Discussion Points: Love & the Bible

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Scholarship: Is Love Sufficient to Live a Good Life?

There is debate over whether love alone is sufficient to live a good life.

Jesus kept returning to the theme of love and so situation ethics seems to reflect his approach.
Jesus’ authority cannot be denied for Christians.
- Love can empower the Christian to be able to put people first in challenging times.
This is especially true when mainstream society needs to be challenged.

Fletcher’s working principles of pragmatism and relativism show that we make decisions situationally.
- His workings also highlight that absolutes such as ‘do not kill’ or ‘do not steal’ do not always bring about the most loving outcome.

It is over-simplistic to suggest that Jesus’ teachings were only about love.
In the same situation, different people might interpret love in different ways.
- Thomas Aquinas believed love requires reason alongside it to understand how to live life.
It is too complicated to be the solution on its own.

Joseph Fletcher's theory of situation ethics can become an excuse for people simply doing whatever they want.
Many protestants would argue that the Bible is the only source of authority that we should use when making decisions on how to live a good life (sola scriptura).
The Church thinks that we need God’s revelation in the Bible (it is one of the Ten Commandments to ‘keep the Sabbath day holy’).
- So, the Church uses the Bible and informs Christian how they should live their lives.

Some argue the Bible is the only moral guide in Christians. Others argue there is more than one source of moral guidance in Christianity.

Many protestant theologians argue that we need to take a theonomous approach to Christian ethics.
The Bible is seen as having been dictated by God.
- As it contains God’s own direct speech, it alone must be used for moral instruction.
It has been directly dictated by God, the Bible is therefore seen as infallible.
The Bible has provided a rich source of moral commands and principles.
- The most famous of these are the Ten Commandments which cover many aspects of our day to day lives.

When left to their own devices, humans can justify acting as they wish so the Bible is the only means of knowing how to behave morally.
Human-based morality leads to moral confusion and endless debates about what is right and wrong.
Augustine believed that human reason is not to be trusted.
- For this reason, many would argue that only God’s Word as revealed in the Bible can provide a sound basis for Christian ethics.

Catholic theologians would argue that the Bible is central but not the one and only comprehensive guide.
Thomas Aquinas said that natural law is another way in which we can be guided.
- The tradition and teaching of the Catholic Church should also be used as a form of authority. This is because the Bible does not cover modern-day issues.
The official teaching of the Church is known as the Magisterium.

Many moral issues that are discussed within the Bible can be seen to be sexist and homophobic among other things.
- So the Bible needs to be interpreted.
But different Christian denominations have interpreted this differently.
The Bible often contradicts itself and does not offer a clear set of moral principles.
Even conservative Christians have to use reason to decide whether biblical commands are:
- Literal or symbolic.
- Prescriptive or descriptive.