Christian ethical teachings

These priniciples can be applied to numerous situations that you may be discussing within Religious Studies classes or philosophy. They can be applied to topics such as crime and punishment, drugs, matters of life and the matters of death.

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Love your neighbour as youself

This teaching was given by Jesus and it encourages people to treat others as they'd like to be treated.

It encourages Christians to ask themselves, "Would I like it if I was in their situation?", "What would I want someone to do to me?".

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian may support the use of Euthanasia because they would want someone to end their life for them if they were in such great pain, and weren't going to get better.

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The 10 Commandments

These are guidelines for living that say that we should:

-Not murder

-Not sleep with someone else's partner (i.e. shouldn't commit adultery)

-Not steal

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian may not support the use of IVF because it could be seen as adultery.

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Forgiveness

The majority of Christians believe that God forgives everyone, no matter what they do or have done. With this, most Christians believe that we should do the same for other people.

An example of when this may be applied:

A Christian could encourage the reformation of a criminal.

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God gives life and God takes it away

Most Christians believe that everyone's lives are in God's hands, and that he controls when people are born and die. Because of this, we should not try to play God in any situation as it's God's decision what happens, not ours.

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian may be against the use of saviour siblings. If someone is suffering, God has chosen this to happen, and there is a purpose to it. We should therefore not try and change what God has done, by taking matters into out own hands. A saviour sibling will need to be created using IVF and have specific genes so that the suffering sibling is benefited. You'd be designing the baby, not God, and you would be taking God's work into your own hands.

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God is loving and compassionate

The majority of Christians believe that God loves them and wants what ever is best for them. A Christian may therefore look to see what the most loving and compassionate action would be and then choose this action. This is known as situation ethics.

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian could support the use of IVF as it is compassionate to want to help a childless couple to conceive.

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The Sanctity of Life

Most Christians believe that life is a special gift from God that should be valued at all costs.

Many believe that life begins at conception and we should therefore protect life from this point onwards.

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian could disagrre with euthanasia because it is not protecting life and interferring with God's plans for your life.

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God has a plan

Many Christians believe that God has a plan for all of our lives and we should not interfere with his plan.

Most believe that suffering and going through with it is part of life, but there is good that comes from it.

An example of when this teaching may be applied:

A Christian may not support surrogacy. They may believe that although not being able to have a child could be bringing a lot of pain to the couple's life, there is a reason for this, although it may not be obvious. We should live through the suffering- it's part of God's plan for them not to have a baby.

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The Body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit

There are many Christians who refer to a text within the Bible, whereby it says that your body is a Temple of the Holy Spirit (i.e. God), and it therefore should be cared for and looked after.

An example of when this may be applied:

A Christian could be against the use of Drugs because you are mistreating the body, especially when you are fully aware of the damaging health effects they can have, such as leading to lung cancer.

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Comments

Miss KHP

Report

These are general notes on Christianity, so if you are studying Christianity in your syllabus, then definitely worth a read!

The more familiar you are with these key terms, the more likely you are to add them in your exam, and the better you should do.

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