being shaped by the individual and their context
- This means using reason for morality is not straightforward due to everyone coming to different conclusions, which goes against Aquinas’ belief that everyone has the same reason

Question 24

What example supports that reason is not objective?

Answer 24

•The fact that all churches have different ethical and moral teachings displays how they did not come to the same conclusion when applying reason to the Bible and Church traditions/teachings

Question 25

What are the 4 reasons why the Bible should be the only source of morality?

Answer 25

1. The Bible is the word of God (this means it’s a reliable guide)
2. The Bible is a proportional revelation (a series of statements that tell us the truth about God)
3. Human nature is sinful (this means we cannot trust our reason, only God’s word)
4. Church traditions/teachings can be wrong (the Reformation)

Question 26

Who supports that human nature is sinful?

Answer 26

•Augustine

Question 27

Why is it impossible to read the Bible objectively?

Answer 27

•Because everyone has a different interpretation of the Bible based on their own experiences
- For example, “God is our Father” would mean something completely different to someone who was abused as a child

Question 28

What quote supports that the Bible always needs interpretation?

Answer 28

•”If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away”

Question 29

What does the Bible having different styles of writing display?

Answer 29

•It displays how there were different authors for the Bible who brought their own interpretations
- This is because if the Bible was fully the word of God it would be consistent the whole way through

Question 30

What is an example of the Bible having contradictory teachings?

Answer 30

•In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus say we should now “turn the other cheek” rather than seeking “an eye for an eye”

Question 31

Why is reason needed to use the Bible?

Answer 31

•It is needed when rules in the Bible clash to decide the best one to follow for that situation

Question 32

What is an example of a rule in the Bible being ignored by Christians?

Answer 32

•The rule that Christians cannot wear clothes if they are made from 2 different types of material

Question 33

What 4 reasons explain why the Bible should be used with Church teachings/traditions and our reason?

Answer 33

1. The Bible needs interpretation
2. The Bible is actually a non-propositional revelation
3. The Bible was created by the Church
4. Our reason was given to us by God

Question 34

Who supports that the Bible needs interpretation?

Answer 34

•Hays
- He argues that “the interpretation of scripture can never occur in a vacuum”
- This means everyone brings their own experiences when they are reading the Bible so everyone will read it differently

Question 35

What does it mean if the Bible is a non-propositional revelation?

Answer 35

•It means the Bible is a collection of stories about people’s experiences with God (how he revealed himself to us through his actions rather than the Bible)

Question 36

Who supports that our reason is given to us by God?

Answer 36

•Aquinas

Question 37

What are 4 criticisms of the Bible being used with Church teachings/traditions and our reason?

Answer 37

1. Church tradition can be wrong and Church leaders are fallible
2. Jesus was against Church tradition being seen as more important than the word of God
3. Feminists theologians argue the Church and Bible are patriarchal
4. Reason should never be seen as more important than faith

Question 38

What example is there of Church tradition being wrong?

Answer 38

•Some churches’ view on homosexuality and women can be outdated/wrong

Question 39

What did quote supports that Jesus was against Church tradition?

Answer 39

•He questioned why the Pharisees “broke the command of God for the sake of tradition?”

Question 40

Who is a feminist theologian?

Answer 40

•Reuther
- She supports that the Bible and Church traditions/teachings exclude women’s experiences and believes new feminist interpretations are needed

Question 41

Who supports that reason should never be seen as more important than faith?

Answer 41

•Aquinas

Question 42

What are the 4 reasons for why agape love should be the only guiding moral principle?

Answer 42

1. The Bible emphasise the importance of agape love
2. The ethical theory of Situation Ethics supports
3. It maintains autonomy
4. It is important to not just follow rules

Question 43

Who argues that autonomy is central to decision making?

Answer 43

•Kant

Question 44

What does Küng argue about Christian ethics?

Answer 44

•He argues that Christian ethics must be “an ethic of the responsible shaping of life”, rather than focusing on “prohibitions and sanctions”

Question 45

How does Tillich support the importance of not just following rules?

Answer 45

•He believes there are 3 ethical principles that should guide Christians:
1. Love
2. Justice
3. Wisdom
- He believes that love is the most important and that rules should come second to agape love