COURSE SYLLABUS

COURSE TITLE: CHRISTIAN ETHICS

COURSE CODE/CREDITS: Philosophy 5/Theology 3

But only God who created man to His own image

and ransomed him from sins, provides a fully
adequate answer to questionsrevealed in Christ
His Son who became man. Whoever follows after
Christ, the perfect man becomes himself more of a
man.

COURSE SYLLABUS
COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course deals with the study of man as a

moral being called by God to respond in freedom
and responsibility to attain the fullness of life in
Christ. It seeks to familiarize the students with the
foundations of morality that would equip them
with principles and guidelines to confront
contemporary moral situations. This also deals with
the challenges of Christian Discipleship and the
Christian invitation to moral growth through the
study of grace, sin, conversion and virtues.

COURSE SYLLABUS
A.General objectives:
At the end of the course, the students are expected to:
1. Establish the link between the external ritual expression of
Christian faith and authentic discipleship following Christ in
action (ECCE: Moral Law Nos. 5& 6)
2. Acquire ethical and religious values which would affect
changes of attitude, behavior and values (CA # 60) in the light
of contemporary moral problem.

COURSE SYLLABUS
B. Specific Objectives
At the end of this course, students are expected to:
1. Acquaint themselves with the moral dimension of the Christian
Faith;
2. Trace the roots of contemporary moral situations;
3. Acquire facility in making moral-decisions, through the study
of the human person as moral agent;
4. Understand the DECALOGUE in the light of some of todays
moral issues.
5. Appreciate the challenges of Christian Discipleship.
6. Value Christs invitation to grow morally through the study of
the role of grace, sin, conversion, and virtues.

COURSE OUTLINE
I. Introduction: Understanding Contemporary
Moral Situations
A. Moral Situations: An Overview
B. Contemporary Moral Trends and Their Roots
C. Notions of Morality
1. Popular Notions
2. What Morality Is: Clarifications and Terms
D. Understanding Christian Morality

COURSE OUTLINE
II. Man as a Moral Being
A. Man: The Image of God
1. Man as Body-Soul Unity
a. Human Needs: Hierarchy of Needs
b. Needs as Values
2. Man as a Person
a. Intelligent and Free
b. Endowed with dignity and Inalienable
rights
c. Always an End, Never as Means

COURSE OUTLINE

B. Man the Traveler: In Pursuit of His Goal

1. End/Purpose of Man
a. Different Theories of the God and Happiness
b. The Ultimate Happiness: The Supreme Good
2. Pathos of Man: Wounded (fallen) but Healed
(redeemed)
3. Historical Man
C. Man Being For Others
1. To be Oneself
2. To be with and for Others
3. To be with and for God

COURSE OUTLINE
II. Man as a Moral Agent: Responsible for his/her Acts
A. The Human Acts
1. Human Acts and Acts of Man
2. Constituents of Human Acts
a. Knowledge
b. Freedom
c. Voluntariness
3. Impairment/Obstacles of Voluntariness
B. Sources of Morality
1. Object
2. Intention
3. Circumstances
C. Interrelations of the Sources of Morality: Toward Personal
Integrity

COURSE OUTLINE
IV. Norms and Guidelines for Moral Man
A. The Objective Norm: Law
1. Eternal Law
2. Natural Law
3. Human Law
4. Beatitudes and Sermon on the Mount: Basic Christian
Character
B. The Subjective Norm: Conscience
1. Definitions
a. As Moral Faculty
b. As a Moral Judgment
2. Theories of Conscience
3. Kinds of Conscience and their Binding Force

COURSE OUTLINE

4. Development of Moral Conscience

5. The Christian Formation of Conscience
C. Concrete Guidelines for Making a Moral Decision
V. Christian Discipleship: The Way Towards Christian
Morality
A. Living Authentic Human Life: Christ as a Model
B. Responding to Christs Commandment of Love
(Agape)
C. Living the Life in the Spirit

COURSE OUTLINE
VI.Invitation to Christian Growth and perfection
A. Sin as an Obstacle to Moral Growth
1. Nature of Sin
a. Biblical Views of Sin
b. Theological Reflection on Sin
c. Moral, Grave and Venial Sin
2. Kinds of Sin
a. Different Kinds of Internal Sins
b. Sins of Omission and Commission
c. The Capital Sins

