Practice Flashcards
Flip to reveal answersName the four sources of Christian ethical authority.
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All 8 Flashcards — Ethical authority
Sign up free to track progress and get spaced-repetition review schedules.
Question
Name the four sources of Christian ethical authority.
Answer
The authority of the Bible, the authority of the Church, ecumenism, and the role of conscience.
Question
Why is the Bible not sufficient on its own for Christian ethics?
Answer
Because the guide's own ethics list includes questions no biblical writer could have anticipated — embryo research, genetic engineering, ethical banking — so principles must be applied rather than quoted.
Question
How does Christian teaching describe conscience?
Answer
As binding — a person is obliged to follow their conscience — and as needing to be formed by scripture, by the Church's teaching and by reflection.
Question
How do the churches differ in deciding a new ethical question?
Answer
Roman Catholic teaching develops through encyclicals; Orthodoxy through synods within a continuous tradition; Anglican churches weigh scripture, tradition and reason; Free churches decide congregationally.
Question
Why is ecumenism listed under ethical authority?
Answer
Because the churches have issued common statements on poverty, peace and the environment more readily than they have resolved doctrine — so Christian ethics is less fragmented than Christian doctrine.
Question
What is the Theme 5 key question, and why is it hard for Christianity?
Answer
How core teachings are applied to a contemporary issue. It is hard because the guide's list includes embryo research and genetic engineering, which no scriptural text addresses directly.
Question
How should contested Christian ethical questions be written about?
Answer
By reporting what each church teaches and the reasoning it gives, attributed by name. The syllabus asks for the positions and the reasoning, not for a verdict.
Question
Which scriptural sources supply Christian ethical principles?
Answer
The Ten Commandments, the two great commandments, Matthew 5 and the Beatitudes, and the other teachings of Jesus.
Read the notes
Full study notes for Ethical authority
Topic 6.5 hub
Ethics and moral conduct
More from Topic 6.5
All flashcards in this topic
World Religions exam skills
Paper structures & tips
Track your progress with spaced repetition
Sign up free — Aimnova tells you exactly which cards to review and when, so you remember everything before your IB exam.
Start Free