For some Christians, the local church can help them to decide whether something is right or wrong. There are many different types of Christian churches, and they all have different views on whether something is right or wrong. Christians can go to church on a Sunday for mass, or they can go anytime during the week to pray and relax. The church can play an important part in Christians lives, as while they are there they are communicating with God. There are also different clubs that are held at the church so Christians can meet up and discuss issues with each other. There are other types of Christian churches, such as African and Caribbean, Anglican, Asian, Baptist, Brethren, Catholic, Church of Scotland, Congregational, Free church of Scotland, Independent Evangelical, Methodist, Orthodox, Pentecostal, Quaker, Salvation Army, United Reformed, and the welsh chapel. I have just selected some to show examples of what different churches believe.
One type of church is called Roman Catholic. At a roman catholic church, Catholics can go to reconciliation, this is where they can talk to the priest confidentially and he can forgive them of their sins. He will give them a pennant and Catholics must do this to receive forgiveness. The Roman Catholic Church does not allow women priests, and when Catholics go to confession, they might not tell everything to the priest that they would if there was a woman priest.
Another type of church is called Anglican, which is also known as the Church of England. The Church of England is run by the Queen, and was set up when Henry VIII wanted to divorce his first wife, but the Catholic Church was against it. The Anglican Church believes that divorce is not wrong and that the pope is not the leader of the church, but instead the queen is.
Another type of Church is called United Reformed. This is also known as URC. A united reformed church allows men and women priests, which means that if a member of the congregation ever wanted to talk to the priests about issues they are faced with, they can talk to the woman if they do not feel comfortable , talking about issues with a man. A URC often has a form of a Sunday school. This is where children can go before the service, and then join in to he mass at the end. At the Sunday school, children can learn about the bible and talk about what it is teaching us. The United reformed church has different views on abortion and believes that it is not wrong.
Another type of church is called Quaker. This church believes that war is wrong, and people should always use peaceful ways to resolve things. Quakers believe strongly in prayer, and most of the services are based on it. Sometimes at a Quaker church, they can have a whole sermon in silence, where they are listening to God.
Christians believe that the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit can help them to make moral choices. Prayer is a very important part of Christians lives. Prayer is when Christians can communicate with God. Prayer can help us to make moral decisions, because when we pray, we can either be alone (private prayer) and think about things deeply, or we can pray as a group (communal prayer) and discuss things with each other.
Although there is only one god, he can be described in three different ways, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is inside every one of us, and can give us courage and comfort and guide us. The Holy Spirit can help us to make moral choices, because we can ask for guidance, and then if we read the bible, it would help us to make the right choice. The Holy Spirit is shown in many pictures as different symbols, such as the dove. When we see a picture of a dove, it is a way of showing us that God is with us, he is helping us to make the right choices.
Some Christians Use their conscience to help them make decisions. Christians use their conscience guided by prayer in the Holy Spirit. When people say things like ‘I just knew it was right’, this is when their conscience has helped them to make a moral choice. Some people describe their conscience as a triangle that is in their chests with sharp edges, and every time we do something wrong, the triangle will move and so it hurts us which is when we feel guilty. When the triangle has moved around so many times, the sharp edges wear away, so it is left as just a circle, and then every time it turns, we can’t feel it anymore. I think this is a good way to describe it, because then when someone has done so many wrong things; they don’t feel guilty about doing them any more.
Many Christians believe, and also like the situation ethics, that agape love (Christian love) can help them to make some decisions. Christians believe that god is love, and that we should all love one another. There are three other types of love, which are Eros, which is sexual love, feelings for someone whom you find attractive, Philos, love you would have for your siblings, or a close friend, and Storge which is love you would have for your family. These are loves we have for specific people, but agape love is the love we share for everyone. Christians can make decisions based on agape love, because they would just make the decision that is best for the people they love. This is just like the situation ethics view, because they believe that we should base our decisions on ‘any situation and act out of Christian love.’ An example where agape love can help us make decisions is war. The decision would be not to go to war, because lots of people would die who we loved, and therefore it would make people sad, and we don’t like to see people who we love when they are sad.
There are many things which can influence us on how to make a moral choice, which everyone uses. These are our teachers, friends, television, politician, heroes, the internet and the media. For example, the issue of abortion is used many times in the media. An example of when it is used is in soap operas, like Eastenders, when teenagers are getting pregnant, and they no they cant cope with the baby, so they would decide to have an abortion. Teenagers watching these shows would think that it is okay to concede, because there is always the opinion of aborting the child if you get pregnant. At an early age, because they could just have an abortion. This is not right, because they do not realize that they are killing a baby when they are doing this.
Another way in which the media can influence our decision is from magazines. If we see a celebrity who has had IVF treatment, then we might think that it is alright, because we have seen someone famous have it. Normally, if we hadn’t seen this before, then we wouldn’t have even considered having it as it is wrong. The magazines can also use persuasive language which can make us think again when we have to make moral decisions.
Euthanasia is an example of a moral issue. The bible can help us to decide whether it is right or wrong, because as the bible says ‘No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death’ this is from Ecclesiastes 8:8. This is saying that no one should decide when it is that they are going to die. The Catholic Church made a statement saying that ‘Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.’ The Catholic Church is agreeing with the bible. However Euthanasia does happen in the world today, so if your conscience is telling you something different, then you could ask to die to put you out of the pain and suffering you would be going through. Many people go to court, or go abroad to a country where euthanasia is allowed.
In conclusion, I believe that the most powerful way that helps us to make moral decisions is our conscience. I think this because it is always there, whereas with the bible, we do not necessarily always have it with us. Also with the bible, it was written thousands of years ago, and the issues we are faced with today; people were not faced with them when it was written. Also, if we have to make a decision quickly, we would not have time to go to the church. Also there are many different types of churches, so what one person thinks is wrong, another person would think is right. I think that our conscience is built up from the knowledge we have got from church and from the bible, so in a way it can work as all of them apart from prayer. We can pray whenever we want to, which can help us, but some Christians believe that their conscience is God answering their prayers. I think that our conscience is trained by how we are brought up, and therefore it is the best way to help us solve moral issues.
Bibliography
To help me with my essay, I have used many sources, which are named below:
Christian Perspectives textbook
RE exercise book
Today’s issues and Christian beliefs textbook
www.request.org.uk
www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/sosteacher/re
re-xs.ucsm.ac.uk/ethics/abortion