Is situation ethics

a religious ethic?
Christian Tradition
Christianity emerged from Judaism in the first century CE. Judaism at Task:
that time had many debates about how far to take interpretation of the Explain why Fletcher believes that Jesus is not
law. Some argued that each of the 613 laws was equally important and a legalist.
should be kept, whereas others argued for a simpler interpretation. Just
prior to the time of Jesus, the Rabbi Hillel famously said, 'That which is
hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah; the Use biblical quotes to support this view.
rest is commentary.' Hence the idea was established in many people's
minds that loving God and loving one's neighbour were the two most
important commandments.

Jesus offers a radical versions of this. He summarises the law as the

requirement to love God and love your neighbour. He breaks Sabbath
laws to heal people, thus bringing about a more loving outcome. He
allows his disciples to pick and eat grain in field, again breaking love for
one's neighbour, regardless of whether we like them or not. Flecher cites 'If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I
a number of these examples to show the danger of legalism and to argue may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing … and now these three
that Jesus' ethics were based on agape. remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.' (Paul in 1
Corinthians 13:3, 13)

As seen in the key quotes on this slide. In the New Testament Paul argues
that the greatest virtues is love, and John's writings are littered with
references to the importance of love.
'Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still
in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the
light and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.' (1 John 2:9-
10)
Christian Tradition
In the fourth century, Augustine famously suggested that people should Task:
'love God and do what they will', as if they truly love God they will be Apart from the teachings of Jesus, what
guided to do the right thing. Likewise, Aquinas' double effect and the other evidence is there that love is
twentieth-century theory of proportionalism might bring more flexibility important in Chrisian ethics?
in Christian ethical thinking than is generally realised. In the early
twentieth century, Archbishop William Temple argued that love in the
main duty that Christians have. There are also ideas of love in the ethics
of Bonhoeffer, whose faith led him to plot against Hitler. Thus, the idea
that love is key to Christian ethics is not new. Fletcher is being more
radical, however, in suggesting that love is the only principle needed in
Christian ethics.

'There is only one ultimate and invariable duty, and its formula is
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself". How to do this is another
question, but this is the whole of moral duty.' (Archbishop William
Temple, Mens Creatix)
Agape and agapeistic calculus
Task:
Christians should base their decisions on one single truth- the rule of agape. This love is not Further summarise how Christians should
merely an emotion but involves doing what is best for the other person unconditionally.
Agape is the word used to describe God’s love for humanity and the love that Christians utilise agape as a rule.
should show towards God and other people. Fletcher took the view of love outlined in the
Bible by St Paul, who wrote: To what extent was Jesus a situation
‘Love is patient, love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not ethicist? Look at the material from these
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, notes. Write a PEEEEL paragraph.
but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things.’ 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
‘And now these things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these in love.’ 1
Corinthians 13:13
Fletcher maintained that the right way to goodness was the application of agape, the love
which Jesus commanded: ‘You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself’
–Luke 10:27. St Paul wrote that love is the fulfilling of the law: ‘Love thy neighbour as
yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore, love is the fulfilment of the law.’ –
Romans 13:10.
This focus on agape means that other guiding maxims could be ignored in certain situations
if they do not serve agape; for example, Fletcher says it would be right for a mother with
a 13 year old daughter who is having sex to break the rules about under-age sex and insist
her daughter uses contraception- the right choice is the most loving thing and it will depend
on the situation. However, the situation can never change the rule of agape which is always
good and right regardless of the circumstances.
Church’s reaction to social and intellectual
developments Task:
Explain the different reactions to the
In 1964 the British Council for Churches on the advice of its Advisory Group on Sex, development of situation ethics.
Marriage and the Family, appointed a Working Party that set out to: ‘Prepare a Statement
of the Christian case for abstinence from sexual intercourse before marriage and
faithfulness within marriage ... and to suggest means whereby the Christian position may
be effectively presented to the various sections of the community’.

