These revision notes for the new OCR Religious Studies A level cover the different ways that Christians might form their moral principles, namely theonomous, heteronomous and autonomous morality. They include the arguments of various scholars and an evaluation of each idea. They are detailed and ar...
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G575 - AS Developments in Christian Theology
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5: Christian Moral Principles
Divine Command The idea that something is right because God commands it
Theory
DCT - Aquinas Rejected it as he thought God commands what we already know the be good. We
know what is good through reason
DCT - Augustine Supported it as he believed we are incapable of living good lives because we are
sinful. The only reliable source of morality would be the Bible
Euthyphro Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by
Dilemma the gods?
It can call divine commands into question. If God chooses good then it is arbitrary. If
God loves good then he is unnecessary
Theonomous Christian ethics are revealed by God almost entirely through the Bible
Morality
TM Sola Scriptura "Scripture alone." It is the belief that all man needs for salvation is the Bible. It as a
feature of the reformation and of Protestants denominations. Scripture is self-
authenticating, clear to the rational reader and sufficient in itself to be the final
authority of Christian doctrine
TM The Bible The Bible is a collection of different books, with poetry, narration, biographies, laws,
philosophical and prophets in the Old Testament (which is in Hebrew) and letters
and gospels in the New Testament (which is in Greek). 66 books, 40 authors, 3
languages over 1500 years. It can be interpreted literally or metaphorically
TM St Augustine Thought all humans were sinful and ignorant by nature and therefore are incapable
of living good lives based on their own powers of reason. As this is the case the only
reliable source of morality must be revealed by God through the Bible
TM Martin Luther He challenged the selling of indulgences by asserting the primacy of Biblical
authority over that of the Pope. Lutheran denominations go by sola scriptura
TM Richard Mouw Believed the command to love is the only biblical command that should be used for
moral decision making. Much of the substance of Christian ethics can be established
without reference to scripture. However, the Bible still gives guidance on other
matters
TM Strengths The Bible has many examples of moral dilemmas and speaks to people across ages
It empowered people during the reformation by taking power away from the
institutions and giving it to the people
Believers think that they can trust it totally
TM Weaknesses The Bible has some horrible morals, it is inaccurate and self-contradictory
It is out of date
We are bound to read it subjectively
There are different writing styles - how can it be the word of God?
Many rules are ignored by Christians
It can be read to support your own vies - not reliable
It doesn't apply to other cultures
Heteronomous Christian ethics which are formed through a combination of biblical revelation,
morality reason, tradition, conscience and the Church
HM Biblical Disagrees with sola scriptura believing it is impossible because no one is without bias
Revelation -
Richard Hays
HM Biblical Read the Bible metaphorically. Believed that human reason was bound up with
Revelation - divine reason so people are naturally drawn to divine revelation. The Bible and its
Aquinas values have to be interpreted using reason
HM Biblical The Bible is the supreme form of moral truth, not the truth itself. It has to be read
Revelation - Karl critically as a source of inspiration. He warned against the dangers of literalism when
Barth reading the Bible as this gives it a false divine status
HM Human The Catholic 'Just War Theory' relies on reason in the justification of war. The Quakers
Reason - Just War interpret the Bible differently and conclude with pacifism
HM Human Relies on reason in discovering human telos as to Aquinas' view on the conscience.
Reason - Natural Because we were created in God's image we have the ability to do good and
Law reason. Divine law is interpreted using reason which leads to natural law
HM Human Believed scripture should be interpreted using reason to fit out own historical setting
Reason - Richard
Hayes
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