Christian moral principles

Question 1

What are the main approaches to moral decision making?

Answer 1

The Bible
Tradition (Church)
Reason
Situational love

Question 2

What is it called to use the Bible ONLY for ethics?

Answer 2

Sola Scriptura

Question 3

What is the Bible to people that abide by sola scriptura?

Answer 3

• Supreme authority in all matters of doctrine.
• Self-authenticating.
• Doesn’t need interpretation.
• Clear and obvious in its meaning- ‘propositional revelation’ (literal word of God).
• Writers are ‘scribes for God’s word’.
• Jeremiah, ‘I have put my words in your mouth’.

Question 4

What is revelation?

Answer 4

Truth revealed through God.

Question 5

What are the different kinds of revelation?

Answer 5

Propositional
Non-propositional

Question 6

Explain propositional:

Answer 6

• The words of the Bible are true messages from God.
• Teachings of the Bible should be taken literally.

Question 6

Non propositional:

Answer 6

• Belief or faith in God.
• We gain knowledge in God through a sense of God’s presence and nature (teleological).
• Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

Question 7

Strengths of sola scriptura:

Answer 7

• Doesn’t need to be interpreted, absolute, which is good for our fallible human nature.

Question 8

Weaknesses of sola scriptura:

Answer 8

• Many things in the Bible need interpretation.
  -Surely we cannot take Balem’s talking ass literally?
• Over 300 translations. Why are there also so many different styles of writing?
• Conflicting texts, talks of agape, but then ‘Binding of Isaac’.
• Many things in the Bible are no longer relevant today, beheadings of John the Baptist.

Question 9

Examples of different styles of writing:

Answer 9

Psalms- poetry.
40% OT is narrative.
Also law in the 10 commandments.

Question 10

Critique of sola scriptura:

Answer 10

Hays- ‘the interpretation of scripture can never occur in a vacuum’.
Scriptura has been wrote by mainly men and has been over 300 translations. Cannot base our thinking on this and completely ignore others.

Rosemary Radford Ruther- the Bible is androcentric, not universal.

Question 11

Questioning of Rosemary Radford Ruther:

Answer 11

• The Bleeding Woman.
• She cherry picks.
• Can be interpreted Mary Magdalene was a disciple.
• But their experiences aren’t spoke of.
• Virgin Mary, seen as a ‘vessel’.

Question 12

Agape:

Answer 12

Christians have a ‘fundamental core value’ in New Testament- love.
- Love is the focus throughout.

Question 13

Quotes from Bible about love:

Answer 13

1 Corinthians, ‘love is patient, love is kind’.

Question 14

Tillich views on love:

Answer 14

• Eros (love of goodness and beauty).
• Philia (love of friendship).
• Libido (sexual love).

Not strict rules, depend on the situation and person (Fletcher’s situation ethics).

Question 15

Pope Francis on Christian moral principles:

Answer 15

• We need a more compassionate method.
• Should not strictly follow rules.
• ‘nor is it helpful to impose rules by sheer authority’.

Question 16

What quote of Fletcher’s disagrees with sola scriptura?

Answer 16

‘Sometimes you have to put your principles to one side and do the right thing’.
Principles= bible.

Question 17

What is it called for the writers to act as a ‘scribe’ for God?

Answer 17

Amanuensis- someone writing for another person.

Question 18

What is the fancy term for focus on tradition?

Answer 18

Heteronomous.

Question 19

Who agrees that the Bible is outdated?

Answer 19

Richard Mouw.

Question 20

Examples of outdated nature of the Bible:

Answer 20

Leviticus, ‘thou shall not lie with a man as with a woman, it is detestable’.

Question 21

Who is most prominent for having the heteronomous viewpoint?

Answer 21

Roman Catholic Church

Question 22

Why do the Roman Catholics focus on tradition?

Answer 22

• They decided the canon of the Bible.
• Believe in Apostolic succession, (there Pope is a predecessor from Peter).
• Tradition is seen in the catechisms of the Catholic church.

Question 23

Why do Protestants criticise the Catholic Church?

Answer 23

• Cause for disputes over centuries.
• Used indulgences to ensure salvation of Catholics, Marxist idea that religion is the ‘opiate’ of the people.

Question 24

Misogyny in the Catholic Church:

Answer 24

• Rosemary Radford Ruther:
  Corinthians 14:34, ‘women should remain silent in churches’.

Question 25

What is Agape? Quote:

Answer 25

‘the highest form of good, charity’.

Question 26

How can Bonhoeffer link into agape?

Answer 26

To strive for ‘costly grace’, we are to be more loving.

Question 27

What does Tillich think love does?

Answer 27

Drives ‘the unity of the separated’.

Question 28

How does Pope Francis agree with love?

Answer 28

He has said that Tradition should revisit agape and strive to be more loving.

Question 29

Why does Richard Mouw criticise love?

Answer 29

People love different things.

Question 30

What does Reason link into?

Answer 30

Conscience and Natural law of Aquinas.

Question 31

Who agrees with the use of reason?

Answer 31

Emil Brunner:
‘the good exists in doing what God wills at any particular time’.
Reason is suitable for each situation.

Question 32

What is a real life example of the use of reason?

Answer 32

‘Menendez brothers’- killed parents but one of the commandments is to respect parents.
They had raped them however, used reason to identify that they should thus not respect parents.

Question 33

What does reason combine?

Answer 33

Tradition, agape, bible. You can infer what is most suitable for that time.