Christian Moral Principles

Christian Moral Principles

1. What should Cs trust as a guide to moral action/ ethics? BRIE: Bible, Reasoning, Institution (Church), (Experience)

2. Areas of Christian ethics

   • Theonomous - ethics are governed by God's law/ commands. Bible governs morality. E.g. 10 Cs, Sermon on the Mount
     • Sola Scriptura, Biblicist, Luther. Bible as supreme authority. Scripture as self-authenticating and highest source of truth. About obedience.
       • Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." Literal word of God containing His direct commands.
       • 2 Peter 1:20-21 "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
       • Inerrancy/ infallibility of Scripture. Commands also given through stories.
       • Mouw - to love is not the only command so we have the Bible to help.
       • Messer - There are different ways to draw on the Bible and different kinds of scripture
       • Jeremiah 1:9 'Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth."'
       • Mouw - "the writer of Ecclesiastes suggests our whole duty consists in obeying God's commandments... we must conform to whatever God requires of us... - whether that guidance is transmitted through parables, accounts of divine dealings with nations/ individuals, or sentences which embody commands."
       • Hays - "No matter how seriously the C may take the authority of the B, the slogan of sola Scriptura is both concpetually and practically untenable, as the interpretation of scripture can never occur in a vacuum."
     • Literalism - A fallible audience will read the Bible subjectively, with conflicting interpretations.
       • Barth - high status to bible. Need to be careful of dangers of literalism. Christians shouldn't worship B. B's words are witness to Word, not Word itself. (John 1:1)
       • Interpretation necessary - there are different genres in B.
     • Why are there conflicts/ internal contradictions within the Bible?
       • OT - eye for eye, tooth fpr tppth, capital punishment. NT - J revises old law. Retribution replaced by reconciliation.
         • OT law is hard to keep, that's the point. Cs need a saviour, else no point for J. Some Biblicists (Augustine, Luther) - J's teaching pointing to state of perfection in heaven.
           • Martin Luther King Jr - this state of perfection should be now
   • Heteronomous - ethics are governed by several sources of authority of law
     • Strongly community based when interpreting.
     • Roman Catholic: canon of scripture determined by Church, tradition precedes B, RC church has equal authority to B. Strong sense of magisterium. Papal infallibility.
       • Natural Law - Romans 2:15 "law written on their hearts." Humans can know G's eternal law through reason
       • "To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles." - Catechism
       • Magisterium - official, authentic teaching of Church vested in Bope and bishops. Papal Encyclicals are sometimes published on contemporary moral issues.
       • Veritatis Splendor - specific encyclical on moral law by Pope Francis. What's right and wrong is knowable through reason and natural law.
       • Apostolic Succession
       • Oral tradition - 2 Thess 2:15 "hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter."
     • Protestant: B, reason, conscience, Church tradition
       • There are some P natural law theologians (Hooker, Grotius) but tend to put B at centre as primary source of authority.
       • Anglicans - B first but not only authority - traditional interpretation of Scripture should be listened to and practiced
       • Church community shaped by scripture. Synod - council/meeting where teachings and doctrinal issues are discussed.
       • Stanley Hauerwas - Christian ethics can only be done within Christian worshipping community.
     • Turner - J himself sometimes against tradition.
     • Ruether - B as male-dominated. Have to take into account when interpreting.
   • Autonomous - ethics are self-governed
     • Fletcher Situation Ethics
     • Niebuhr - ultimate law of life is love
     • Tillich - justice, love and wisdom should work together. Agape includes all dimensions of love (eros, philia.) Love - continuous desire to break through isolation connected to every person. Love needs to act immediately not hypothetically. Ultimate authority to individual (knowing how and when to bend/break commandment of love.)
     • Pope Francis - love is a more compassionate approach rather than rules. Moral guidance grounded in love.

3. Propositional K - knowing/ accepting something is so

   • Propositional faith - accepting truth revealed by God as true
     • Propositional revelation - God directly revealing truths. True and beyond doubt for theists. Faith comes into play as recipient accepts the revelation is from God. He reveals truths not obvious using human reason.

4. Non-Propositional K - knowing how to do something and gaining skills through procedures of experience.

   • Non- propositional faith - knowing God through personal experience
     • Non-propositional revelation - God doesn't reveal things during a process of revelation. He makes himself known through ineffable experience. So role of reader very important for scripture, everyone will see world differently according to their worldview. About having 'faith in' something
       • Schleirmacher - scripture came about as writers reflected on their REs

5. Hays - we should follow a no of Qs to use B to make moral decisions: How accurate is account of what texts mean? What range of texts? Selection of B/ whole B? How are diff texts managed? Particular focal images used?

   • Further interpreting Qs to draw out how Christian appeals to text: Focused on rules and commands of B? Focused on B's principles? Focused on B's examples? Focused on symbolic world of B?