The main idea of ethical principles in Christianity is to use them as guidance on how we should live our lives to be closer with God and prepare for His Son’s return. One of the main ethical principles in Christianity is love. This is shown through the teachings of Jesus. Christians get their ethical principles from the Bible, Church authority, the Holy Spirit, using their conscience and Natural Law (Catholics).
The Bible is the main source of where Christian ethical principles come from. It gives us moral guidelines to follow. In Genesis, the Creation story is found which is important to Christians as it shows the intrinsic value of human life. This is significant because humans were made in the image of God and therefore we must do everything that we can to preserve life. Some Christians also believe that God gives and takes away life which makes certain acts such as murder or abortion, wrong.
The Bible also contains the Ten Commandments which are found in the Old Testament. These are absolute, deontological and objective which means that they never change no matter the circumstances. Out of the 613 laws mentioned in the Old Testament, this is the main standard that is followed by Christians. As the Bible is the Word of God, Christians follow the laws that are put in place which includes the Ten Commandments.
Another example of an ethical principle in the Bible is the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is found in Luke 10: 25-37. Christians use this parable to help to promote equality and as a guideline to show how we should live harmoniously with each other in our communities and make good relationships a priority.
Situation Ethics is also used by some Christians as one of the main ethical principles. The main idea of Situation Ethics is to do the most loving thing in a situation. It has four main principles on which it rests on. These are Pragmatism - course of action that works,