The BCC wanted to convey ‘a sane and responsible attitude towards love and marriage in
the face of the misleading suggestions conveyed by much popular literature,
entertainment and advertising’. The ‘misleading suggestions’ that concerned them the
most were, naturally, those that related to sexual behaviour. They observed a ‘widespread
feeling, especially among Christian people, that recent years have witnessed a general
lowering of moral standards and that this is particularly evident in the realm of sexual
behaviour’. The BCC made extensive use of the Schofield report which identified the
influences to which young people in the 1960s were exposed: ‘greater independence;
more money in their pockets and purses; the weakening of family bonds and religious
influences; the development of earlier maturity, physically, emotionally and mentally; the
impact of modern books, television and periodicals’. In the light of these influences, the
BCC wanted to reassess where Christian moral truth lay, and this was a task that many
theologians and ethicists were aware was an urgent task.
Similarly, in the Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII had declared Christian ethics based on
situations as ‘an opposition to natural law, God’s law.’
Robinson’s Contribution to Situation Ethics
In 1963, J.A.T. Robinson’s book ‘Honest to God’ threw the Church into disarray due to its
controversial content. It shook the traditional church at its roots. Robinson challenged the
traditional, conservative view of God as an objectively real being ‘up there’ at the top of a Task:
three-storied universe and in line with Paul Tillich suggested that God be understood as Explain Robinson's contribution to Situation
‘the ground of our being’ of ultimate significance but not a supernatural being who Ethics.
intervenes in the world from outside it.
If this was not enough, Robinson also supported the ‘new morality’. Joseph Fletcher had
not yet written ‘Situation Ethics’ but he had written an article in the Harvard Divinity
Bulletin entitled ‘The New Look at Christian Ethics’ stating that the new Christian morality
for ‘man come of age’ was based on one law only: the law of love.
John Robinson, Bishop of Woolwich, writing in 1963 anticipated that this change in moral
perspective would lead to an increasing rift between Christians: ‘I am inclined to think that
the gulf must grow wider before it is bridged and that there will be an increasing
alienation, both within the ranks of the church and outside it.’
Soon after, the Working Party of the BCC came to the conclusion that ‘the Christian
position is not so easily defined as many imagine. Underlying much of our modern
confusion there is a real uncertainty about what is the proper basis for Christian moral
judgement.’ The way forward was not going to be easy but Robinson was to argue that ‘Dr
Fletcher’s approach is the only ethic for ‘man come of age’. To resist his approach in the
name of religion will not stop it, it will only ensure the form it takes will be anti-Christian.’
To speak of ‘man come of age’ is to speak of humans having reached intellectual and
rational maturity, able to make free moral decisions independent of rules prescribed by
religious authorities.
Situation ethics is to be seen as a religious ethical
theory because:
The ethic is very clearly located in the words of
Jesus, who, when asked to sum up the whole of
the Jewish Law, suggested that only two
commands are needed: 'Love God' and 'Love your
neighbour as yourself'.
Jesus' attitudes to the Pharisees (the religious
scholars) in the New Testament shows a clear
opposition to the legalism of his day. A good
religious ethic does not have to be based on hard-
and-fast rules.
The idea that love is the key evidence of genuine
religious faith is found in the words of Jesus: 'By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another' (John 13:34-35)
and in the teachings of Augustine.
Situation ethics should not really be seen as a
religious ethical theory because:
Situation ethics has been rejected by the Find out more about the
established Church. It was condemned at the time
of Fletcher's writing by Pope Pius XII. It was clear tradition of love in
opposition to natural law on a number of key Christian ethics by reading
issues.
about ethical ideas of
Augustine, Niebuhr, Temple
It can be argued that Fletcher's reading of the
words of Jesus is highly selective. Jesus quite or Bonhoeffer.
clearly condemns divorce and adultery, and speaks
about hell far more than he speaks about heaven.
Jesus tells his disciples that if they him they are to
obey his commandments – that implies that there
are commandments other than love.
Fletcher's interpretation of agape as an
unconditional wishing the best for our neighbour is
not explicitly Christian. In reality, there is little
difference between situation ethics and act
utilitarianism. Fletcher is not overly worried by
this, however, and at one point in his book
suggests that situation ethics is basically a
Christian utlitarianism.