Transcript core ethical teachings

CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
CHRISTIANITY
CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
• Christian “ethics” refers to those moral
norms that are seen to be distinctive to
Christianity.
• “Moral norms” are those guidelines that
help the Christian to reflect on his/her
moral life and on what actions he/she
should take in certain situations.
• Christian “ethical teachings” are
based on the belief that the human
person is an image of God.
CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
• A human who has intellect, free will and
power of self determination.
• Most Christian churches stress the
importance of both faith and works
(good moral actions), along with the
central place of community, prayer and
sacraments.
• Christian “morality” is based on many
sources of revelation, but particularly on
key passages from the Scriptures such
as:
CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
• The Decalogue or Ten
Commandments (Ex. 20:1-17 and Deut
5 :6-21)
• The ‘Golden Rule’ (Mt 22: 37- 39)
• The Beatitudes (Mt 5-7)
• Actions based on love (1 Cor 13:1)
• Nature of the Final Judgement (Mt 25)
• Living a life of service (Lk 22: 26-27)
• Love one another as I have loved you
(Jn 13:34)
CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
• Following the “law of Christ” (Gal 6: 2)
as the basis of morality
• Uniting our will to God’s, our spirit united
with the Holy Spirit (Rom 8: 15-17)
• ‘Welcome one another, therefore, just as
Christ has welcomed you, for the glory
of God’ (Rom 15:7)
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• The Ten Commandments is also known
as the “Decalogue” (ten words from
God)
• These ten short commandments or
guidelines for living are based on God’s
direct revelation to Moses on Mount
Sinai in Israel ( Ex 20:2-17 and Deut 5:
6-21)
• Unlike other parts of the Jewish
Scriptures, the Decalogue -
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• Is the only text understood as being
spoken directly by God to the people of
Israel and then written directly by God’s
hand on two stone tablets.
• The first three commandments of the
Decalogue refer to the worship of God,
while the rest refer to obligations to
one’s neighbour and society
• The Decalogue is introduced by God’s
own words of freedom:
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• “I am the Lord your God who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the
house of slavery; you shall have no
other gods before me (Ex 20:2)
• The Decalogue summed up the type of
relationship that Israel should have with
God.
• For Christians observance of the
Decalogue is based on love not fear.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• The commandments should be viewed
as life principles to be internalised by the
human heart – not avoided because of
perceived punishment and damnation by
God.
• The practice of virtue is understood as
more important than the listing of sins.
• In the final analysis, the Decalogue is
like a set of ten boundary markers
beyond which are sin, alienation,
unhappiness and death.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
• The Decalogue is an important basis for
structuring and living the Christian life.
• It calls Christians back to loving God
alone and loving their neighbours as
themselves.
NEW TESTAMENT ETHICS
• Jesus and those to whom he was
preaching were, of course, well versed
in the commandments of the Decalogue.
• The teachings of Jesus in the Sermon
on the Mount (which includes the
Golden Rule, Mt 7:12) and the Great
Commandment (Jn 13:34) are
consistent with those of the Decalogue –
keeping the commandments leads to life
and eternal happiness
THE BEATITUDES
• One of the foundations of Christian
ethics is the Beatitudes (Latin ‘blessed’)
• This is the name in Christianity given to
the nine sayings of Jesus in Mt 5: 3-12
and the four in Lk 6: 20-23 – all of which
begin with “Blessed are……”
• Matthew’s Beatitudes open the Sermon
on the Mount, while Luke’s are
described as part of the Sermon on the
Plain
THE BEATITUDES
• In fact, ‘beatitudes’ have their origins in
the Jewish Scriptures, where they were
understood as declarations of praise or
congratulations for an exercise of virtue.
• In the Psalms and other wisdom
literature in particular, some beatitudes
that were praised include: fear the Lord
(Ps 1:1), doing justice (Ps 106:3), caring
for the poor (Ps 41:1) and keeping the
Sabbath holy (Is 56:2)
THE BEATITUDES
• Jesus’ Sermons on the Mount and on
the Plain have two different though
complementary approaches.
• In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus’ main purpose is to “instruct his
hearers”.
• He delivers “nine” Beatitudes that praise
people for various virtues that could be
cultivated – for example, poverty of
spirit, meekness and hunger for
righteousness.
THE BEATITUDES
• The final ‘two’ praise people for being
persecuted and promise future rewards.
• n Luke’s version, Jesus congratulates
his listeners for conditions of real
poverty, hunger and desolation by
promising them future rewards from
God.
• The ‘four’ consoling Beatitudes are then
balanced by ‘four’ threatening woes.
THE BEATITUDES
• Beatitudes also appear in other parts of
the Christian Scriptures, mainly as
words of praise for virtues.
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
•
Three factors are important in order to
understand Jesus’ ethics.
• These are:
1. Repentance as the basis of the ethical
life
2. The radical nature of God’s ethical
demand on humanity
3. The centrality of the love
commandment
• All are interrelated.
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• Jesus’ command to love does not stand
by itself and must be understood in a
two-part context.
• The first part is the Christian awareness
of the Mystery of the hidden God of love
who is revealed in the person of Jesus
who ministered, was crucified, died and
rose from the dead.
• The second part of this context is the
way in which Christians understand God
as the Holy Trinity
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• That is, as Father or Creator, Son and
Spirit, the God of love who is Three
Persons in One.
• Jesus revealed God as Abba – in and
through Jesus, God has drawn close to
us like a loving Father.
• So Jesus’ command to love can only be
understood through the insight that God
is love.
• See 1 John 4:7-12, 17
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• Jesus builds on understandings of ‘love’
in the Jewish Scriptures.
• The most characteristic word for ‘love’ in
these Scriptures is the Hebrew
‘ahabah’ which refers to a quality or
state of personal attachment.
• It is marked by constant fidelity, such as
that between husband and wife or, more
importantly, the ‘steadfast love required
between God and Israel through the
covenant.(Deut 6:5; Is 54:5)
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• In the Christian Scriptures, this is
translated into the Greek ‘agape’ and
refers to the boundless love of God
(Jn 3:16) who is the source and eternal
presence of love.
• Jesus preaches a God who is the
source and model of love for Jesus and
his disciples (Mt 5:48).
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• Jesus proclaims a love that is to bind
and distinguish the Christian community
(1 Cor 12 -13) and compared to which
the individual ultimately will be judged.
(Mt 25: 31-46)
• In the final analysis, Jesus’ command to
love means that the Christians
expresses their longings for god and
constantly seeks the good of their
neighbour.
JESUS’COMMANDMENT OF LOVE
• In the synoptic gospels in particular,
‘love’ is connected with the preaching of
God’s Reign that arrives in the person of
Jesus, and also with the greatest
commandment (Mt 22: 34-40)
• This type of love unavoidably involves
suffering (Lk 6:22 ff) and the Christian is
asked to follow in Jesus’ footsteps to the
cross (Mt 10:3-7 ff) and beyond to the
Risen Christ’s victory over sin and
death.