Christian Morality 2021 PDF

Ethics: Moral philosophy
Provides principles on the morality of human acts

Provides a theoretical knowledge of the morality of human acts
Provides bases of right or wrong and good or bad actions.
Ethics: Moral philosophy
It does not necessarily follow that man does what he knows.
Ethics does not actually guarantee that man will be moral.
One can be moral when one applies ethics (theory).
Morality: Moral Theology
• The praxis (practice) of the ethics
(theory)
• Properly called applied ethics
• Actualizes the theory into a real
action
• The doing of ethics
What does “moral”
mean?
(Moral: Latin Mores:

customs, habitual
ways of doing things)
Customary ways of
doing things can, of
course, be either right
or wrong, good or evil.
When we say that

something is “moral”
we generally mean
that it is “good”.
In morality, the
fundamental value is always
the human person
and the person in
relationship with society.
.
We belong to society and the human community
by the very nature of our birth;
thus, personal morality can never be divorced from
our responsibilities as members of that society
Since customs, practices, habitual
ways of doing things vary from
culture to culture, it can be
expected that there will be
varying approaches to
morality.
The major issue in these varying approaches to morality is that people
have different views of what is good or evil.
Good or Evil
•Every human person has an innate
tendency to seek his or her fulfilment
and perfection.
The mere fact of being alive and being
human means that one has purpose, one
has goals, one seeks meaning in life.
Also it means that one has needs
and desires pursuant to keeping
oneself alive and seeking one’s own
fulfillment.
This fulfilment, or perfection, we call “the good”.
Hence, we can state another fundamental truth:

Anything contributing to the full actualization of
human potential and the proper development of the
human person is good or moral.
Those who believe
in God see and
understand God as the
final end and
purpose of human
life, the supreme
good.
Just as anything that contributes to the
proper growth and development of the
human person is good, so anything that
frustrates or acts against this proper
growth and development is considered
to be evil.
What are some of the things that
frustrate human life and
development, and which everyone
would therefore consider evil?
Here is a partial list: Death, suffering, pain,
disability, Deprivation of freedom, Discrimination
that deprives one of opportunity to improve
oneself, Deprivation of worth and self-esteem.
We call these pre- moral evils ( that is, evils in the

objective sense before any moral slant has been
added).
Human beings may be
deprived of what they
need for their growth and
development as persons in
different ways.
One way that pre-moral evil may be
caused is by natural disaster such as
earthquakes, floods, epidemics,
accidents and in general, things which
are outside of human control.
We call such evils “physical evils”. But as

we know quite well, most of the evil in
the world does not occur in this way.
Most evil in the world is brought on by the free,
deliberate and unjustified actions of human beings.
• We call such evils “moral evils”. And so, moral

evils occur when we voluntarily and deliberately
become involved in the spread of pre-moral evil.
SOME IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS
1. Morality has to do
with who and what we
are as human beings
and with our
legitimate
development as
persons.
2. Authority does not
create morality.
3. Immoral and illegal
are not the same thing.
Two presuppositions in
Moral Theology
1. Man possesses freedom of will
• Men experience themselves not merely as
instruments in the hands of higher forces, but as
creative agents.
• Able to choose among alternatives
• Capable of self-determination
2. Man is accountable to an ultimate
value or authority
• From the commitment to this ultimate value, human
life receives its ultimate meaning
• The existence of God and man’s accountability to an
ultimate value are not two separate presuppositions
Division of
Moral Theology
General Morals
• Treats the general presuppositions of the moral act and
its qualities that it may contribute to human’s final goal
• Why the action has to be done?
• Ethics of being
Special Morals
• Treats the human action
• What action has to be done?
• Ethics of doing
2 Subdivisions of Special Morals
• Man’s responsibility in the
religious realm: God
•Man’s responsibility towards the

created world: neighbor &
creation
BASES OF MORAL THEOLOGY
•Divine Revelation (Christian Faith)
OLD TESTAMENT
NEW TESTAMENT
TRADITION (Church Teachings)
•Reason (human intelligence)

What is the Challenge then to our
Christian moral living?
Jesus’ teachings about love have
two dimensions:
Vertical (pointing to God)

Horizontal (pointing to others)
Faith in God alone is not
enough in order to live a
good life. We must also
love our neighbor.
On The Catholic Faith
The Catholic Faith teaches that “wrong is wrong,

even if everyone is doing it.”
And that “right is right, even though no one else
is doing it.”

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Ethics: Moral philosophy

Provides principles on the morality of human acts

(Moral: Latin Mores:

When we say that

Hence, we can state another fundamental truth:

We call these pre- moral evils ( that is, evils in the

We call such evils “physical evils”. But as

• We call such evils “moral evils”. And so, moral

•Man’s responsibility towards the

•Reason (human intelligence)

Vertical (pointing to God)

The Catholic Faith teaches that “wrong is wrong,

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