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Is Christian ethics relativistic or absolutist? Explain your answer. According to the text, relativism morally depends on culture and circumstance. In other words, the morals of individuals are determined by the society they live in. For example, the Bible states that "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13), but if your parent is suffering through a slow and painful death, the undying love you have for your parent, and the want to stop their suffering, you choose to end their life rather than see them continue to constantly suffer. One of the strengths of relativism is the belief in tolerance and respect for other societies.
They believe that even though they might not agree with other cultures morals it does not mean that their morals are actually incorrect. They do not believe that one groups view of morals are superior to another group. Another strength is the rejection of a single society forcing their morals on another. A majority of historical conflicts revolve around a certain group trying to force their ways onto another group.
One weakness of relativism is that it fails to believe that certain moral values are universal. Relativism believes that because every culture has different values, there is no complete good or bad. According to the text, absolutism refers to what is actually right or wrong independent of what people think. In other words, absolutism is the belief that a moral is something that is complete and not up for debate. For example, the Bible states that "Thou shalt not kill." (Exodus 20:13), so an absolutist believes there is no moral reason or circumstance that will justify the killing of another person. One of the strengths of absolutism is that its morals are bases on a set of universal values. Absolutism also provides a strict moral code that gives clear and precise conclusions that might be needed for ethical guidance.
A weakness of absolutism is that it is intolerant of those who views differ from theirs, and they ignore circumstances where ethical judgements have to be made. For example, if someone believes that in all cases abortion is wrong, but a mother has complications where the fetus is actually detrimental to the mother's health. So, the mother decides to have an abortion. An absolutist believes that the mother was wrong in this situation no matter the reasons for having the abortion. I believe that Christian ethics are supposed to be absolute but is actually relativism. The Bible provides us with a basis of rules within the ten commandments in Exodus 20, but all too often we just use it as a basis for our moral instead of following the commandments as it is written. In other words, we give them our own interpretations and live our life through those.
What, if any, are the differences between ethical relativism and the subjective aspects of Christian ethics? Ethical relativism follows a set of rules set by different societies. The subjective aspects of Christian ethics are based on personal preference.