Christian Morality

DP Barrett - Christian Morality 

Christian morality has shaped the way that Western societies think about moral issues. An atheist who has grown up in Britain cannot in truth say that he has not been influenced by the teachings of the Bible because Christian ideals are ingrained in our cultural background. There is a large amount of variation within Christian morality with different denominations coming to different conclusions about moral issues. Christian views have evolved and changed over the centuries, but at the centre of it is the Bible.

 

Denominations

There are many different denominations of Christianity, and each denomination has its own way of worshiping God, its own variations on Christian beliefs, and its own variation of Christian moral codes. Here are just four examples of denominations and their differences:

 

Roman Catholicism is heavily based on tradition. The Church is led by priests and bishops, and at the top of the hierarchy is the Pope. Catholics believe abortion is always wrong, that contraception and homosexuality are against nature (against Natural Law). They are against divorce, stating that marriage is for life, and they teach the importance of family. They believe in being kind to animals, but that humans are above them and can use them for food and work, or even experimentation. Catholic priests must be male and are not allowed to marry. The Catholic Church preaches that peace is best, but that sometimes war is justified and necessary (Just War Theory).

 

Anglicans are followers of the Church of England or one of its foreign equivalents. Anglicans allow divorce and remarriage, and support the use of contraception. Women are allowed to be priests, and priests may be married. They also believe that sometimes it is necessary to go to war. Anglicans believe that sometimes abortion is the lesser of two evils, and the Church of England helped to get it legalised in the UK for this reason, but they are against abortion on demand: abortion should be rare, but sometimes it is the best option.

 

Baptists are Protestants who rejected the leadership of priests & the Pope, and rejected old traditions that do not have a firm biblical basis. Whilst most churches practice infant baptism, Baptist churches emphasise the role of choice, and so only perform adult baptism, hence their denomination’s name. Baptist churches are led by ministers rather than priests, and are often run on a democratic basis by their communities. A famous Baptist was Martin Luther King Jr. who campaigned against racism in the USA and was assassinated for his efforts to bring about equality and fairness.

 

The Quakers do not have priests or ceremonies, but instead merely sit and reflect on God and the messages of the Bible. Quakers believe that all violence is wrong and in war times many refuse to fight; these people are known as conscientious objectors and they may often take on dangerous roles as medical officers instead. Quakers also believe that we should care and look after animals, and so many Quakers are vegetarians, which is a stark contrast to mainstream Christianity where the view tends to be that animals exist for our use. The Quakers played a leading role in the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807.

 

The Bible

The Bible is Christianity’s primary source of teachings about God and morality. Many Christians believe it contains the actual word of God, so that it gives mankind the full truth about life and morality. Others believe it was written by humans, and so contains some mistakes, but was inspired by God and therefore has very important messages for us which we need to apply to our everyday lives. The Bible contains many important moral teachings which are still considered to be relevant today, however, there are some teachings in the Bible which are viewed by many Christians as out-dated, or even as highly immoral.

 

 

The Old Testament

The Old Testament contains the Jewish texts written before the birth of Jesus. The first 5 of its 39 books are what the Jews call The Torah. These were slowly written by a variety of prophets over about 1000 years. The most famous teachings from The Old Testament are The Ten Commandments. The first four of these concern how a good Jew / Christian ought to act towards God, whilst the last six concern how they ought to act towards their fellow men. Most of them are commandments for or against particular actions, but the tenth is anomalous because it forbids a feeling rather than an action: jealousy of others’ possessions and partners. This is interesting because it shows recognition that it is often our thoughts and feelings which can lead us to immoral acts.

 

The Old Testament gives strong arguments for environmentalism, because it states that God is the creator and owner of the world, and that we human beings must take good care of the world and protect its resources. This is the idea of Stewardship: “The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land” (Leviticus 25:23-24). The Old Testament also teaches the principle of Sanctity of Life, the idea that human life is special and is to be protected. Christians believe only God has the right to end life, so humans should not murder or kill. Humans are special because “God made man in his own image” (Genesis 1:27).

 

Though there are many wars in the Old Testament, there are also messages of peace, such as those in Isaiah: “They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4). Isaiah calls upon religious people to praise God through acts of charity and kindness, and to set slaves free: “The kind of fasting I want calls you to free those who are wrongly imprisoned and to stop oppressing those who work for you. Treat them fairly and give them what they earn. I want you to share your food with the hungry and to welcome poor wanderers into your homes. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help” (Isaiah 58:6-7).

