Morals

• Moral decisions are a key aspect of everyday life - they are concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour.
• For Catholics, moral decision making will always be the choice that follows God's law.
• Sources of moral authority in the Catholic church (referred to as the three-legged stool).

  • Scripture (bible)
  • Tradition
  • Magisterium.
• Features of Catholic Moral Decision Making

  • Creation - humans are created by God to do good.
  • Freedom - humans are free to make good choices
  • Conscience - humans are created with the ability to make good decisions.
  • Holy Spirit - guides moral decision making
  • Law of God - Divine law (given by god - Old law and New law) and natural law (based on human nature, which is created by God).
  • Action, intention, circumstance (AIC)
• Humans have the two abilities to reason/think logically and freewill.
• Created for Love and Goodness

  • god created humans to live in a loving relationship with him, which is made clear through, "So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)"
  • in making us in his image, God orders us to Himself and destines us for eternal happiness.
  • God has given us the gifts to allow us to be in true, loving communion with him.
• Intellect/Reason

  • gives us the ability to see and understand God, and the order of things he places within creation.
  • Allows us to distinguish between what is truly good and what only appears to be good
  • God has given us the ability to understand how to be in communion with him.
• Freewill

  • makes it possible for us to choose the good that our reason enables us to understand.
  • Because of human freedom, our actions are not predetermined by DNA or instinct.
  • Because we have freewill, we are each individually responsible for our own actions - we are free to choose to be in a loving relationship with God or not
  • We can choose to be good or bad.
• Internal freedom

  • we are able to choose to do right or wrong because of our internal freedom - no one forces us to make a choice we don't want to make
• External freedom

  • Being free from outside factors and people that might limit how we choose to act.
  • E.g. A person serving a sentence in prison lacks external freedom (freedom to move about and go where they want to), but they still possess internal freedom.
• Freedom - makes us responsible for our choices and actions, good or evil.

  • it can help us mature in both truth and goodness.
  • Freedom is the basis of truly human acts.
• Responsible choices are moral choices - this is because morally good choices are directed to what is truly good and conducive to long-term happiness.
• Good choices lead to true freedom

  • at it's core, freedom is the God given power to do good, and doing what is good gives us more freedom.
  • "The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the slavery of sin." (CCC 1733)
• Conscience Definition - 'Conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths' (CCC 1776)

  Echoes - God doesn't 'speak' to us but rather reflects his intentions through the feelings he stirs.
• Conscience evidence

  'Moral conscience, present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil' (CCC 1777)
• Conscience

  • guides decision making
  • is at the very heart of a person
  • Has four principles
• What is conscience?

  God has given us the gift of conscience which is the ability to judge right from wrong. The Catholic Church believes that God speaks through our conscience, because God is Truth, and in making a conscience judgement we are trying to know the truth.
• The four principles of conscience

  1. everyone is obliged to form their conscience.
  2. everyone is obliged to follow sincere conscience
  3. conscience doesn't decide right or wrong
  4. a good end doesn't justify immoral means
• 1st principle of conscience - everyone is obliged to form their conscience

  • everyone is obliged to form/mould their conscience by discipline, training, and instruction
  • everyone must learn to distinguish between right and wrong
  • It can be difficult to obey moral conscience in practical daily life situations due to various pressures that people need to be aware of so they can think before they act.
• 2nd principle of conscience - everyone is obliged to follow sincere conscience

  • God created human beings to be good, and to always do what is right, therefore people are obliged by the Creator to obey what their conscience tells them is the right thing to do.
  • Despite this, conscience can be mistaken (lack of education, pressured by circumstance, influenced by others bad habits), and society doesn't always accept 'conscience' as a suitable reason for a person deliberately violating the laws of the community.
• 3rd principle of conscience - conscience doesn't decide what's right and wrong

  • only God the Creator ultimately knows and determines what's right and wrong and the role of the conscience is to discern whether a particular action conforms to God's law and therefore is right.
  • We can do this by learning about God's laws and commandments.
• 4th principle of conscience - a good end doesn't justify immoral means

  • you cannot do bad things just because it will bring about a good result
  • A person needs to consider not just the good outcome but also the means of how to achieve the good end.
• Divine Law (Old Law and New Law)

  • is the historical laws of Scripture given to us through God's self-revelation.
  • is absolute, meaning it will never change.
• Old Law

  • corresponds with the Old Testament
  • includes the 10 Commandments which act as a guide to behave in God-like ways. They forbid behaviour that would damage a person's capacity to relate closely with God
• New Law

  • is revealed by Jesus in the New Testament, and perfects the Old Laws.
  • includes Charity (the ability to love), Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus' Two Great Commandments.
• Charity (New Law)

  • is divine love and empowers Christians to love God and others as Jesus does
  • E.g. Praying, worshipping God, receiving Holy Communion, and trying to live as Jesus taught.
• Beatitudes (New Law)

  • The Beatitudes identify attitudes of Jesus.
  • In the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of Matthews presents Jesus teaching his followers how to develop the New Law in their lives (Matthew 5-7).
  • As these attitudes develop within people, they become more alert to the guidance of the Holy Spirit within them.
• Jesus' Two Great Commandments

  1st - ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

  • People who obey this, find charity gradually changing their attitudes towards God and keep the first three of the Ten Commandments

  2nd - ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

  • When Christians strive to follow this, charity gradually changes them from within so they are empowered to keep the remaining seven commandments
• The Holy Spirit guides moral decision making in individuals

  Through daily prayer, worship, and Sunday Mass, baptised believers learn

  • how to love
  • what is good
  • how to apply God's laws to daily life situations
  • Strengthen against temptation
• Holy Spirit

  • strengthens against temptation
  • Guides the Magisterium (pope + bishops) to help people form their consciences through teaching and example.
• Strengthens against temptation (Holy Spirit)

  • resist social trends and peer pressure
  • resist different cultural beliefs attitudes that would challenge conscience.
  • temptations to sin are weakened as the Holy Spirit strengthens and guides peoples conscience
• The holy spirit guides moral decision making through the Magisterium

  Quote - "At the divine command and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it listens to this devotedly, guards it with dedication, and expounds it faithfully." (CCC 86)

  • By continuing to teach all the commands given to the Church by Christ to help us make decisions about certain situations in the modern world
  • By teaching how these commands apply to contemporary situations.
  • Guides people to see that human conscience is in God's plan.
• Natural Law

  • Humans are able to use their ordinary intelligence to determine what's right and wrong according to moral principles.
  • Natural laws are ingrained within humans (is their human nature), and it will never change as it was created by God, making it absolute morality