Moral Actions Flashcards

1
Q

Utopia

A

An ideal state where everything is perfect; often used to describe unrealistic views of the world

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2
Q

Secular pacifism

A

A false non-religious belief that society can achieve a state of non-violence

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3
Q

Tyrannicide

A

The diliberate killing of a tyrant for the common good

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4
Q

Consequential ethics

A

Any form of ethical system which judges whether an action is right or worng by its outcomes - ends justofy the means

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5
Q

Liberal societies

A

Societies which develop laws based on the principle that humans flourish when given maximum freedoms and minimum control by government

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6
Q

The western void

A

The state of western secular society with christinaity, filled with all kinds of dangerous ideas and beliefs

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7
Q

Costly grace

A

This cost God the life of his son, Jesus and is the cost for the true christina as it may cost his life

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8
Q

Discipleship

A

To be a follower of Jesus, learning to live like Jesus and to put his teaching into practice

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9
Q

Civil disobedience

A

A refusal to obey certain laws/ rules of the government

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10
Q

Barmen Declaration

A

Set out the basic beliefs of the confessing church in opposition of the Nazi influenced german christian movement (Karl Barth)

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11
Q

Religionless christianity

A

Christinaity without the baggage of the past and the contamination of ideological belifes of the present

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12
Q

Theology of crisis

A

The crisis of huamns sinfulness can only be overcome by God’s judgement and faith in his redemption through Jesus Christ

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13
Q

Post Christian society

A

A society which uses chirstian moral values as part of its culture but does not practice or believe in Christinity as a belief system

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14
Q

Moral relativism

A

The belief that there are no moral absolutes; moral values are relative to general human values such as love or happiness

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15
Q

World come of age

A

Western culture has grown up and embraced a rational view of the world, discarding teh superstitious views of religion

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16
Q

Bonhoeffer background

A
  • lived in Nazi Germany when many groups where being oppressed
  • German christians adopted national socialist ideology (was rejected by Bonhoeffer)
  • Bonhoeffer became part of the confessing church, where they rejected Nazi teachings
  • he trained pastors in an illegal seminary in Finkenwalde
  • he believed that due to society stepping away from christianity left a western void
  • humanity needed a religionless christianity that followed the example of Jesus by stepping away from the constraints and outdated doctrine of the church
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17
Q

Bonhoeffer’s view on obedience

A
  • being a christian was responding to the call of Jesus
  • you need to submit yourself to Jesus way and therefore to Jesus leadership
  • religion is not a list of things you have to believe but is something that needs to be done
18
Q

Bonhoeffer’s view on civil disobedience

A
  • following Jesus leads to the view that duty to God is going to be more important than duty to the state (this is what being a disciple is)
  • Bonhoeffer was disobedient to to the nazis as he said that not doing anything is as bad as doing the wrong thing (you are guilty by not doing good)
  • he realised that all humans are fallen and so there is never any guarantee that something is absolutely right or wrong
19
Q

The church as community and spiritual discipline

A
  • Bonhoeffer saw the church as the salt and light of the community and as spiritual nourishment
  • had a particular view of what the church should be like due to the disillusion with the lack of action against hitler
20
Q

view of what the church in the community is for those outside of the church

A
  • the church should exist for others just as Jesus was a ‘man for others’
  • the church should be outward looking
21
Q

view of what the church in the community is for christians

A
  • the church should be supportive and challenging the community
  • Finkenwalds encouraged members to live a disciplined physical and spiritual life
  • the community of believers were accountable to each other, this works with the will of God
22
Q

The cost of discipleship

A
  • the true cost is rejecting the cheap grace
  • you must accept the living redemption message, requiring obedience to God
  • costly grace means giving up other comforts and obeying God’s call with actions
  • Bonhoeffer saw that suffering, sacrifice and the cost as inevitable
  • being a disciple meant bearing the cross with Jesus
  • it is not about being religious but being for others
23
Q

Strengths of bonhoeffer

A
  • Aquinas would have agreed that we must focus out prayer and christian focus on the will of God in order to understand his duty for us
  • calling christians to seek costly grace could benefit society and ensure that christians are working towards a better world for all people
  • focuses on the community and church role which is beneficial for society
  • ensures the rights and protection of minority groups
  • Bonhoeffer understands that all humans are equally made in God’s image and deserve the same treatment
24
Q

Weaknesses of bonhoeffer

A
  • civil disobedience is not effective at changing the ruling authorities
  • he failed to get either the state or church to change their views
  • it is impossible to know and understand Gods will
  • we live in a more secular and multi faith society and focusing in role of church and state could be seen as outdated
  • unrealistic expectations of suffering as he ignores Jesus’ sacrifice
25
Q

Bonhoeffer on Gods will

A
  • it is only clear in the moment of action what God’s will is
  • through living a christian life you are able to align your will with God’s by putting aside you human priorities
  • a good life is one with the by and the example of Jesus being centralised
26
Q

Bonhoeffer’s view on leadership

A
  • call to follow the leadership of Jesus through action first and foremost
  • a true christian leader remembers that they are first and foremost a fellow follower of Jesus who keeps the bible at the heart of what they do
  • they should live close to their people
  • authority ultimately comes from God and they are accountable to God for their actions
27
Q

