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• Basic dignity remains intact but needs to be developed to its fullness through the exercise of reason and free choice
• Dignity


  The intrinsic worth or value of every human being that distinguishes him from any other creature
• God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them
• As God's creatures created in God's image, we have the responsibility to recognize and value the dignity of others and cooperate with God's grace to live a fully human life
• God blessed humankind and instructed them to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it, and have dominion over all living things
• Characteristics of human dignity

  • Intrinsic- a basic condition or irreducible principle of humanity
  • Inalienable- it cannot be taken away from us
  • Inviolable- Regardless of what happens to a person or what he does, one "never loses the dignity of being a person"
• Being "imago dei" refers to

  • God's own self-actualization through humankind
  • God's care for humankind
• Inspired Word: 'Genesis 1:26-28'
• Moral implications of human dignity include respect, defense, and promotion of human wellbeing
• Freedom


  • The power to do what you want to do: the ability to move or act freely
  • Autonomy or the power of self-determination
• Freedom

  Thinking, conscious, and responsive to the world, allowing us to choose what is good
• Freedom

  Autonomy or the power of self-determination through choices
• Conscience


  Most secret core and sanctuary of a man, where he is alone with God
• Our whole moral outlook and character is important. Our way of seeing and approaching moral matters is the background against which we make moral judgments (Gula, 1989)
• Conscience


  Capacity to search for a moral standard and adhere to it
• Freedom

  An exceptional sign of the image of God in us, allowing us to turn towards what is good
• Freedom is the power to do what you want to do: the ability to move or act freely
• Authentic freedom

  Involves freedom from interior and exterior obstacles
• Authentic freedom is not "the right to say and do anything," but to "do the good"
• God’s law is written in our hearts, but it needs constant formation and nourishment to grow in strength and power
• Conscience

  Sharing moral knowledge with the self
• Exercise of freedom

  Corresponding duty to respect the same freedom in others
• Three Senses of Conscience by Timothy E O’Connell: 1. the basic sense of responsibility that characterizes the human person *Synderesis - the inner drive to the good 2. the exercise of moral reasoning - we seek to grasp moral truth - What is good? 3. the judgment by which we evaluate a particular action
• The Reality and Meaning of Sin


  A story about a king visiting a prison, where one prisoner admits to his crime and is released by the king
• Pope Pius XII: 'The greatest sin of our times is that we have lost the very sense of sin'
• Church Teaching: Biblical Concepts of Sin

  Rebellion and transgression - a conscious choice that destroys positive relationships. The tragedy of sin is never that God decides to reject or deny the sinner but that the sinner decides to reject God. God's love does not cease; ours does (Vincent Genovesi, S.J)
• Definitions of Sin

  • An offense against religious or moral law
  • Transgression of the law of God
  • In religion, it is generally understood as the transgression of a sacred or divinely sanctioned law or practice
• Morality


  Refers to values, codes of conduct that are put forward by an individual or a society which distinguish between what is right and wrong
• Jesus' life as both human and divine becomes our NORM
• There is an invitation for us to check on our Christian life as our world faces a moral crisis
• LOVE

  Self-transcendence: We live as lovers when we are inspired and motivated to move beyond ourselves in order to support and strengthen the lives and existence of others
• From the perspective of Christian morality, cite and explain at least two things that define an authentic moral Christian
• As Christians we are called to translate the Christian faith into action
• Present day phenomena: '“Reason is enthroned while faith or religion is dethroned. Reason and its power are put at the center while faith and religion are at the margins.”'
• Two Views on Morality Descriptive:

  -refers to values, codes of conduct that are put forward by an individual or a society which distinguish between what is right and wrong

  Normative:

  - the code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons

  - the conduct of the ideal moral person in a certain situation
• CHRIST'S COMMANDMENTS: '“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:27'
• It is about striving for authentic humanity
• Other Terms Related to Morality:

  ● moral code- a system of morality which are often complex definitions of moral and immoral that are based on well-defined value systems

  ● “moral”- any practice/teaching within a moral code

  ● “immoral” - an active opposition to any moral code

  ● “amoral”- unawareness of, indifference toward any set of moral standards or principle
• • CHRISTIAN MORALITY
  • the careful, systematic examination of the life and person of Jesus and how it should influence our moral life (Wostyn, 2004). -Jesus' life as both human and divine becomes our NORM.

  - It is about striving for authentic humanity
• LOVE – self-transcendence