Christian Ethics revision summary

Key Words to be happy with Autonomy – self rule (freedom with reason) Heteronomy – rule by other influences Theonomy – rule by God Divine command – rule by God’s laws Situation ethics – good is most loving result Natural law – morality observable in nature, by reason Biblical ethics – good derived from the Bible Golden rule – “do to others as you would be done by” Matthew 7:12

Key assumptions God exists God is good God reveals and speaks

Divine Command William of Ockham, Luther ( ), Calvin ( ) Applies to modern evangelicals eg Chicago Statement 1978 “God’s word is of infallible divine authority..to be obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires”. Modern divine command theorists Philip Quinn, Karl Henry Open to Euthyphro’s dilemma

Euthyphro’s dilemma A. Is something good because God commands it? or B. Does God command it because it’s good? If A then problem of arbitrary (random) and abhorrent (evil) commands eg Joshua 8:1 God commands genocide or…if B then problem is, why do we need God at all? (Reason, experience etc will do)

A way out of the dilemma Euthyphro’s dilemma contains a fallacy: the either/or leaves out the correct answer…. Goodness depends on God’s character not his commands. God’s character is revealed at the same time as the law is given to Moses in Exodus 34:6 “I am the LORD, compassionate and gracious, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…” So any commands need to be evaluated by God’s character of love, mercy, truth, holiness, patience, and justice.

Situation Ethics Christian Relativism with just one absolute: agape Agape means unconditional love for the stranger Fletcher ( ) argues “love and justice are the same” as “justice is love distributed”. Calculate the most loving outcome (teleological) Four working principles 1. Personal 2. Pragmatic 3. Positivist (faith comes before action) 4. Relativist

Valkyrie 1944 Dietrich Bonhoeffer arrested for supporting Stauffenberg plot to kill Hitler Bonhoeffer takes situation ethics view…absolute rules like “thou shalt not kill” cannot apply where most loving outcome is to kill a tyrant. Liberal Christians argue the same thing today about abortion or euthanasia. The film Valkyrie (codename of the plot) revisits this situation.

Good is defined by the ends rational people pursue People by nature “do good and avoid evil” the synderesis rule These rational purposes give us five primary precepts POWER (acronym Preserve Life, Ordered society, Worship God, Education, Reproduction) Secondary precepts are applications of these eg do not abort, no contraception Tends to be Roman Catholic view eg in Veritas Splendor (see Revision ppt on Natural Law) Natural Law

Discuss “If God doesn’t exist everything is permissible.” Ivan Karamazov in The Brothers Karamazov What does this quote suggest about the source of moral values? How many other sources of moral values are there? Aquinas argues for reason (both a priori in the synderesis rule and a posteriori, because goodness is observable in ends we pursue). Fletcher argues for a reasoned calculation of the most loving outcome.

Biblical Ethics The Bible is the divine law in Aquinas’ theory (four types of law: eternal law, divine law, natural law, human law). But the revelation is only partial: natural law completes the picture. The Bible is the source of divine commands as “God spoke to Moses” (Leviticus 1:1, Exodus 20:1) and speaks through Jesus, “the word became flesh” (John 1:12). The Bible, particularly the parables, such as the Good Samaritan (Luke 12) are the inspiration for Fletcher’s situation ethics.

The ethics of Jesus An ethics of love, not law. Overturns key ideas of the Mosaic law eg Touches lepers (Mark 1) Calls a haemorhaging woman his daughter (Mark 5) Works on Sabbath (picks grain) (Mark 9) Declares all foods clean (Mark 7) Teaches a revolution in attitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. Teaches by open-ended parable, not rules eg “go and do likewise” (Good Samaritan ending).

The reversals of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5-7 Love your enemies (see also Mark 12:38-44) Love the foreigner (Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37) Love of sinners (see also Mark 2:15-17) Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34) Golden rule: do to others as you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12) “Jesus’ purpose was to reshape human intentions and establish a new will, that he wants to claim for God not juts a body, but the heart, the whole person”. Wolfgang Schrage

Conclusion: variety of Christian ethics so don’t over-generalise! Christian ethics varies from teleological (situation ethics) to deontological (Divine Command) and theories that have elements of both (Natural law). Liberal Protestants dislike natural law because it assumes people want to “do good and avoid evil” and also can appear rigid. Different emphases on the Bible derive from different views of authority of Bible v Church v reason. Evangelicals defend the inerrancy of Scripture eg in the Chicago statement 1978.