Christian and Humanist Views on Biblical Morality

Biblical Morality was framed over 2000 years ago in the Middle East where people were far more nomadic and primitive. Our western society, 2000 years on from then is obviously a lot different and therefore Humanists would say that their biblical morality is now irrelevant to our day and age. We have a range of moral issues inconceivable for biblical writers like abortion, euthanasia, transplants, contraception, genetic engineering, genetic modification, ecological issues, and biological weapons to name a few. There are rules given in the bible like the Ten Commandments but they are extraneous and inflexible. Humanists would argue that moral attitudes change so rapidly that we cannot have fixed written rules to live by. For example, laws to ban people from hitting children have only come in to place over the last twenty years. Living strictly by guidelines written over 2000 years ago seems a little irrational. Christian, William Barclay says: "The Bible is still relevant today because it contains universal and timeless moral principles." However, Modern people can resent rigid instruction like this because they value the freedom to make choices about what they think is best for their own lives.…