 

Problematic Teachings In The Old Testament

There are many moral teachings in the Old Testament which Christians today find problematic, and many see them as out-dated or as mistakes to be ignored. It teaches that wrongdoing is to be punished with severity equal to the crime: “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” (Exodus 21:23-25). Those who commit murder are to be executed (Exodus 21:12). Other crimes for which you can be executed include kidnap, adultery, prostitution, blasphemy, bestiality, witchcraft, rape, and incest. The Old Testament also states that homosexuals and disobedient children should killed (Leviticus 20:13 and Exodus 21:17).

 

The Bible permits slavery and gives rules concerning the fair acquisition of slaves and how they are to be treated (Leviticus 25:44-46 and Exodus 21:2-6). On several occasions God orders the Jews to commit genocide against their enemies, for example, he orders the Jews to kill every man, woman, child, and animal when fighting against the Amalakites (1 Samuel 15:2-3). During another war the Israelites are told by God to kill every man in the town they are attacking, but to keep the women, children, and livestock for their own pleasure (Deut. 20:10-14). The Old Testament states that if a man is caught raping an unmarried and unengaged woman then he must firstly pay a fine to her father, and then marry her (Deut. 22:28-29). It also states that if a married woman does not cry out for help whilst being raped then she should be put to death as well as the rapist (Deut. 22:23-24).

 

Many accuse the Old Testament of sexism, for example, Genesis 3 states that women are to be controlled by their husbands, and when the men of Sodom demand that Lot sends out his two male guests so that they can have sex with them, Lot instead offers his two virgin daughters to the crowd (Genesis 19:7-8). We also find Abraham receiving praise for being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac on God’s command; it is only when an angel intervenes at the last moment that Abraham stops, but he is praised for being willing to do whatever God orders (Genesis 22).

 

The New Testament: Jesus

The New Testament contains the early Christian writings from the 1^st Century AD. The first four books of the New Testament are the Gospels, which are the stories of Jesus’ life. Perhaps the most famous teaching from Jesus was his version of the Golden Rule: “in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This is encapsulated in his other famous pronouncement “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31); we are to care as much for our neighbours and their welfare as we do about our own.

 

Jesus taught that everyone deserved forgiveness if they were genuinely sorry, and this is the message of the famous parable of The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). A father has two sons, the youngest of which asks his father for his inheritance; the father agrees and gives him his share of the estate. The son goes off to a foreign land and squanders the money, and eventually ends up penniless and feeding pigs. After much misery he realises his mistake and resolves to go back home and beg his father to take him back, even if he is no longer treated as a son and instead is used as a lowly servant. When the father sees him returning he orders his servants to slaughter the fatted calf and prepare a feast. The dutiful elder son is angry at this, but his father replies saying that his son was lost and was dead, and now he is alive again. Jesus states “There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine persons who do not need to repent” (Luke 15:7).

 

According to the Old Testament adulterers were to be put to death by stoning but Jesus believed people did not have the right to judge each other, that was for God to do. He said to a crowd that was about to kill an adulteress “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7) and the crowd left and spared her. The point is, we all do things wrong at some points in our lives, so we should not judge others harshly. Of course it is not ok to sin, people will be punished by God if they sin and do not repent, but it is not up to us to judge and condemn people. Jesus states “do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luke 6:37).

 

Some of Jesus’ most powerful teachings come from The Sermon on The Mount. Jesus taught that violence and revenge were sins: “you have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39). He also emphasised the role of thoughts and feelings and their role in leading to immoral actions, saying: “you have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27-28). Jesus wanted people to be pure in mind as well as correct in their actions, and continued “if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown in to hell.” (Matthew 5:29). Arguably this is a hyperbole, an exaggeration, but it makes his point clear: bad thoughts and feelings need to be cut away if you are to be a good person.

 

Interestingly, there are several occasions on which Jesus broke the commandments of the Old Testament, which was one of the reasons for his eventual crucifixion. Jesus taught that it was important to love and respect people, and this meant that sometimes it was necessary to break the rules in order to do the right thing, such as save people’s lives. This is what happens in the famous parable of The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), in which a Jewish priest refuses to help a dying man because the Old Testament says that it is unholy to touch blood; meanwhile, a Samaritan (a despised foreigner) takes pity on him and saves his life. The story teaches that sometimes rules need to be cast aside for the sake of love and compassion, an idea which has inspired Situation Ethics. The parable also teaches a strong anti-racist message: everyone is your neighbour and everyone should be treated well, we should not pre-judge outsiders.

