A Level: OCR

A detailed investigation into Neil Messer's key ideas on situation ethics, including what they are, how they work, and why they're important. This lesson provides a brief biography of Neil Messer and covers the introductory chapter to his book, Christian Ethics. This includes criticism of situation ethics on three grounds: first, it's irrelevant; second, it's unsupported by Christian sources of authority; and third, it's too vague and ignores specific Christian teachings.

Neil Messer's Christian Ethics isn't exclusively about situation ethics; it's an introductory text to the Christian moral landscape, and its treatment of situationism is incredibly thin. Nevertheless, Christian Ethics is a useful book because it contextualises situation ethics within the two millennia-long history of Christian moral development. You can pick up a copy of Neil Messer's book here. Although I don't agree with everything in it, it will help enrich your understanding of situation ethics and Christian ethics more generally.