Acts Key Issues

A controversy can be described as an argument, debate or disagreement between people or groups of people. Religious controversy can take place between different faiths, or within the same faith. It can cause splits and divisions. Religious controversy can arise due to intolerance; or a lack of understanding or acceptance of other religious ideas, beliefs or practices. In my two areas of study, Acts, Galatians and 1 Corinthians and Ethics, I am going to examine some major issues which arose in relation to religious controversy.

A prominent issue which appears in both of my area of study is that of sexual immorality. Throughout Paul’s letter to the Corinthians he outlines his teaching on immorality. Paul had received reports that within the Corinth church a man was having sexual relations with his step mother, therefore it is not surprising that he develops his teaching in such depth. In 1 Corinthians Paul explicitly states his opposition to sexual immorality, warning that those who are immoral ‘’will not inherit the kingdom of God’’ another matter of contention that is present in the Corinth church is the subject of fornication, Paul condemned all sexual acts outside the ambience of marriage, but he rebuked the claims of a group of key people called the ‘ascetics’ in Corinth, who condemned all sexual acts.

Another crucial person that takes a coinciding stance to Paul, is Thomas Aquinas. From my studying of ‘Ethics and Society’ like Paul, Aquinas condemned sexual acts outside marriage. This is due to Aquinas’ belief that such a ‘promiscuous performance’ was conflicting to man’s good and in consequence considered it a sin. Aquinas based his teaching on Natural Law, which focuses on the procreative purpose of sex. Equivalently, the founder of Kantian Ethics; Immanuel Kant believed that one should only have sex with someone if they are willing to have a child with them. Aquinas used emphasis to justify his condemnation of homosexuality. Paul was also damning of homosexual acts; in 1 Corinthians Paul placed homosexuals proportionate with rapists and adulterers.

In contradiction John Stuart Mill the founder of utilitarianism took a more liberal approach, he argued that we do not have a right to proscribe the actions of two consenting adults, and the state has no right to infringe upon their liberties by preventing same sex relations or gay marriage. Paul and Aquinas’ conservative and absolutist approach to sexual ethics in general has come under intense scrutiny. One key person that advocates a more liberal approach to sexual ethics is Joseph Fletcher. As a creator of situation of ethics, Fletcher challenges Paul and Aquinas’ teaching from a situational point of view. He debates that while rules may exist, they are not entirely set in stone because ‘love is the only norm.’ In another way of putting it, fornication and homosexuality cannot be sinful if they exist in a loving situation.

Another religious controversy that appears in both my study of ‘Acts, Galatians and 1 Corinthians’ and ‘Ethics and Society’ is that of freedom expression. Stephen is without a doubt a key figure in correspondence to this controversy. In Acts chapters 6 and 7 we are told of how Stephen; ‘a man full of God’s grace’ preached boldly in the midst of fierce opposition from members of the synagogue of the freedmen. Stephen fought for his right to preach and as a result he was brutally stoned to death. Stephen’s martyrdom clearly demonstrates the lengths people will go to defend their faith. Also in ‘Acts, Galatians and 1 Corinthians’ we are told that both Peter and Paul were imprisoned for their controversial preaching, like many human right protestors dealt with in ‘Ethics and Society, they refused to be repressed by the governing authorities. Similarly to Stephen, Jesus Christ himself was also considered a radical. His teachings were controversial in that they often contradicted the Old Testament. Like Stephen, Jesus’ preaching stirred up controversy and as a result he was also ruthlessly persecuted. While these persecutions took place in the time of the early church, they are still common today.

In ‘Ethics and Society’ a number of key figures are evidence of this, for example, Oscar Romero, a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador was assassinated in March 1980, for advocating human rights and for repeatedly calling upon the Salvador soldiers to end their barbarous attacks on civilians. His persecution demonstrates astonishing similarity to that of Stephen and Christ.

Also take into consideration the role played by one of the primary drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, John Humphrey. Humphrey comprised the Article; ‘The right to freedom of opinion and expression, without interference.’ in my opinion it is extremely ironic that even though this right is officially enshrined in law, it is still denied across many countries in the world today. For me this raises the question whether there will ever be a time in society, in which all people will be permitted to openly express their views, without the apprehension of persecution? This highlights in great detail how there can be religious controversy in all aspects of society.