 

The New Testament: St Paul

St Paul wrote letters to various early Christian communities and these form a large part of the New Testament. As the Christian faith was expanding beyond its original Jewish roots St Paul emphasised the need to disregard racial boundaries and realise that we are all creations of God: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). It was Paul who said it was no longer necessary to follow Jewish dietary rules such as avoiding pork as it was his opinion that it is not what you eat that makes you unclean, but what you do. Paul also stated that circumcision was no longer necessary. Paul emphasised the role of love in making moral decisions and overcoming problems: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). This is a verse commonly read at weddings and coheres well with Jesus’ notions about love and forgiveness.

 

Paul also wrote a lot on sexual morality “you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the heathen” (Thessalonians 4:3-5). Modern Christianity maintains its conservative stance on sexual relations, teaching that sex should only be performed with a person that you are married to. Paul stated that homosexuality was unnatural and shameful (Romans 1:26-27). He is often accused of sexism because he forbade women from holding any position of authority within the church, indeed, even going so far as to say that they should keep silent in church (1Corinthians 14:34). Paul also tells believers to do what they are told by civil authorities, for on his view governments have been established through God’s authority to better out lives and protect us, thus, rebelling against your government, even if it is a tyranny, is wrong (Romans 13:1-7).

 

Christian Morality After The Bible

All the books of the Bible are over 1900 years old, however, Christian saints and thinkers have not stopped recording their thoughts on morality. Here are some key themes.

 

Cardinal Virtues and Deadly Sins

A virtue is a good character trait to have, an excellent habit which leads to good moral behaviour. Christians followed Aristotle's view that four of the most important virtues to have were courage, temperance, wisdom, and justice. They added to this list three theological virtues mentioned in the letters of St Paul: faith, hope, and charity / love. Faith means belief in God, whilst hope means hope for salvation in the afterlife and that good will overcome evil. Charity or love is a translation of the Greek word 'agape' which means brotherly love towards others and willingness to help them.

 

Contrasting with these seven cardinal virtues is the idea of the seven deadly sins. The central idea here is that there are certain thoughts and feelings which ought to be avoided because these cause sinful behaviour: pride, greed, gluttony, lust, sloth, anger, and envy. Pride is thinking too much of your own worth; greed means the strong desire for excessive amounts of wealth and power; gluttony is the specific desire for more food than you need; lust is the strong desire for sex which can lead to promiscuity and adultery; sloth is laziness; anger is when you lose your temper and wish to harm other people; envy is jealousy of other people’s possessions and can be a cause of hatred, resentment, and crime. Christians hold that it is not just how you act that matters morally, but what you think in your mind, so this has to be controlled by virtues such as temperance, faith, justice, and charity.

 

Conscience

In the 4^th Century St Augustine of Hippo wrote on the subject of conscience. Augustine wrote “love, and do what you will.” By this he meant that if you are guided by love, and you try always to do what is loving, then you don’t really need rules to tell you what to do as you will not wish to harm other in the first place. He also meant that if you act with good intentions then you will be right with God: you will have followed your conscience, and so even if you have made a mistake God will understand your actions.

 

Just War Theory

Christianity supports peace, with some Christians advocating pacifism. However, many Christians argue that sometimes war is necessary: St Augustine wrote: “Peace should be the object of your desire; war should be waged only as a necessity… in order that peace may be obtained. Therefore, even in waging war, cherish the spirit of a peacemaker. As violence is used toward him who rebels and insists, so mercy is due to the vanquished or captive.” This theory was further developed by St Thomas Aquinas who gave six rules to make a just war: (i) the war must be for a just cause, not for selfish gain; (ii) the war must be to establish good or rectify evil; (iii) the war must be a last resort; (iv) the war must be ordered by a legitimate authority; (v) there must be a reasonable chance of success, otherwise you are wasting lives; (vi) the war must be fought using only sufficient means, e.g. civilians are not to be harmed.

 

Natural Law

Thomas Aquinas wrote in the 13^th Century, and was influenced by Aristotle. His major contribution to Christian morality was Natural Law. Aquinas formulated a set of precepts which he thought were inbuilt in to human nature (as designed by God), and he built a moral system on them. One of the most basic precepts is that every creature wishes to preserve itself and continue living, so that suicide is an obvious sin against both God and nature. Similarly, he insisted on the need to maintain bodily health by limiting your usage of things such as food and drink. Another precept is that part of our purpose in life is to have children and the genitalia in particular have been created by God for this purpose. To use the genitalia for reproduction is a correct usage in line with their natural purpose, meanwhile, masturbation, use of contraceptives, and homosexuality are all ‘abuses’ of what God has given us and so are ‘unnatural.’

