Actions are not intrinsically good or evil but this is depending upon whether they promote the most loving result. This means actions are intrinsically good, depending on their circumstances and consequences of the situation. The second fundamental principle is “The ruling norm of Christian decision is love; nothing else”. Fletcher states that Jesus replaced the Torah with the principle of love. For example; his decision to heal on the Sabbath day, rejecting the commitments of Sabbath the ceremony.
Situation ethics is a Christian approach in dealing with ethical problems and moral choices. Joseph Fletcher, who published his theory in his book ‘Situation Ethics’ in 1966, primarily developed the theory. The theory is teleological due to its belief that actions have no intrinsic value. Instead, the theory focuses on one intrinsic good, agape, the Greek word for self-sacrificial, impersonal love. Agape is believed to love as God loves and Fletcher described it as ‘an attitude not a feeling’, therefore separating it from all other forms of love.
These teachers urged the Galatians to add to their faith in Christ by adding the law to it, particularly circumcision. Modern day Christians do not face such influence, which is the major difference between Galatians and current biblical audiences. However, modern day Christians do face some denominational differences that could be deemed similar to what the Galatians of that time were facing. Paul commands the Galatians, in Galatians 5:16, saying “But I say, walk by the Spirit” (ESV), and reveals why this theological principal is so important to Christians past, and
Newman was an Anglican theologian who supported the notion that conscience is truly the voice of God, and thus developed an intuitionist understanding of how we make ethical decisions. He says that our conscience is "the voice of God" completely distinct from our will or desires. It is an innate principle planted in us before we had the ability to reason. Newman described conscience as a 'law of the mind', but he did not see it as giving us commandments to follow. The conscience is not a set of rules, a feeling of guilt or something that we obey in order to gain a reward from God.
We use ethics to guide us in our everyday lives. Certain situations we sometimes find ourselves in can lead to something good or bad and mortality allows us to try to make the best decision that would hopefully have the outcome that God would want us to have. We all are sinners but having morals gives us the advantage to try to make decisions that God would want us to make. (Psalm 51:5, 1 Corinthians 15:54) 5. The question of destiny- Christians
Natural Law is a normative ethical theory and is considered to be a Christian ethic as it roots from the scriptures. This theory was put forward by Aristotle, based his theory of the efficient and final cause, and was championed by Aquinas in the 13th Century. It is a deontological theory that looks solely at the action, irrespective of the consequences therefore if an action is good, but the consequence is bad, Aquinas would deem this to be good.. Aquinas based his Natural Law theory on four words, "do good, avoid evil" and attempted to answer two questions; What is one's purpose? and What are we designed for?. It is also a deductive theory as the 5 primary precepts can be deduced to form secondary precepts such as do not abort.
Explain Natural Law theory Those who have an absolutist approach to ethics have an explanation of where they can get knowledge of morality from and how humans understand right and wrong. Thomas Aquinas was a Christian philosopher and he developed an argument for Natural Law from the work of Aristotle, who said that whatever is natural is unchangeable and has the same power and effect everywhere. His theory is absolutist and deontological as it is a strict guide to be followed no matter what the situation is, meaning it is focused on the ethics around actions. The Roman Catholic Church used it for help and guidance. Aristotle asked the question of ‘how does it happen?’ and believed that every object has a purpose.
If there were no government, there would be absolute chaos, and even more horrible things would go on because there would also be no consequences. Government keeps order and is a good thing to obey, but is there ever a time we should disobey? We should disobey the government when it goes against Gods law. God is the Almighty, and when someone goes against him, the Christians should not follow that example but should create their own.
I then asked him if he believed in God and Jesus Christ. His answer was that he believed that there was something. A higher power was his words, but that he felt that because he lived a good life and wasn't a murderer that he was O.K. I proceeded to tell him about Galatians 2:16 “yet we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so that we also have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law nobody will be justified.” I then explained to him that a sin is a sin to God, whether it be murder, a lie or stealing a piece of bubble-gum. I then told him that there was only one that walked this earth as a perfect being and that was Christ.
Despite the emotions by the 9/11 attack, our American values compel us to religious tolerance, helpful praise, and better outcomes, demonstrating that the mosque should be built on ground zero. Religious tolerance let's people understand and accept other beliefs that differ from their own. We can see this in the New Testament, Luke 9:49-50 "... we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us." so even though Jesus' disciples rejected him, Jesus criticized his disciples and accepted the healer.