About Christian Morality
There are at least 2.1 billion self-identified Christians in the world who all claim to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. However, to get a consensus about what Christian morality implies or where the moral authority for Christians comes from is very difficult. That being said, once a Christian becomes convinced that a specific moral issue correlates with a true expression of their faith, he may risk life and limb to advance it within a culture. Such Christians whose moral leadership changed whole societies include William Wilberforce, William Booth, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bishop Desmond Tutu.
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Identification
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Morality is a broad term that involves both the ideal and the pragmatic codes of conduct to which people and cultures subscribe based on their understanding of ethics. Philosophers and theologians who debate the basis for moral authority disagree about whether there is any absolute set of moral or ethical standards. For Christians, the spectrum includes those who believe that morality is implicit, something embedded in a person's conscience; those who believe that morality is text-based and revealed in the Bible itself; and those who hold that church hierarchies are the arbiters of moral authority for believers. A wide swath of Christians hold that morality is situational so that what may be prohibited in general, such as lying, for example, may be permissible if it advances a greater good like the protection of the whereabouts of a persecuted Christian leader.
Considerations
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The discrepancies between what Christian morality is exist because of the many different varieties of Christian culture. The traditional liturgical churches like the Roman Catholics, Orthodox Confessional Churches, Anglicans, and Lutherans have the equivalent of policy statements that define their moral positions on key issues. These positions tend to remain unchanged even centuries after they have been formulated. Larger Protestant denominations, such as Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians also publish what constitutes their understanding of a correct Christian moral position on an issue. They are less adamant about keeping particular positions and may convene conferences to present the factors that should be considered in arriving on a consensus about whether to change a moral position or adopt a new one. Unaffiliated individual congregations, nondenominational affiliations, and parachurch organizations may or may not define or defend a particular moral posture.
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Issues
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Abortion, animal rights, capital punishment, circumcision, contraception, organ donations, euthanasia, gay and lesbian rights, and war are all moral issues that divide Christians because there is no consensus. Conservative, evangelical Christians tend to take more rigid positions that are often based on just one or two verses in the Bible. Abortion is one of those issues that is driven by inferring God's will because the Bible does not deal explicitly with the subject of when life begins. Another issue on which the Bible is relatively silent is contraception. The Roman Catholic church has historically been opposed to the use of contraceptives to prevent pregnancy because of their belief that marriage is a sacrament that is meant to produce children. This is reinforced by a short passage in Genesis in which God killed two men for using coitus interruptus to prevent their wife (it was the same woman) from conceiving.
Significance
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Occasionally, a moral issue becomes the rallying cry of a Christian revival. Prohibition in the United States began as a Christian moral position that was popularized by the preaching of men like Billy Sunday. Other issues, such as whether it is permissible for a Christian to join the military and actually fight in a war, have been the ongoing subjects of debate since the first Christians were faced with serving in the Roman army.
Benefits
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However, without impassioned Christians, whose commitment to a moral position becomes their life's work, major social changes would have been less likely. Following his conversion to Christianity in 1789, William Wilberforce gave his life to the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. William Booth combated the twin evils of alcohol abuse and poverty by starting the Salvation Army in the 19th century. His commitment to social justice sprang from his Christian faith and continues to make a difference every day nearly 200 years later. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s commitment to civil rights changed the face of American society in the 1960s but he paid for his platform with his life. In a similar way, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa mobilized many Christians to take note of and fight apartheid in that country, which changed its entire political and social culture. So, while Christian morality has many expressions and a wide spectrum of conclusions and applications, it continues to confront whole cultures about their beliefs, behaviors and presuppositions.
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