Christian moral principles

• Bible/Scriptures

  collection or canon of books in the Bible which contain the revelation of God
• Agape Love

  unconditional love - ethical norm in situationism
• Sacred Tradition

  Idea that the revelation of Jesus Christ is communicated in two ways, also in addition of the scripture it is communicated through the apostolic and autoritative teaching of the Church councils and the Pope
• Church Tradition 


  traditions of how Christian life in community works, in worship, practical moral life and prayer - teaching + reflection of the Church handed down across time
• Heteronomy


  Moral authority comes from the combination of Church, Bible and reason. This is typically a Catholic view
• Theonomy


  Moral authority comes from God, which we access through God’s revelation in the Bible. This often involves suggesting the Church has less authority than the Bible. This is typically a protestant view.
• Autonomy


  Individual people have to figure out for themselves what is right or wrong. E.g. situation ethics.
• Different approaches to a Christian moral reading of the Bible:

  • B. Hays came up with questions for using the Bible to make moral decisions

  1. How accurate is the account of the texts used mean?
  2. What range of texts are used?
  3. Does a particular selection of passages tend to be used rather than the Bible as a whole, is there a Bible within the Bible?
  4. How are different texts managed?
  5. Are particular focal images used?
• Another set of further hermeneutical (interpreting) questions by B.Hays:

  1. Has she focused on the rules, the direct commandments of the Bible
  2. Has she focused on the principles of the Bible
  3. Has she focused on the paradigms
  4. Has she focused on the symbolic world of the Bible - what is says about the human condition or God
• Propositional knowledge:


  knowing or accepting that something is so e.g. the date of your birthday
• Propositional faith and revelation:


  acceptance of truths revealed by God, God speaks to people in words passing information to his listeners. God will save them from sin and information about the events in the life of Jesus
• Non-Propositional knowledge:


  knowing how to do something and gain skills through the procedures of experience. e.g. how to ride a bike
• Non -propositional faith and revelation


  belief in God, through a personal encounter and gaining knowledge through experience (of God). Self revelation, experiencing God through nature
• The 2 different types of knowledge often work together, God reveals truths are not incompatible or mutually exclusive - most Christians would say they learn about God through the words in the bible, however, they see the hand of God in nature and in their relationships with other people.
• propositional approaches to the Bible:

  • accepts the truths that the words of the Bible are messages from God
  • God is revealed directly to the reader through the words on the page
  • approach leads some Christian to view the Commandments as fixed moral principles, transmitted the life of Jesus
• non-propositional approaches to the bible:

  • when God revealed himself in Jesus, he didn't write a book or set of propositions but lived a human life and died a human death
  • experiental approach to the Bible
  • Bible is a gateway to experiencing God
• Sola Scripture


  by scripture alone, the Bible is the supreme authority in all doctrines
• bove 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.


  2 Peter 1: 20 - 21
• Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.


  Jeremiah 1:9
• But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it

  Genesis 9:4 - Abstain from blood which is what Jehovah's Witnesses follow
• because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”

  Leviticus 17:14 - Abstain from blood which is what Jehovah's Witnesses follow
• It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.

  ACTS 15: 19-20 Abstain from blood which is what Jehovah's Witnesses follows - MAIN PASSAGE
• What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”


  Matthew 15: 11
• But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.


  Luke 6:35
• Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.


  1 John 4:8
• “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

  “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below

  “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

  “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

  “Honor your father and your mother

  “You shall not murder.

  “You shall not commit adultery.

  “You shall not steal.

  “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. 


  The 10 Commandments
• ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”


  Mark 12: 28-34
• Prima- Scriptura:


  Bible is a principle source of authority, but it is understood through and with Church Traditions and human reason
• Bible as the only source of authority for Christians (theonomy):

  • Bible is the a key source of authority for Christians
  • revealing God's will directly, making it the only authority for Christian Ethics
  • supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice - God's biblical ethical commands that should be followed
  • idea that scripture is self - authenticating = no other interpreter needed but ourselves
  • some consider it the literal word of God, God may have dictated the writers of the Bible
  • mainly believed by Protestant Churches
• Bible as the only source of authority for Christians (theonomy): 2

