Is it possible to be a moral person and also a Christian?

Question

Morality is defined as 'The judgment of good and bad behaviour according to conscience'. Christianity, by contrast, is inherently amoral, because in the Christian worldview, behaviour is judged solely according to whether or not you follow God's orders (whether or not you commit 'sin').

It would seem on the face of it that being a Christian is incompatible with being a moral person - i.e. Absolutely anything goes, as long as it's (supposedly) what the Christian god wants. Of course, many of the most horrific atrocities in human history have been justified in precisely this way (the Inquisition, burning witches and scientists, the Holocaust etc.).

So, is there any way you can be Christian and still be a moral person? Can you reconcile the concept of sin with the making of moral judgments according to conscience, or do you have to reject the concept of sin altogether in order to make moral judgments?

Answer 1

No. As you point out, morality requires judgement. Christianity presupposes prior judgement. The question is not "right or wrong" but "obey or disobey" This is, as you rightly call it, amoral. That is, it is not IMmoral, for it is not willfully doing wrong, but it is not moral either, for it is not willfully doing what is right. It is amoral because it is without the decision of right or wrong by the causal agent.

Answer 2

Yes it is very possible to be a moral person as well as a christian.

Today most people define Christianity by what they see professed Christians claim to be the christian way of life. A true christian follows the guidelines set out in the bible by God Almighty, not someone's interpretation of God's view on matters. why not have an open mind about the bible and check out what it says. At 1John 5:3 it says God's commandments are not burdensome. The laws placed in God's word the bible are for our own benefit.

Many today give excuses in the name of religion for atrocities commited and honest hearted persons tend to blame God for these terrible atrocities. I use to feel that way until I came to look close, openly and honestly at the bible and i came to realize that God is love, the personification of love can never cause harm to anyone, rather humans have been the cause of most of the problems we see in the world today.

So in all, you can definitely be a christian and a moral person because your conscience, when rightly directed in the right part of pleasing a loving God, just as a child will do anything to get his parents approval, will make you have a sound judgement on practically all matters.

If you want to know more send me a mail.

Answer 3

I love questions like this. I would expect your responses will come in one of three forms. The mighty AMEN, from those people who despise organized religion, an healthy dissertation on the nature of redemption from those who love the discussion, and an outright "Go To HELL you HEATHEN" from those who's faith feels shaken by your propostion.

MY answer to your question is a simple, Yes. Christianity is defined in far too many ways, by far to many resources to be easily generalized as you have here. In essence, I would personally define it as set of common beliefs shared by many, sort of like a "collective conscience". In any collective, you will certainly have a few free radicals that buck the trend, but they should not be held as the norm for that group.

In the end, free will was also defined in the Bible. The ability to make your own choice among the available options. It is with this in mind that I say that yes, there have been many atrocities committed in the name of Christianity. Yet, how can you hold Christianity at fault for this? Can you actually find Hitler's interpretation of scripture as being representative of "Christianity" any more than you can hold a few terrorist actions as being representative of Islam? Free Will allows for interpretation.

Personally, I am "Do unto others ..." kinda guy. Christian? Yes. Moral? Well, maybe not always, but in general a pretty good person. I'll let you judge that for yourself.

Answer 4

The danger of disregarding or even twisting morality is existent in all people regardless of religious affiliation, and apparently the danger increases the more a particular person is exposed/addicted to power and the more fanatical a person is (the Inquisition, Holocaust, etc. were all perpetrated by people with mad lusts for power and a fanatical belief in what they were doing).

Thus it IS possible to be a moral person and a Christian (or Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu or whatever religion). Is it 100% true...sadly NO.

Answer 5

As a Christian, I don't have to judge anyone. The word of God has already judged. It is by that standard that we know how to live. I don't have to point out anyone's wrong doing. So my answer would be yes. I can be a moral person and a Christian. I judge myself in accordance to what God's words says because that's the standard I live by.

Answer 6

Yes, because it all depends on what you call your conscience. You can call the Holy Spirit your conscience, if you don't know it's Him. It's the Holy Spirit that brings all things to remembrance, so when you have to make decision, He'll remind you of what the word of God says, so you can make the right (moral) decision

Answer 7

Can you site one teaching of Jesus that is not Moral?

Just one...

Anyone?

O.K., Morality requires judgement????

That has got to win the award as the most ambigous statment I have ever herd on here.

That is like saying Chocolate requires Sheet Rock.

Peace!

Answer 8

Religion tends to make people morally lazy. That's because it tends to spoon-feed people their moral outlook and discourages any critical thought.

However, people tend to "interpret" their religion to the moral values they want anyway, so most religious people still end up being fairly moral. They just are less flexible in some ways and hold to harmful ideas too long.

In one sense, everybody is moral, in that they have a set of values. Those values might not agree with other people's values, though. Still, experience and genetics has shaped all of our values so that most of us work within societal norms fairly well.

Answer 9

I think it really depends on the person. I used to be a Christian and my moral standards were pretty much the same. I personally think what is dangerous about the christians is that they use the "god will forgive me" as a license to do whatever they please. ie: one could be an axe murderer and as long as they ask for forgiveness, everything is just hunkie dory (I think I dated myself with that expression, eh?) Smart question, thanks!

Answer 10

Where is the bench mark for what is right and wrong? Who came up with it?

God did - Gods defined morals.

If God did not define morals - Who did? Man?