Explain How the Ethics of Religion You Have Studied Might Be Considered to Be Absolute

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arbitrarily he is able to order the universe by his divine law, which are seen through the decalogue and throughout the whole of the Bible; commanding how we should live a moral life. Such as the teaching on forgiveness - “if you refuse to forgive others, your father will not forgive your sins”. Therefore as human beings are inferior to God we have an obligation to obey God’s laws which are absolute.

Furthermore the Divine Command Theory is an objective moral system not based on individual preferences which supports the absolutist approach as it gives the theory universality and impartiality. This also emphasises the virtue of obedience and obligation.

Finally, Kantian ethics provides another absolutist aspect to Christian Ethics allowing us to follow a deontological structure to work out morality - directed by the categorical imperative, which gives humans intrinsic value and says they should not be treated as a ‘means to an end’ but an “end in themselves” - further illustrating the absolutist aspect.

Many of Kant’s beliefs and maxims act in accordance with the bible teachings as he believed the ultimate goal was to achieve the Summon Bonum in your afterlife by following the absolute laws of morality in this lifetime. One of his maxims was that “every action should have the ability to be universalised” then the action would be considered to be good, just like Jesus golden rule - “treat others like you would want to be treated”. Kant enforced these rigid rules with no exceptions under his principle of universability.

In conclusion, through the various deontological theories demonstrated, such as natural moral law, divine command theory and kantian ethics, it is evident to see the christian ethics adopts an absolutist aspect where it uses tools such as moral laws to identify and confirm that what is provided for us to live a moral life is true.

Furthermore the universally binding principles of “love your neighbour as yourself”, “treat others as how you would” and the 10 commandments also supported by Natural Moral Law which uses reason and posteriori knowledge to discover morality therefore ethics can be seen to be absolute with the authority and tradition it upholds.

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