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Now you have spoken. where else(beside the Gospels) should a Christian look at to base his or her morals on?
Some Christians may get their morality from tradition.
Hello, this thread was made after going off-topic in a different thread.
I want to know about Christian morals. What is the definition of Christian morals? And where do these morals come from?
Christian morality, or rather what is appropriate behavior and activity/action for a Christian is rooted in Christ.
I want to know about Christian morals. What is the definition of Christian morals? And where do these morals come from?
Obviously we get some of our morality from the Bible, mostly the New Testament teachings of Jesus.
Some Christians may get their morality from tradition.
We can also get moral teachings by using reasoned arguments. For example taking foundational morality in the Bible or morality that is common to all people and applying reason to it to try to come to a new understanding of right and wrong.
Now you have spoken. where else(beside the Gospels) should a Christian look at to base his or her morals on?
What is tradition? And by "the church", do you mean religious clerics?The Church and tradition.
You have to realise that a majority of Christians aren't bible only (sola scriptura) Christians. However they are a majority on this thread so more people will be here focussed on the Bible.
That is totally irrelvent and off-topic, unless this holy spirit you talk about is preaching Christian teachings.
I'm not talking about how are Christians magically guided, I'm talking about what do Christians base their morals on.
How do you use his righteousness? What is his righteousness? I'm sorry but this doesn't make any sense.
"Christian morals, or Christian Morality" is a religious terms that describes the actions of one who believe themself to be a follower of Christ.
Note a religious term does not automatically mean the term is from, or of God. Any form of religion is a work of man to interpret the works or will of God. there are many scriptural or false religious terms or ideals.
That said, "Christian Morals" in of themselves do not make one a follower of Christ. Those who's believe that one has to follow a set standard of "morals" or rules do not understand the true morality/freedom found in Christ.
So in a word Christian Morals come from other christian's interpretation of God's word or perceived will.
Man was separated from God through sin. Man was reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. And through that reconciliation we receive the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit.
It is by the leading of the Spirit of God that we Christians are called to live our lives. As the Spirit convicts and moves us, (if we are obedient) we become more Christlike (God-like). It is a process of sanctification that God does from within us, in his way and in his time.
In contrast to Christianity, followers of every other faith have a faith of works and self sanctification. They are subject to the rules and morals of men / natural authorities and delight in finding ways to make themselves appear more righteous, more holy and in so doing suppose they have better morals than others. The nature of their faith also commands theat they exercise dominion and authority over others through power, violence accusation and judgement.
The Spirit of God calls us to live by faith, to treat others as we would like to be treated, to overcome evil with love, to be a blessing to others rather than judgment and the Spirit of God demands to be our moral compass in all things in life.
Sadly many Christians choose to live by the law of the Old Testament and in so doing mirror other faiths such as the Jews, Muslims and even carnal Christians.
This is the difficulty when trying to discuss these things with a Muslim; they don't know what those bolded words mean. They try to reduce it to just an individual, not recognizing that "Christ" is an office, not just a last Name.
What is tradition? And by "the church", do you mean religious clerics?
I will answer for myself. I look at the Bible, I talk to my priest, and I read Christian literature; works by the saints and by the Church fathers. I listen to sermons on a Sunday, and I read sermons by other priests.
And then I use my common sense to work out what all of these mean, in relation to my own life, and my own situation. If I have any uncertainty, I check with my priest, and because I am rather a traditional sort of person, I rely on him for spiritual advice if I am in any doubt.
Ultimately, my conscience is what determines my morality, but that conscience answers to my faith, and to my church.
However, at the source, there isn't a written moral code, there is a person: Jesus. His words and His deeds and His life are the source of Christian morality and Christian ethics.
Following this the question becomes how does one follow Christ faithfully, for which answers become more diverse due to differences in theology, biblical hermeneutics and a host of other issues over which the planet's estimated 2 billion Christians disagree, discuss, quibble, argue or shout at each other about.
But at the heart is still Jesus of Nazareth, what He said, what He did, and how He lived.
-CryptoLutheran
Tradition is the teaching and faith which the Christian Church has passed down from generation to generation; it is also called "Apostolic Tradition" because it is the preserved teaching received from Christ and His apostles since the foundation of the Church.
That is, at least, a somewhat simplistic answer of how Orthodox, Catholics (and etc) generally understand Tradition (with a capital 'T'). Protestants, such as myself, have varying understandings of Tradition based roughly on how our respective denominations and theologies understand it. For instance, I believe Tradition is invaluable but not infallible, to be respected by not regard as beyond reproach.
It is also necessary to note that there is a distinction between Tradition ("Sacred Tradition"/"Apostolic Tradition") and tradition. The Doctrine of the Trinity is Tradition, folding one's hands during prayer is a tradition.
And as for the Church, in includes clergy, but it's the whole Church: all of the Faithful who are members of the Church. For Orthodox it means the Orthodox Church, as they understand that Christ established His Church and sent out His Apostles who preached Him, who established communities pastored by bishops and priests who carry on the Apostles' mission of pastoring and preaching. Catholics believe similarly but believe that among Christ's apostles Peter was the visible head, and thus the successor of Peter remains the visible head, which is the Bishop of Rome also called the Pope. Protestants have various ideas of the Church.
But all those differences aside, what is not meant is simply some clerical authoritarianism, but rather the universal consensus of Faithful Christians who are in communion as one Church, sharing in that faith as preserved for us--either in Scripture alone (as some say) or in Scripture and Tradition (as others say) or in some sort of combination (as still others say). Which is all a very elaborate way of saying that the Church is fundamentally a community (not just a community, but it is a community), the Church is both clergy and laity in concert sharing in faith and living together corporately as a people devoted to Jesus.
-CryptoLutheran
I see, so the whole bible is a guidance to Christian morality, not just the Gospels.
What is tradition?
In other words, ignoring some Christian morals because they don't fit the 21st century.
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