A summary of the Edexcel Zig-Zag guide to religion and ethics within the religious studies A-Level, organised by the specification to ensure that all areas are covered. Includes scholars' quotes and the basic knowledge of the religion and morality topic. Got an A in A-Level religious studies.
Religion and morality may be dependent on each other – one cannot exist without the
other.
The Euthyphro dilemma helps to show that religion and morality are dependent on each
other because God commands that which is good. In this situation, God gets to decide what
is good, and something is good purely because God has decided it is good. The radical
implication of this is that God could command humanity something that society might
consider to be immoral, however it would indeed be good.
INDEPENDENCE
Religion and morality may be independent of each other – they can both exist separately.
The Euthyphro dilemma also helps to show that religion and morality are independent or
opposed because God could command anything, and it would automatically be good,
including seemingly immoral acts. There is an external standard of good that exists
independently of God, and God loves acts that fit this standard. However, this notion is
contrary to the idea of God as omnipotent and therefore able to decide for himself what is
good.
AUTONOMY
Autonomy: actions that are freely chosen by the individual are said to be autonomous.
Kant held that morality requires autonomy: if one is to act morally, one must be able to
choose for oneself what to do. One cannot be said to have acted autonomously if someone
has forced them to behave that way. To be autonomous is to be responsible for one’s
actions; they must arise out of one’s decision.
Kant argues it is reason, the capacity one has to make rational decisions, that distinguishes
good from bad. When reason is employed in moral decision-making, one finds that it
demands they do their duty.
THEONOMY
Theonomy: a hypothetical Christian form of government in which society is ruled by divine
law.
For the view to be acceptable, one must accept not only the existence of God but also the
literal truth of the Bible – denying either of these truths makes theonomy untenable. One
must also be committed to the view that religion should be the sole arbiter of all aspects of
legal, political and social life.
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