Centrality of Jesus

A
  • the ultimate leader is shown in Jesus
  • Jesus is the sole mediator in the world
  • if we want to achieve anything this needs to be done through prayer to God through Jesus
  • the Barmen Declaration states that Jesus is the way to God and any other leader you follow is a thief
28
Q

The confessing church

A
  • was from a group of pastor who disagreed with the Nazi’s want for all church leaders to be of aryan descent
  • the deceleration maintained Jesus as the main focus of the church and as their sole leader,not state
29
Q

Bonhoeffer’s view on the confessing church

A
  • he didn’t fully agree with their narrow view
  • he didn’t think that they had done enough to overcome hitler
  • his thinking came from his view of religionless christianity
  • christianity would only function properly is it moved away from the trappings of the past
  • christianity needs to leave the trappings of the past
  • the confessing church hasn’t gone far enough to rid itself of the rusty sword
30
Q

Bonhoeffer on costly grace

A
  • grace was given freely to all by God, but the meaning of this was lost
  • Bonhoeffer condemned christians who undervalued grace and called this as cheap grace
  • costly grace is understanding that grace cost Jesus life and secondly it needs to cost a person whatever it takes
  • christians need to be prepared to give up their lives and accept the consequences of receiving God’s grace
31
Q

Bonhoeffer on sacrifice and suffering

A
  • christians must sacrifice their own desire for material things through discipline and being prepared to suffer
  • it is about putting aside the demands of the world and living a life with a noticeable difference to non-christians
32
Q

Bonhoeffer on solidarity

A
  • the church being full of rusty swords was that it was not giving priority to those in need and it was not living alongside them
  • a true understanding of solidarity is not just about empathy but walking alongside them
  • the church needed to stand up against the injustices
33
Q

Bonhoeffer is relevant today

A
  • christians undergo persecution so will need help and can use bonhoeffer’s teaching to help
  • as society gets more materialistic his teaching on religionless Christianity and costly grace is more relevant
  • spiritual discipline is timeless and important today
  • the church needs to have a role in challenging politicians
  • Jesus should be the central starting point for all expressions of christianity
  • the church is challenged regularly to be modernised and fit in today, Bonhoeffer counters this
34
Q

Bonhoeffer is not relevant

A
  • emphasis on the bible is not as relevant, the bible is not as authoritative today
  • his circumstances were more extreme then than they are today
  • globalisation means that the world is different so borderless Christianity is less relevant
  • his ideas acting in the moment cannot help in a world that is losing its ethical value
  • there are too many pressures on modern people and os they cannot engage in the level of spiritual discipline the Bonhoeffer requires
  • following God’s will is important but not possible without the church
35
Q

Bonhoeffer puts too much emphasis on suffering

A
  • he lived in a unique time which is not relevant to christianity today
  • Jesus’ own suffering was said to be once and for all so why do we have to emphasis extra suffering
  • emphasis on suffering ignores that Jesus rose from the dead
  • Bonhoeffer did not actively seek suffering and so we should not read to much into his emphasis
36
Q

Bonhoeffer does not put too much emphasis on suffering

A
  • he theology emerged from his understanding of the oppressed in society
  • different people are oppressed in society today so there is still relevance
  • suffering comes out of solidarity which is Jesus approach
  • costly grace could be said that his emphasis on suffering is a correct understanding of the true cost of discipleship
  • Jesus called all people to follow after him and his suffering
37
Q

Bonhoeffer presents a realistic view of chirstianity

A
  • it makes sense to suggest that christian life should be centred on the leadership of God
  • bible provides a realistic focus for this view as revelation from God
  • it makes sense that a well formed conscience through prayer and study will allow christians to act appropriately
38
Q

Bonhoeffer did not present a realistic view of Christians life

A
  • finkenwalde might be said to have been ideal for those training for ministry but not for others
  • different christians express their faith in different ways, one is not superior to the other
  • christianity is a personal commitment not a community commitment
  • not realistic that most christians should understand the bible to the extent of theologians
39
Q

Christians can know God’s wil

A
  • the moment of action is where is is possible to know God’s will
  • through following our conscience you can make the right decisions (this is God given)
  • if christians approach life as a community then ethics becomes a communal action meaning you can know God’s will more accurately
  • we can know God’s will through our sense of reason
40
Q

Christians cannot know the will of God

A
  • humanity has fallen short so we cannot fully understand God or his will because of the broken relationship between heaven and earth
  • God has given us free will and so we need to use this to resolve situations ourselves
  • it is not necessary to know God’s will for an individual situation
  • Bonhoeffer’s view came from his interpretation of the bible but others might have different interpretations
41
Q

Duty to God is more important

A
  • doing nothing to combat injustices is just as bad as doing evil
  • the ‘bottom up’ approach should always put God’s protection of the oppressed above the state
  • where fundamental christian principles are challenged the duty to God is more important
42
Q

Duty to the state is more important

A
  • in the Gospels Jesus does not encourage disobedience
  • the bible teaches that leadership on earth comes from God
  • if humans are fallen then human authorities could be a way in which good order is placed on disordered people
  • even if a christian disagrees with something in society christians should be above any disobedience and should take the higher ground
  • his extreme circumstances make it hard to know if duty to the state is more important