Christian Ethics

An overview of Christian Ethics for religous ethics. It contains info on figures of authority and theories and teachings within Christinaity. 

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  • Created by: Yamanam
  • Created on: 23-04-13 23:31
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  • Christian Ethics
    • Main Ethical principles
      • Divine command theory and God as a father
        • Weakness'
          • Is obedience really a virtue?
            • Surely we've been given free will for a reason...
          • Some argue that we as humans cannot know God's desires
          • Is it too much of a legalism of the Torah?
            • Dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith.
          • Problem of supervenience
            • = Rights and wrongs of a practical moral issue are a result of a concept or religious belief
          • God has absolute power but also ordained power - this is contradictory
            • de potentia absoluta
            • de potentia ordinata
          • Gottfried Leibniz
            • If whats good is what God commands then surely there is no intrinsic value to us doing a good action
          • Plato'
            • Links to the Euthyphro dilemma
              • "are things good because God commands them or does God command good things?"
        • Strengths
          • Paul said we are "slaves of Christ" - the theory emphasis virtues of obediance and obligation
          • Conforms with Christian understanding that God is creator
          • Its an objective moral system
            • This gives it universability and impartiality
          • Divine sovereignty
            • Meaning it confoms to Christian understanding of God as Omnipotent
        • Whether things are morally good or bad is dependent on God
          • Links to the Euthyphro dilemma
            • "are things good because God commands them or does God command good things?"
          • Humans ought to do what God wills
            • Therefore, God orders the universe by his Divine law
            • God chooses not to act arbitrarily, which would be inconsistent with his nature
            • Humans are powerless and therefore have an obligation to obey God
            • God is omnipotent and therefore has freedom to do what he wants
      • Holy Spirit
        • " I believe in the holy spirit"
        • "a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep"
          • The good nature teaches us...
            • Help those in poverty
            • Just be a peachy person
            • Look after the planet
        • "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace..."
      • Situation Ethics
        • Love is the test of all moral actions (agape)
      • Law and sin
        • Original sin
          • "For I do not do the good i want, but the evil I do not want is what I do"
            • Paul
    • Moral Teachings
      • Jesus
        • Apostles creed
          • "I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord."
        • Incarnate word of God
        • Jewish teacher
        • His teachings
          • Eschatology
            • = Study of ideas about end of life and day of judgement
              • Teaching s difficult to put into practise
          • Prepare for Kingdom of God
          • Aims as argued by Amos Wilder
            • Promote Kingdom of God
            • Give you a sense of guilt and therefore repentance
            • Teach attributes required in the Kingdom of God
        • "Love your enemies and for those who persecute you"
        • The Golden Rule
          • "Do to others as you would have them do to you"
      • st. Paul
        • Expert in the Torah
        • Wrote about, but never met, Jesus.
          • "Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus"
            • Jesus = Savior sent by God to bring humanity salvation
            • Christians should imitate the lifestyle of Jesus
    • Sources of authoriy
      • Tradition and reason
        • Church of England
          • Divide due to influences from medieval Roman Catholicism and fundamentals of Reformation Protestantism
            • Two other groups that aren't so extreme
              • Liberal Anglicans
              • High Church
                • Takes influence from Bible, Reason, traditions of ancient Church
                  • Liberal Anglicans
                  • Tradition
                    • Church fathers met and agreed morals, written down to be known as creeds
                  • Reason
                    • God created reason so we could deduct moral truths
            • Bible sole authority
              • Typically oppose gay rights and woman as priests
              • Known as  Low Church
      • Magisterium of the church
        • = The teaching authority of the Catholic Church
        • Ways in which beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church are decided
          • Pastoral Letters
          • Sermons
            • To which the faithful listen
              • Pastoral Letters
          • Encyclicals
            • Statements; ex cathedra
      • Bible
        • Funamentalist Christians
          • Literally the word of God
            • Salvation history
              • = The bible is where God reveals himself as a savior  throughout history
        • Protestants
          • Focal point of authority
            • Per sola fide
              • Faith
            • Basically meaning that beliefs must be supported with scriptural evidence
            • Per sola scriptura
              • Bible
                • We must interpret it

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