 

Aquinas followed Aristotle’s idea that we are naturally social animals, which therefore means it is a law of nature to serve the community and obey the laws, since society cannot survive harmoniously unless its citizens refrain from killing, stealing, promiscuity, lying, and so on. Aquinas argued that human beings (who have reason) were naturally above the animals, just as kings are above average people. Finally, he argued for the importance of knowledge, something which only humans are capable of and which is needed to help us survive and to bring us closer to God. The concept of Natural Law still plays a prominent role in Catholic morality, such as their objections to contraception, euthanasia, abortion, and homosexuality.

 

Liberation Theology

Liberation theology takes the view that the central mission of the Church ought to be liberating people from unfair, unjust, and abusive political, social, and economic situations. Inspiration for this view is found in the Bible, foe example, in Exodus we find the powerful story of Moses freeing the Jewish people from their slavery in Egypt and leading them across the desert to freedom. In the Gospels we find Jesus’ Beatitudes in which he praises and defends the downtrodden: “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth. Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill” (Matthew 5:3-6). Liberation Theology began as a Roman Catholic movement in Latin America in the 1950s and was influenced by Marxism. The movement has been chastised by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church for its links to Communism and its call for the Church to get involved with revolution and politics. As Catholic Archbishop Dom Herder Camara put it “when I give food to the poor, they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor have no food they call me a Communist.” Even so, it has had much influence, not least from the martyrdom of Oscar Romero who was murdered by the El Salvador police after speaking out against corruption in the government. Romero said “there is no dichotomy between man and God's image. Whoever tortures a human being, whoever abuses a human being, whoever outrages a human being, abuses God's image.” Liberation Theology insists that people take action to pursue justice and free people from oppression.

 

Situation Ethics

Situation Ethics was formulated by Joseph Fletcher in the 1960s. Fletcher criticised mainstream Christian morality for being too deontological and legalistic and as being too obsessed with strict rules of conduct. Life, so Fletcher thought, was too complicated to follow the same inflexible principles all of the time, for example, when you first establish the wrongness of killing as a general law the very next thing you have to do is consider the exceptions such as killing in self-defence. The answer that Fletcher put forward is a teleological ethics similar to Utilitarianism, but instead of being based on the spread of happiness or pleasure, it aims to maximise the amount of agape in the world, agape being the Greek word for unconditional brotherly love and concern for other people, the kind of love that Jesus and St Paul talked about. Essentially Fletcher was proposing a teleological ethic based on Jesus’ command to “love your neighbour as yourself.”

 

Fletcher gave real life examples, such as the German woman who was taken to a Ukrainian prisoner of war camp at the end of WWII. She needed to get back to her family, but could only get released if she was pregnant. She got a prison warden to impregnate her, was released, and welcomed back by her family. When the baby was born her and her husband raised it and loved it just like their other children. Here she has broken one of the Ten Commandments, and yet arguably she has done the most loving thing for her family. Fletcher is presenting a Christian ethic with a similarity to Utilitarianism, but instead based on charity on love. Fletcher insists this is superior to Utilitarianism because it would never be loving to harm individuals or small groups to make others people happy.

 

Criticism of Christian Morality

1) Many people are atheists and so do not believe in God; this means they feel no obligation to follow the rules of Christian morality and may see the morals as just human opinions.

 

2) Many people see the rules of the Bible as out of date, rules made for (or by) people who lived in a very different time and place from ourselves. Therefore, many of these moral teachings are irrelevant or impractical and require modernisation.

 

3) The Bible condones numerous actions which the average Western person today would regard as evil: slavery, genocide, the death penalty, homophobia, sexism, etc.

 

4) The Bible appears to contain contradictions, for example, the Old Testament condones harsh punishments, revenge, and even the death penalty, whereas Jesus taught people to act towards others with love and compassion, and to forgive others, and that you should not be violent but instead “turn the other cheek.” This means moral guidance is unclear, and it is common to see Christians picking and choosing which principles to live by, for example, agreeing with sex before marriage but being against homosexuality, or agreeing with the death penalty but being against slavery. Many Christians insist that where there is a clash priority should be given to the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament.

 

5) The Bible often needs to be interpreted. In Genesis chapter 1 God tells Adam to subdue the world and that mankind is in charge of all of the animals, but does this mean that we have a duty to care for them (Stewardship), or that we are in charge and can do what we want to the world and exploit it for our own gains (Dominion)?

 

6) Some modern moral issues are not mentioned in the Bible at all, such as abortion. In making decisions about these issues Christians have to extract principles from the Bible and interpret relevant passages. Biblical teachings about the Sanctity of Life suggest that abortion is wrong, but on the other hand teachings about compassion may suggest that abortion is the best option, especially if the child will be severely disabled or the mother could die or was raped. The correct moral answer for Christians is unclear, and denominations do not agree.

