Theology 4 - We Make Moral Decisions

Foundation of Christian Morality

• Catholic teaching identifies morality as human actions
coming from a heart that searches for truth and yearns
for freedom.
• One can live in freedom only if one knows the truth.
• To live a good moral life, one must be in constant
acceptance of truth.

Foundation of Christian Morality

• As Christians we look for truth outside of ourselves.
• We look for truth from our Creator who has created us to give glory
to Him and who loves us despite our failing to live up to His original
expectations.
• He has given us the laws we need in order to achieve the freedom

he has created us for.
• He has given us the tools we need to put ourselves on the correct
path when we do stray.
• Thus our moral decisions are meshed with
our life of faith.

Foundation of Christian Morality

• God is transcendent and loves us unconditionally.
• He knows us better than we know ourselves. We are
created in His image. We are created immortal.
• Thus we realize that he has set up for us laws to help us
become fully human and to find our way to Him.
• We respond in freedom and we are responsible for our
actions.
• Thus He has endowed us with tremendous dignity that
needs to be fully respected in all persons.


Basis of Christian Morality- Where
are these moral laws?

Moral Law can be found in Natural Law
This expresses the original moral sense which enables
people to discern by reason the good and the evil, the
truth and the lie. It expresses the dignity of the human
person and forms the basis of fundamental rights and
duties of all persons.

Basis of Christian Morality- Where
are these moral laws?

Moral Law can be found in Revealed Law
The Old Law expressed in the 10 commandments.
These are laws that contain some truths naturally
accessible to reason. They are revealed by God and
they impact our relationship with God and with one
another.
The New Law expressed in the Sermon on the Mount It
surpasses the Old Law without destroying it and brings it
to perfection. It calls the human heart to conversion and
opens the road to greater freedom.
Basis of Christian Morality- Where
are these moral laws?

Moral Law can be found in Teachings of the Church
Throughout the ages the Church looks and listens to the
signs of the times and proceeds to evaluate their
goodness or their evilness.
The principles of Natural Law and Revealed Law are
applied to current issues and thus their goodness or
evilness can be determined.


What makes a moral act good or evil:

• The chosen action itself:
Objective norms of morality determine if an act is good
or evil, whether it is for a person’s ultimate good or not,
whether it conforms to God’s will or goes against it.
Our reason and conscience help us discover the truth of
these norms.
Certain actions are always seriously wrong because they
involve moral evil.
What makes a moral act good or evil:

• The intention of the action
This resides in the acting subject and indicates the
purpose of why an action is done. It is concerned with
the goal of the activity.
An evil intention always results in an evil action, whether
the action of itself is good or evil.
A good intention never makes an evil action become
good.
What makes a moral act good or evil:

• The circumstances, including the
consequences, are secondary elements.
They contribute to increasing or diminishing the moral
goodness or evil of human acts. They can also increase
or diminish the agent’s responsibility.
Circumstances do not change the goodness or the
evilness of an action.


Role of our Conscience

• Its major role is to bear witness to the truth. When one listens to his/her
conscience, the prudent person can hear God speaking. It also judges
particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those
that are evil.
• It is important to be present to one's self in order to hear and follow our
conscience. It requires reflection, self-examination, and introspection.
• Our conscience must be properly informed in order to be upright and
truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with
the true good revealed by the wisdom of the Creator. We are assisted by
the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and
guided by the authoritative teachings of the Church.
• Our conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments.
Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.

An example
Embryonic Stem Cell research.

We need to know what this entails. What sources do we rely on to
get to the real info?
How does Natural Law, Revealed Law, and the Teachings of the
Church apply – this is when our conscience becomes formed.
If the action is deemed evil, we condemn the action, not the people.
If the action is good, then we give glory and praise to God, since all
comes from Him and should return to Him.
Sinfulness in the world
• Mortal sin is serious sin. It includes attitudes, desires, actions, or lack of action that
kill our relationship to God and others.
• To sin mortally, all following 3 items must be true:
• Grave matter: i.e. seriously wrong actions such as murder, adultery, apostasy, etc.
• Sufficient reflection: We know full well that what we are considering doing is
seriously wrong, i.e., is sinful and opposed to God’s law, but we do it anyways.
• Full consent of the will: We do the action with freedom and not under the pressure
or influence of limiting factors like force, blinding passion.
• Sin committed with malice, by deliberately choosing evil, is the worst kind of sin.
Sinfulness in the world
• Venial sin partially rejects God. It is a stumbling block on the path of
following Jesus.
• They are not deadly, they do not destroy sanctifying grace nor friendship
with God.
• Venial sins still need to be eradicated from our lives.
• The danger is that repetitive venial sins can lead to vices, especially what
has been called capital sins – pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and
lust. These can eventually lead us to mortal sin.
• Venial sins weakens love and attaches us to created goods rather than
God.


Sinfulness in the world

• All sin is the result of a personal action.
• Every sin produces social and institutional
moments that are contrary to God’s will.
• Every sin brings about evil in society and
can entice people into committing sins.
Grace in the world
• The gift of the sacrament of reconciliation
Our God is so loving that he continually invites us to
reconcile ourselves to Him and to His plan.
We are called to continuing conversion: moving away
from what weighs us down toward the loving arms of our
God.
Thus we fulfill God’s plan to bring all of creation, starting
with ourselves, back to Him.


Grace in the world

• Living the virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
• Spiritual works of mercy
Counsel the doubtful Instruct the ignorant
Admonish sinners Comfort the afflicted
Forgive offenses Bear wrongs patiently
Pray for the living and the dead
• Corporal works of mercy
Feed the hungry Give drink to the thirsty
Clothe the naked Visit the imprisoned
Shelter the homeless Visit the sick
Bury the dead


Grace in the world
• The call to continuing conversion and building the kingdom of God.
• As our grace-filled actions, guided by the Holy Spirit, become
manifest, others feel motivated to do the same.
Errors to be avoided
• Denying the value of truth and the value of freedom: Truth is
relative, individualistic, changes with the whims of the person.
Freedom is not possible, our decisions stem from the circumstances
of our environment and our upbringing.
• Redefining truth and freedom so that they are no longer meshed
together: Truth = what is right via opinion polls, popular consensus
Freedom = license to do what pleases me
• Elevating the role of conscience to an absolute: My conscience is
the sole authority to determine what is right and what is wrong. I
have no one to answer to except myself. The only law is found in
my inner self. This is individualism at its best.



Sources

• The Splendor of Truth, encyclical written by John Paul II, August 6th, 1993.
• This is our Faith, Michael Francis Pennock – Chapter 17
• The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Part 3 - Life in Christ
Section 1 - Man's Vocation: Life in the Spirit
Chapter 1 - The Dignity of the Human Person
Article 3 – Man’s Freedom
Article 4 - The morality of Human Acts
Article 6 - Moral Conscience
Chapter 3, - God’s Salvation: Law and Grace
Article 1 - The Moral Law