Heteronomy

What is heteronomous Christian ethics?

Belief that moral authority comes from a combination of the Church, Bible, reason and tradition

What does tradition involve?

Practices not included in the Bible that have been passed on + developed to help interpret the Bible (e.g liturgy) -> distinct from sacred scripture but closely connected to it

How does the church use tradition?

Transmits its own moral teaching

How has the process of Christian tradition changed?

- Continued through leaders, theologians, Church councils + debates about the Bible as being a significant source of authority

- As the world has changed, so has our understanding of it (e.g medical science with IVF, same-sex marriages)

What denomimation of Christianity holds a heteronomous belief about moral ethics?

Catholicism

What does Catholic ethics require?

- Not just the Bible but referring to Church authority, the natural world, reason and conscience

- This is collectively know as Natural Law -> the law is "written on the hearts of gentiles"

What is the Magesterium?

- The teaching authority of the Church expressed in the Pope, Bishops + Catholic Council

- One of the three sources of authority alongside scripture and tradition

- Allows clear decisions on moral teaching across a range of areas

What is a Papal encyclical?

A letter/official teaching with doctrinal authority issues by the Pope to the senior clergy + is then passed onto all congregations (collective wisdom of Church leaders + teachers)

What is teh Catechism?

Summary of how a Church integrates tradition + scripture together through a process of reasoning

What is an example of a Papal encyclical?

Veritatis Splendour (Pope John Paul II, 1996) -> reasserts the centrality of reason, conscience, natural law + the Magesterium in Catholic moral ethics

How does reason and conscience tie in with the Church?

- Moral knowledge is available to all -> synderisis

- The conscience awakens a person's awareness of divine law

- BUT people are weak + sinful -> can't rely on reason + conscience alone

- Church's role is to guide individuals in their moral conscience

What is the role of the Pope historically?

- In Matthew 16 Jesus called Peter a rock (petros - latin) that he will built the Church on

- St Peter became the first pope but was flawed (denied Jesus 3 times)

What are the strengths of the heteronomous approach?

- Jesus told his disciples to make "disciples of all nations" + "whoever hears you, hears me" -> Catholic church interprets this as Christ telling them to preach what they had learned -> gave the Church the authority to create its own teachings (Apostlolic succession)

- Tradition has equal authority to the Bible because the teachings come from Jesus -> oral tradition handed by Jesus to his disciples

- Second Vatican council's document (Dei Verbum) -> sacred scripture is the word of God + sacred tradition "takes the word of God...and hands it on to their successors" so they can faithfully preserve + explain it

What are some issues with Papal infallibility?

Popes have been greedy, sinful (even Peter denied knowing Jesus 3 times)

What are the weaknesses of the heteronomous approach?

- The Church has committed many atrocities (paedophilia, slavery, corruption) BUT Catholics would say that the Church can sin because it is populated by humans but Jesus still wanted them to be a source of moral authority (but did these atrocities go beyond Jesus' expectations?)

- Can't safely rely on our reason because we are corrupted by the Fall (Luther, Calvin, Barth)

- Karl Barth -> dangerous overreliance on human reason -> makes revelation unnecessary (but it's necessary because God sent Jesus)

- Ruether -> the Bible is shaped by male experiences -> universality + authority can be questioned due to lack of female experiences