 

7) Christian morality is based on revelation, not on reason and science. In the Enlightenment period scientists broke away from Biblical ideas about the nature of the world and instead turned to physical investigation. Similarly, Enlightenment philosophers sought to ground morality in more human terms, for example, as a creation of a social contract (Hobbes), or as a product of Reason (Kant), or as an implication of human nature (Bentham’s Utilitarianism). The idea was to have certainty in morality, proven moral facts, not just ideas that apply to those who happen to accept God and the Bible.

 

8) Heaven is not a good reason to be good. Some critics accuse Christians of only being moral because they want to please God, or because they want to get in to heaven and avoid hell. Arguably this is not an adequate reason to be good: surely you should care for others and treat them well because they, as human beings, have value and deserve respect, not to get a reward.

 

9) Friedrich Nietzsche heavily criticised Christian morality as being a form of ‘Slave Morality.’ Nietzsche did not believe in God and saw all moral ideas as made up by human beings, and as being nothing more than points of view. Nietzsche argued that your moral perspective depends on what kind of person you are and your position in society. Nietzsche rejected the idea of equality and instead argued that human beings are unequal because they have different talents and abilities. He divided humanity in to three broad classes: the strong, the intelligent, and the mediocre, who are the majority.

 

The strong will prize strength, health and courage and will take the opinion that they are better than other people, and that they deserve the lion’s share of the world’s resources and power. Similarly, the intelligent will prize cleverness, cunning, and knowledge, and they will think of themselves as better than others, and again as being most worthy of command and wealth. These two groups have what Nietzsche described as “Master Morality” – they believe that human beings are not equal, that some are of better quality, and that those who are strong or clever (or both) deserve to rule and take all of the power and wealth. The ‘masters’ and are perfectly happy to use lesser men in order to get what they want, to sacrifice them like pawns for their own gains. This moral view was characteristic of the Romans and Greeks. The attitude can be summed up in the phrases “might makes right” and “to the victor the spoils.” Nietzsche regarded this attitude as natural and life affirming, because the strong and intelligent are able to achieve their goals and to enjoy the life that all of us naturally crave, the life of victory, pleasure, wealth, and power.

 

Christian morality, however, is an example of Nietzsche calls ‘Slave Morality’: it is the moral view of the weak, of the mediocre majority. They would love to have power and wealth, but they lack the skills and willpower to achieve these things, so they are jealous of the rich and powerful and they come to hate them instead of admire them; the mediocre wish to bring the rich and powerful down to their own pitiful level. For example, Nietzsche would say that most men want multiple wives and lovers; in the ancient world strong, intelligent, and rich men would be able to have many women, but this meant that lesser men could end up with few or none. Out of jealousy, and in order to ensure access to women for themselves, the lesser men declare that people should only have one partner, and that the desire for many partners is sinful and evil: a central view in Christian morality. The ‘masters’ are happy to use and abuse the ‘slaves’ in order to get what they want, and this causes a lot of suffering amongst the slave classes. This causes them to despise greed and wealth, and instead to argue that all men should be treated as equals, and that it is always wrong to harm other people. Nietzsche argues, therefore, that Christian morality is not based on love and kindness, but on jealousy, fear, weakness, and hatred of strength, intelligence, and success.

 

Nietzsche took the view that Christian morality was actually bad for people in numerous ways because it brands naturally desirable things as evil: wealth, power, sex, and success are the things that make life worth living, and yet Christianity calls them evil and calls those who want or have them sinful. Nietzsche would say that traits such as violence, greed, pride, and envy were intrinsic parts of human nature, so Christianity teaches us to hate our nature and to hate ourselves. Moreover, things like ambition and greed are often what drives the human race forward to progress and succeed. Additionally, Nietzsche thinks that religion makes us see life on Earth as meaningless and unfair, and that only the existence of God and heaven can make life worthwhile. In short, Christianity makes life meaningless, and its morals are bad for our psychological health because they stop people from achieving their goals and making life enjoyable and worth living. Nietzsche believes that all of us want to use our talents, achieve our goals, and feel alive and powerful, and this is precisely what Christian morality says we are not to do. Christian morality takes the greatest examples of humanity, the strong and intelligent, and brands them as evil and forbids them from using their strength and intelligence to achieve their goals. For Nietzsche this is like a form of castration, it is an act of vandalism against human nature, and it stops life from being worth living.

 

 

Central questions to consider:

• Is the Bible a good source of moral guidance? How can Christians solve the problem that some of its teachings are vague, out dated, contradictory, or even immoral?
• Is there anything of value in Christian moral principles for a non-believer?
• Are Christian morals really divine revelations, or the opinions of religious people?
• Can Christian morality be defended against the attacks from Nietzsche?