  • Divine inspiration in literature usually refers to its character as divine revelation in writing - words through human authors
  • Bible is infallible - it can't be wrong
  • no errors or mistake --> "The Inerrancy of Scripture"
  • no editions to the Bible allowed - "Revelation 22:18-19
• Mouw and Sola Scriptura:

  • American theologian
  • love was given by Jesus as the mst important command then Christian ethics can be established without reference to scripture
  • he rejects those who only take a situational approach or only focus on love exclusively
  • due to other commandments and teachers in the Bible - Biblical miracles
• Strengths of theomony:

  • no need for interpretation
  • holy spirit influenced the creation and choosing of the Bible, thus ensuring its validity
  • Bible is without error - inerrancy of scripture
  • direct word of God - infallible
• Criticisms of theomony:

  • everyone makes interpretation
  • general difficulties taking a literal view of the Bible - John's Gospel is mystical whereas Matthew's has allusions to Jewish scriptures
  • biggest problems are related to conflicts within the Bible, Sermon on the Mount goes against earlier Hebrew Scriptures
  • Sola scriptura is not in the Bible - do not claim it is the only source nor speak against other sources
  • New Testament (biblical canon) were not decided on until the 4th century by Catholic clergy - should not be the only source since it grew out of the church
• Church tradition and the Bible:

  • Catholic Christians believe the Bible grew out of the Church, Church formed cannon of the scripture
  • Bible is the principal source of authority but is understood through the Church and human reasons
  • Church communities help people understand the Bible
  • Church tradition and communities are shaped by scripture - central community to which an individual belongs too
  • concept of a synod - council or assembly that come together to agree on things
• Anglican Tradition:

  • common Anglican conception of Church tradition refers both to early traditions of the first Christians and the current traditions of the Church
  • Bible comes first but is not the only source of understanding - tradition that is practiced --> connection to first Christian churches
  • Hays - Christian tradition as the time-honoured practices of worship, service and critical reflection
  • Messer - shared understanding of Christian community
  • tradition should be thought of as a healthy debate
  • Gospels written during traditions and hard times
• Catholic Sacred Tradition:

  • canon of sacred scripture + texts were determined by the Church
  • Sacred Tradition - equal means of coming to know the revelation of Jesus alongside the Bible because it is the oral tradition handed down by Jesus alongside the Bible
  • equal authority to the Bible - church teaches it comes from Jesus - Holy Spirit makes the Risen Lord Present
  • summarised in the Catechism of the Catholic Church - summarises the decrees and declarations of the Church Councils
  • Pope, Bishop and the Church Council
  • Catechism provides an answer to unambiguous moral questions
• Papal Infallibility: 4 criteria

  • does not mean that the Pope is sinless
  • only when the Pope along with his bishops that it intends to teach, virtue of his whole supreme authority, matter of faith and morals, preserved by the Holy Spirit
  • Popes teachings - infallible
  • although some popes were horrid, the teachings are infallible
• Reason:

  • needed to make sense of the experience, how to respond to it, reflect on the Bible and tradition
  • subjective -> influenced by culture and society
  • negotiate between the modern world and the world of the New Testament to make a moral decision
  • e.g. views on women in Church
  • e.g. war and the Catholic Church vs Quakers
  • Churches provide teachings or guidance on issues - like contraception and sexual ethics
  • Church council will try to decide
• Differences Between the Protestant and Catholic views:

  • Catholic Church - relying on sacred tradition is a matter of trust in the authority of the Church
  • Protestant Church - interpreting the Bible, change with time
  • Catholic Church - reason provides another source of direct access to revelation - basis for natural law
  • Protestant Church - reason operates to make sense of the Bible
• Criticisms of Bible, Church and Reason:

  • reason set against faith - reason may be viewed suspiciously by some Christians to create distance from the Bible
  • exclusion of women's perspectives - Radford Ruether (feminist theologian) -> critical of church tradition and its starting point - shaped just by male experiences
  • Jesus' attitudes towards traditions - Philip Turner notes that traditions are sometimes criticised by Jesus
  • Protestant Concerns - Martin Luther split from the church to create Protestantism due to the concern of abuse of power through indulgences.