Should Christians only use the bible for guidance when making moral

It contains the decisions? The Bible is God’s

teachings of Word (dictated to
The Bible was written by people
Jesus. (e.g. the writers)
Sermon on the Mount) who had a particular message to
spread – needs interpreting by
the Church? The Bible might only
It contains the Decalogue (10
be inspired by God
C) & other rules/guidance
It was written in
a different time It shows what Jesus &
The Bible has been translated when society was the apostles would do in
– may not be accurate? different e.g. situations
St Paul’s
Written by Humans – we
attitude to The Church says to use the Bible
make mistakes!
women & is approved by God.

Bible is not influenced by present

culture
The Bible does NOT contain ALL moral
issues.
How might a
Christian
answer these
questions?
 SOURCES OF
AUTHORITY
LO: to explore other sources of authority that
Christians refer to when making moral decisions
 Sources of Authority
When making moral decisions, a Christian wants to know what God would
want them to do. To find this out they turn to trusted sources that they
believe have some authority [credibility] to help guide their decisions. This
obviously includes the Bible but there are others. E.g...

Conscience
The Church
Prayer

The Apostles Creed

The Church as a source of
authority
What are the main functions of a
church? What is their role?
How might the church act as
a source of guidance? How
does it fulfil this purpose?
How does the church act as a source of
guidance?
◦ The church is seen as the body of Christ meaning that Jesus speaks and act
through the church
◦ Practises such as confession (Catholic Church)
◦ Access to religious leaders (priest, vicars)
◦ As it is a place of worship lots of the community come together on a regular
basis and they could provide and offer help and insight
◦ Religious leaders could help you to make sense of religious texts
◦ Some churches provide educational courses like the Alpha course- help you to
know how to live a good Christian life and therefore make the right decision
Some Christians believe that the role of the church is to
interpret and explain the Bible. There are some Christians
that believe that only the church can do this. Why?
Reasons why some Christians believe ONLY the CHURCH has authority
to explain what the Bible means
The Church is the Body of
God didn’t stop speaking to people
Christ on earth – ie how Jesus
works in the world. If it is the body of
after the Bible – God speaks
Christ then it must have the same through the Church + leaders who
authority of Christ interpret scripture

If every Christian made The Church is the

their own decisions – community of Christian
everyone would behave believers – so it must be
differently! guided by God.

Catholics believe the The Holy Spirit guides

Magisterium (Pope + Authority to teach was the Church today –
Bishops) gives infallible given to the apostles Jesus is the head of the
guidance by Jesus + passed Church
(Col 1:18)
down
◦ “And he is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning and the
firstborn from among the dead, so that in
everything he might have the supremacy.”
(Colossians 1:18)
The Holy Spirit
◦ What is the Holy Spirit?
◦ Thinking back to the different beliefs that we covered about the
Holy Spirit and its role- what belief would be relevant to this topic?

◦ It is the part of God that Christians believe is active in the world

◦ How is the Holy Spirit a source of authority? How does it help

Christians make decisions?
How is the Holy Spirit a source of authority?
How does it help Christians make decisions?

◦Explain in your own words, based on what we

have just discussed, how the Holy Spirit helps
Christians to make moral decisions. You may
wish to use part of the quote in your
explanation.

Challenge: Do you think it is right for Christians to leave the

interpretation of the Bible to the Church?
How is the Holy Spirit a source of authority?
How does it help Christians make decisions?
◦ God sends the holy spirit to bring grace. This means that Christians are able
to pray for help from God to turn away from sin and live good lives.

◦ How does this help when making moral decisions?

◦ Essentially Christians believe that it will help them know right from wrong and
therefore make the right decision.

◦ This is illustrated in Acts 2: 1-4.

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind
came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that
separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2: 1-4)
Exam Practice
c) Explain Christian teachings about authority
within the church (8)

b) Describe the sources of moral authority that a

Christian might refer to when making a moral
decision (5)

Challenge: Q d) ‘The Bible provides all the advice a person needs .’

3 agree, 3 disagree. Plan this answer. What points will you use on each
side?
GCSE Exam Question:

Q d) ‘The Bible provides all the advice a person

needs.’
Agree Disagree

Reasons why Reasons why

someone might someone may
agree…. disagree…
Example D question

D question: “Jesus was just an ordinary man.”

Discuss the statement showing that you have considered more than
one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your
answer) (15)

Remember: 6 x PEE (3x agree, 3x disagree- ALL from a Christian

perspective)