Christian moral principles - RS Theology

What are the different Christian moral principles?

The Bible, Agape love or the bible, church and reason

What is sola scriptura?

means "scripture alone", a doctrine held by some Protestants

What does sola scriptura state

that the Christian scriptures are the sole infallible source of authority for Christian faith and practice

Why is the Bible infallible?

directly dictated by God

Theonomous Christian ethics

place God at the centre

Fundamentalist Christians

believe that the Bible is the word of God, who is omniscient, so it must be all true. 'literal interpretation'

Agape love is

the highest form of love, the love we have for mankind and God's creation

Quote supporting agape love:

Jesus said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart / soul / mind" and "Love your neighbour as yourself"

Autonomous christian ethics

The authority is placed onto the individual

How does agape love differ from the Bible

no absolute rules like the 10 commandments, only real command is to love, most importantly act out of love for others

What is agape love associated with?

Joseph Fletcher's situation ethics

What is situation ethics?

using our reason to figure out what is the most loving thing to do

Fletcher said Christian love is

"goodwill at work in partnership with reason"

What do liberal Christians believe

the Bible is inspired by God but written by humans. -> it may contain some errors and some parts may be metaphorical

What do liberal Christians believe - ext

the bible was written a long time ago and society has changed since - so some parts of the Bible may be 'outdated' and reflect the time it was written in

Catholics refer to tradition as

'sacred tradition' - they see tradition as having precedent over the bible. because it was the church community that decided what texts should be sacred and form the bible

What did the council of Vatican II declare

that sacred tradition is seen as the binding authority on moral life

What else do catholics believe in?

Sacred chain of apostillic succession, papal infallibility

In 19th century, what did John Henry Newman say?

conscience has moral authority than even the Pope because conscience predates the Church's existence

Argument against reason 1

When left to their own devices, humans can justify acting as they wish so the Bible is the only means of knowing how to behave morally

Argument against reason 2

Human-based morality leads to moral confusion and endless debate about what is right and wrong

Argument against reason 3

Augustine believed human reason is not to be trusted (our reason has been corrupted by OS) - > only God's word as revealed in the Bible can provide a sound basis for Christian ethics.