Christian Moral Principles Flashcards
What are the three approaches to Christian ethics?
Theonomous, heteronomous, and autonomous ethics
What is theonomous ethics?
Christians decide what to do by looking at divine law which is God’s revelation
What is heteronomous ethics?
Christians should look at the bible but also use their reason and church teaching to decide what to do
What is autonomous ethics?
Christian ethics are no different from other forms of ethics and should be self-governed
What are the key arguments from theonomous ethics?
- That man is sinful so we need God to reveal what the best way to behave through laws in the old testament, Jesus’ example, and teaching in the New Testament
- They believe the bible was inspired by God and therefore it’s infallible
- If we disagree with the Bible we must be wrong as God does not make mistakes
What are the strengths/issues with theonomous ethics?
- danger texts will be taken literally instead of as metaphors eg) “if your right eye causes you to sin tear it out” so need REASON to decide what is metaphoric and what to take literally
- there are contradictions in the Bible eg) Jesus says to turn the other cheek but there are lots of holy war in the old testament
+ biblists counter this by arguing that Jesus’ teaching is what we should do if we lived it the kingdom of God but until we do we should follow the prophets - however, this requires reason to consider both
- Times have changed
What does heteronomous ethics argue?
The bible was written by people inspired by God but this didn’t end when the bible did
What does Aquinas argue?
He encouraged reason in Natural LAw and said we must use both divine law and ratio in decision making as ratio is god given.
Magerstirum the official Catholic teaching is based on Natural Law.
What does Stanley Hauerwas argue?
Suggested a protestant ethical heteronomy as there is no magisterium but ethical decisions should be made by the whole community based on reason and the Bible. He gave the example of a pregnant 15-year-old who is considering an abortion - this should be the church’s problem.
What are the strengths/issues with heteronomous ethics?
- Jesus seemed to criticised the laws of the Pharisees - laws of men, not God
- A feminist interpretation could be that the bible and the church are both shaped by men and need to be reinterpreted
- too much emphasis on reason could lead to rationalism which denies the need for another source of wisdom
What does Joseph Fletcher argue?
Fletcher stated goodness is to particular to Christians but part of everyone’s human nature that Christianity highlights. He says our guiding principle should be agape.
What does Hans Kung argue?
He is a liberal Catholic who argues although euthanasia goes against the magisterium it is not contrary to the reasoning of Catholics who would say living in distress is wrong. He argues Jesus encouraged his disciples to reason and make their own decisions.
What are the strengths/issues with autonomous ethics?
- Christianity is distinctive to other ethics
- Christians believe in sin, redemption and the afterlife which shapes their decisions
- Jesus didn’t come to change the laws just as an example
- christian ethics is at odd with our capitalist western society so it is more than just agape - roots in bible
