Key Concepts Flashcards
Agape love
In Chrsitianity. The highest of all kinds of love; unconditional love which expects nothing in return. Sometimes Self sacrificing, and is always thoughtful and volitional. Active love. Eg. Helping a stranger
Eros
Greek-Erotic, sexual love; associated with love at first sight, the love that seeks for togetherness, ultimately expressed in love making. Not necessarily virtuous and can lead to moral astray. It has been considered a very dangerous focus on the physical body while missing the virtuous intellectual love or unconditional love. Eg. In Buddhism, sensual love can be an obstacle to enlightenment as it encourages attachment.
Philial love
Brotherhood or sisterhood. Affectionate, warm and tender platonic love. Friendship. Profoundly moral form of love, in that it characterises natural bonds that exist in groups.
However it can lead to inter group tensions and conflict
Divine love
God is love
What is religion sometimes viewed as in the secular world?
As having outdated views of marriage which reflect patriarchal cultures and biological ignorance. Religions have rarely given women equal status to men and women in relationships and marriages.
Women in the secular world
Portrayed as an object for sexual pleasure
What did Pythagoras believe?
humans should abstain from the physical, and live a quiet contemplative life. The physical obstructs the soul’s progress, it is not holy.
Song of Songs
Old Testament. Dialogue between an unmarried couple who express the sensual erotic beauty that they see in each other; celebration of being in love
Sexual pleasure in the modern world
Holy grail, pursued purely for its immediate physical satisfaction and with mutual consent, any form of sex is morally right
Freedom of the individual
Paramount.
- Rise of sexual crimes, teenage pregnancy rates
- Decay in traditional values, undermining the family, more abortions;others see those values as restrictive, preventing the realisation of their true sexual identity
Give 2 points that Adrian Thatcher makes about his research on marriage in the modern world
- In the UK, more people enter marriage from cohabitation than from a single state
- The importance of marriage is gradually dismissing due to cohabitation and the weakened connection between marriage and parenthood
What is cohabitation?
the state of living together and having a sexual relationship without being married
What did Roger Crook argue about marriage?
Family life is often sentimentalised and idealised; a typical marriage, out of love and a typical family life is simplistic
What did Crook identified in marriage?
- Changing status of women. Women have moved into the workplace and make up over 50% of the work force
- Development of safe methods of contraception and availability of abortion- premarital sexual relationships
- Deeper understanding of sexuality
What is premarital sex?
sex before marriage
What did Gareth Moore note?
Religious authorities saw many elements of sexual ethics as being taken for granted and the focus was on the purpose of sex, which is to bring children. Sex before marriage and adultery is wrong
Give a quote from Moore
“Today, the old certainties are dissappearing, and sex and its place in human relationships is one of the most controversial areas of modern Christian ethics”
How does the Bible itself sees sex?
As a normal part of life. Sex and human sexual nature is God given, part of God’s creation, and though sex humanity is fulfilled through the unity of man and woman coming together- heterosexuality is the norm
Where can we find an example of the sensuality of a man and woman’s Union?
Song of Songs
What did early Christians see celibacy as?
More holy. Jesus did not marry, although he did have a positive view of marriage. The first recorded miracle by Jesus was at the wedding of Cana and he repeated the teachings of the Hebrew Scriptures on the importance of marriage and had a stricter interpretation of divorce
How does St. Paul see sex?
-he didn’t like it, he recommended celibacy. However, he acknowledges that celibacy is a special gift that is not for all, and he warns that it is better to be married than to commit sin and risk damnation.
How does St. Paul see marriage?
-Reflecting Christ’s relationship with the Church. (Ephesians chapter 5). Marriage is compares to The Trinity, as the two become one in a relationship