christian moral principles

Question 1

theonomous

Answer 1

THEONOMOUS - guided by word of god (bible is only source) - Moral authority comes from God, which we access through God’s revelation in the Bible
2 TIMOTHY - All scripture is inspired by God

• Sola Scriptura (Luther) is a form of theonomy involving Christians who think the bible alone is the source of Christian moral principles, not the Church.
• original sin - all humans are by nature sinful and ignorant. According to this view, our fallen nature renders us incapable of living good lives by our own powers alone
  It is also because God’s will is beyond the limits of human understanding/reason and therefore can only be revealed to us - we do not have the capacity to work it out independently.

Question 2

bible is not unified source

Answer 2

• written by humans who are flawed (have limitations and are fallible - original sin) + werent intended to be read as a single book - canon, a collection
  
  • The books in the New Testament (biblical canon) were not decided on until the 4thcenturyby Catholic clergy. This suggests that the Bible should not be the only source since it grew out of the church and therefore if it is authoritative, the Church is also

Question 3

plurality of voices

Answer 3

• ‘plurality of voices/perspectives’ - not consistent, multiple contradictions (so how reliable is it as a moral guide?)
• ‘eye for an eye’ but ‘turn the other’ - jesus asks people to look again at the old testament - the most poignant difference is between the two halves of the bible. the OTpermitswar and retributive justice through the phrase‘an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
• No one who is born of God sins - 1 John 5:18 / All have sinnedand fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)

Question 4

literalism

Answer 4

• LITERALISM - vardy warns against it
• There is also the danger of reading ancient texts through a modern lens - our context is very different and we may misinterpret it, etc.
  
  • falsely gives the Bible a divine status which may only be attributed to God. Barth calls this ‘bibliolatry’: that is, false worship of the Bible
  • selective - ‘If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away (Matthew 5:29)
    how are we to differentiate between rhetoric and direct instruction?

even Christian theonomous ethics has to take into account the place of human reason to decide what kind of literature a text belongs to, how it fits into the larger biblical themes such as covenant and justice and whether it is symbolic, metaphorical or literal.

Question 5

autonomous

Answer 5

The idea that ethics are self-governed - no separate Christian ethics but rather simply ethics as done by those who happen to have Christian beliefs about the world.
- we are capable of making moral judgments - created in gods image and reason is god given
- fletcher - primacy given to agape in its distinctively Christian form
- Küng also argues that there is nothing in the content of Christian ethics which could not be found elsewhere by any person of good will

Paul states - even Gentiles (non-Jews) can behave morally when they act according to conscience and the ‘law written on their hearts’ (Romans 2:15).

David Tracy (1939-) has argued in his book, The Analogical Imagination, the Bible need not be seen a a specially revealed document, but instead should be seen as a Christian ‘classic’ - source of study and inspiration

Barth argued that if humans were able to know God or God’s morality through their own efforts, then revelation would be unnecessary. Yet, God clearly thought revelation necessary as he sent Jesus.

Barth also argued that“the finite has no capacity for the infinite”; our finite minds cannot grasp God’s infinite being.

William Barclaythought - moral agents a dangerous amount of freedom

Question 6

heteronomous

Answer 6

• reason
• church teaching/tradition (magisterium)

The apostolic succession is the basis on which the Catholic Church claims to be an authoritative source - The people who first spread Christianity, such as Jesus’ disciples and others like St Paul, are known as the apostles.

Catholics argue that Christ began the apostolic tradition where he commanded his disciples to “make disciples of all nations”

Through tradition, the Church ‘transmits’ its own moral teaching

Veritas Splendor JPII 1996 argues that moral law is knowable to all people – all people in all cultures have some sense of good and evil. Moral law may be known through human reason in the form of natural law and through conscience which awakens a person’s sense of divine law. Nevertheless, because they are weak and sinful, humans cannot rely on reason and conscience alone. They Church’s role is to guide individuals in their moral decisions.

protestants - just as bible developed, ethics should continue to develop in the worshipping community and be guided by reason, conscience and Church tradition

Question 7

corruption

Answer 7

you gave the Church money, the priests would pray for your recently dead relative, claiming to get them out of purgatory faster

Luther claimed Purgatory was ‘fabricated by goblins’

the invention of purgatory for use in the sale of indulgencies - the Church is abusing its power to invent false doctrines purely for the sake of making money

ALSO
Which sources have greater authority than others, and why.
Which sources should be seen as legitimate, and which not.