Good Conduct
- Created by: audreyhorne123
- Created on: 08-01-20 17:29
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- Good conduct
- Importance for Christians
- Different views
- Christians should obey the teachings contained in the word of God
- The kingdom of God will be realised on earth through the way in which Christians care for others
- Christians give glory to God by the way in which they live
- Individual good conduct will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven
- In 16thC Western Christianity was torn by reformation into Catholic and Protestant- an area they disagreed on was justification
- Different views
- Justification by faith
- 'Justify'- Greek word with legal connotations
- Paul and Martin Luther= 'to be justified' is to be counted by God as righteous and so able to have a relationship
- It is 'eschatological'= concerned with the ultimate fate of humanity
- Paul
- Found in Paul's letter to the Church in Rome
- Before conversion, he was frustrated with his inability to earn a good relationship with God by following Jewish Law
- Righteousness cannot be earned by following the Law, because all humans have sinned (original sin), so to be judged righteous by God can only be a free gift, from God's grace
- Faith doesn't justify a believer, the faith is a response to the gift of grace
- The believer is then at peace with God, arising from a new relationship with God
- "Abram believed the Lord and he credited it to him as his righteousness" Genesis 15:6
- The believer is then at peace with God, arising from a new relationship with God
- Humans are invited to respond to God's offer of salvation and eternal life with faith
- Martin Luther
- Started the Reformation in 1517, attacking the corruption in the medieval Catholic Church
- Set out a simpler religion that was based on scripture and personal faith
- 'Sola fide'= by faith alone
- Faith of the believer is passive; justifiication comes by what God achieves through the atoning death of Jesus
- Good conduct shows someones faith but has no saving value
- "...a Christian being consecrated by his faith, does good works; but he is not made more of a Christian. That is a effect of faith alone." ML, Concerning Christian Liberty
- Justification by works
- New testament letter of James
- "As the body without a spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26
- Faith on its own is useless: doesn't keep a poor person warm, even demons believe in God
- Faith is expressed through works: Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son for God
- Parable of the sheep and the goats
- Judgement will be based on the individual's help for or failure to help those in need
- No mention of faith, it's universal "before him will be gathered all nations"
- Sermon on the Mount: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will end the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" Matthew 7:21
- New testament letter of James
- Justification by faith and works
- Position of Catholic Church in Counter Reformation
- Justification is God's gift to humanity
- Given through the atoning death of Jesus and through baptism
- Holy Spirit enables us to live good lives
- Responding to God's grace by living in a way that pleases Him is an integral part of the process of salvation
- "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe" Romans 3:22
- Predestination
- Paul
- God's purposes could not be known or understood by humans
- Omniscient= God knows what individuals will freely choose and so in this sense salvation is predestined
- Augustine
- God infallibly knows who will be saved
- Predestination is an act of grace; human goodness is the result and not the cause of election
- Humans cannot understand the will of God
- God predestines some to his KIngdom whilst leaving others to hell as a punishment for their sins
- Pelagius opposed Augustine= belief in predestination was incompatible with free will
- Calvin
- Built on Augustine- Double Predestination
- God decided before creation who would be saved or go to hell
- Original sin= all humanity deserves hell, electing some is God's grace
- "All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation"
- Assessment
- Catholic Church rejects Calvin: "God predestines no one to go to hell; for this a wilful turning away from God is necessary"
- Makes God unjust
- Cannot be reconciled with Jesus' portrayal as God as unconditionally merciful, forgiving and loving
- Incompatible with our concept of free will
- Paul
- Importance for Christians
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