Christian Moral Principles

Question 1

What is theonomous Christian ethics

Answer 1

• theonomous Christian ethics believes that ethics is governed by gods laws or commands
• the main source of ethics is the bible

Question 2

Why do people argue for theonomous Christian ethics

Answer 2

• humans are sinful by nature and are incapable of living a good life due to reasons alone
• due to the only source of living a good life is revealed by god himself

Question 3

What quote in 2 Timothy supports the view of theonomous Christian ethics

Answer 3

“All scripture is inspired by god… for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16
- supports the view that all scripture is inspired by god and should be seen alone as moral instruction as god is the author

Question 4

How do TCE believe the theological context of the bible should be interpreted as

Answer 4

• a covenant
• special promises and agreements made between bid and humans which requires special behaviour form both

Question 5

Example of covenant in OT

Answer 5

• in the Old Testament, the covenant establishes the notion that ethics are both personal and social
• prophets such as isiash and Amos focus particularly on social justice and treatment of the poor as examples of proper repsonse to gods covenant

Question 6

Example of covenant in NT

Answer 6

• Jesus teaching on sermon on the mount is seen as the centre of hsi moral teaching
• teaches that the new covenant isn’t just about keeping law as set in the ot but keeping the inner law of righteousness love and peace
• Christian’s spend to be perfect
• St Paul covenantal life is a sacrificial Life

Question 7

What is a problem of not teaching people on how to interpret the bible

Answer 7

• reading the bible literallly can lead to problems
• Karl barth talks about the idea of “bibliolatry” -> arguments that a literal approach falsely places divine importance on the bible which should only be attributed to god
• argues that the word of god and his revelations has gone through many different writers so the bible as we see it is not the word fo good but the word of witnesses of the word of golf

Question 8

How does Karl Barth argue the bible should be seen as

Answer 8

• a source of inspiration

Question 9

What else is a problem for theonomous Christian ethics

Answer 9

The problem of contradictory passages

Question 10

What si an example of a contradiction (OT AND NT)

Answer 10

• in the Old Testament, it permits the use of war and retributive justice -> exodus “eye for sn eye”
• it also argues death penalty is for all who undermine social and divine order through committing adultery and dishonour fo parents
• hwiever there is a shift in attitude in the New Testament in Jesus sermon on the Mount seems to revise these old teachings and retribution is replaced with reconciliation and love for one’s enemies

Question 11

What is heteronomous Christian ethics and practices

Answer 11

Heteronomous Christian ethics is the view that ethics is governed by multiple sources of authority and laws
- Christian ethics must combine biblical teaching, church teaching and human reason when looking at morality

Question 12

How is Christian ethics accessible in Roman Catholic tradition

Answer 12

• natural law
• magisterium

Question 13

What is natural law

Answer 13

Natural law is based on the theological idea that as god created the world, he created everything with a purpose. This was his eternal law for humans for god given purpose to flourishing
- Aquinas natural law argues that through reason, humans can recognise gods eternal law and this allows the to reason what the correct thing to do is. Reason also provides humans with a self evident principle to do good and avoid evil (shnderesis)

Question 14

What are the 4 tiers of law

Answer 14

• eternal a,w: gods underlying principles of the universe which god only knows
• divine law: gods laws as revealed in the bible e.g 10 commandments
• natural law : contains precepts. Primary shared with all beings e.g will and desire to live, secondary shared with animals e.g to reproduce, third is strictly human e.g develop and rowcfice reason
• human law : rules deduced by reason from the primary precepts e,g protection of human life, properly rights

Question 15

What is the magesterium

Answer 15

• magesterium is the official teachings of the church revelead in the encyclicals -> an important encyclical on moral teaching is the veratatis splendour by st John Paul II
• veratatis splendor argues that moral law is knowable by all people , all people have a sense of good and evil due to natural law and conscience
• however humans are sinful and weak by nature so cannot rely on reason and conscience -> due to this the role of the church is to guide individuals in their moral decision making

Question 16

What does liberation theology argue

Answer 16

• liberation theology was a movement made by radical catholics
• liberation theology marks the nub,e at the centre of ethics and has been suspicious of top down church teaching
• liberation theologians were inspired by the theme of liberation from Moses escape from Egypt to Jesus role as a liberator
• libertaive ethics is ethics from below,

some have even promoted the use of Marxism to question who has power and how they use it to benefit themselves. however, this is an atheist theory which actually blames religion a large amount

Question 17

What was the views of Protestant ethical heteronomy

Answer 17

• for Protestants, the bible was the primary source of authority
• bible did not appear as a single document but was evolved and developed overtime after reflections and the needs of the community
• ethics should continue to develop and is guided by reason, conscience and church teaching