COURSE OUTLINE
3. Sources of Sins
a. Impact of a Sinfully Distorted World
b. Temptation
4. Responsibility for Sins of Others and Sinful Cooperation
a. Seduction
b. Scandal
c. Cooperation in the Sins of Others
B. Conversion: The Continuous Process for Growth
1. Mans Need for Conversion
2. Nature of Conversion
3. Conditions of Conversion
4. Fruits of Conversion
5. Sacramental Enactment and Realization of Conversion

COURSE OUTLINE

C. Virtues: Habits for Effective Christian Living

1. Nature of Virtues
2. Systems of Virtues
a. Primacy of Charity
b. Diversity of Virtues
3. Fundamental Requirements for Virtue
a. Moral Knowledge and Prudence
b. Love of Moral Value
c. Dominion Over Passions

COURSE OUTLINE
D. Christs Invitation to Perfection
1. Defective Ideals
2. The Call to Perfection in Holy Scripture
a. Old Testament
b. New Testament
3. Essence and Universality of the Call to Perfection
a. Nature and Perfection
b. Universality of the Call to Perfection
c. Manifold Realization of the Common Call to Holiness
4. Pathways to Holiness

COURSE OUTLINE
VII. The Decalogue in the Light of Current Moral
Problems
5th Issues on Life and the Body
6th Issues on Sexuality
7th Issues on Management of Resources
8th Issues on Truthfulness

INTRODUCTION:

PHILOSOPHY/

THEOLOGY/
MORALITY

INTRODUCTION: PHILOSOPHY

Q: What is Philosophy?

A: Etymologically: It comes from two Greed words philos (love),

and sophia (wisdom). Hence, philosophy is
defined as love of wisdom.

Classical Definition: It is the science which studies the final or

ultimate causes of all things in the light
of human reason.

INTRODUCTION: THEOLOGY
Q: What is Theology?

Etymology: (THEOS: GOD / LOGOS:STUDY/SCIENCE)

HENCE, THEOLOGY IS THE SCIENCE OR STUDY OF GOD

THEOLOGY AS SCIENCE

In the sense that theology as a study of God

is also a systematic body of knowledge

However, unlike other human sciences, theology solely relies

on divine revelation

DIVINE REVELATION
Through revelation, God makes himself known

as well as his plan of salvation

Gods revelation comes to us even through

the most ordinary circumstance of our life.

Revelation is Gods initiative.

Through revelation God establishes a relationship with
humanity

Divine revelation can only be accepted by FAITH

FAITH
enables us to see Gods intervention even in human history

Through theology:
we learn of a God who is active in human affairs

Not a God who watches from a distance

Hence, THEOLOGY is:

The study of God and his relationship with man and the world
Studied through the use of reason illumined by faith

INTRODUCTION: MORALITY/ETHICS

Where am I going

INTRODUCTION: MORALITY/ETHICS

Q: What is Ethics?
A: Etymologically: It comes from two Greed word ethos,
meaning a characteristic way of doing things, or
a body of customs. Hence, it is a study of human
customs or ways of doing things.
Classical Definition: It is the science of the morality of human
acts. It is a science because it is a systematic body of knowledge
meant to guide men in their pursuit of the good and happy life.
Ethics is therefore a practical science; it is not a
speculative science that merely theorizes. Ethics is meant to be
applied, i.e., it teaches how men ought to live.

INTRODUCTION: MORALITY/ETHICS

Note: Ethics can be divided into two:

A. General Ethics concerns the individual and
what he ought to do to live happy and
fruitful life in this world.
B. Special Ethics concerns the individual as a
member of society. All problems
concerning society and the social order
are taken up.

THE IMPERATIVES OF ETHICS

Ethics presupposes some imperatives or
sine qua non, those with which Ethics would
not be possible. These imperatives are:
1. the existence of God or a Supreme Being
2. the existence of human freedom;
3. the existence of an afterlife, i.e., life beyond
the grave, or the immortality of the soul

INTRODUCTION: MORALITY/ETHICS

Q: What is Morality?
A: Mortality is the quality of goodness or badness of human
acts. It is also the rightness or wrongness of human
acts as they conform or do not conform to standards.
A: Human acts are those that are done with full knowledge
and full willingness or deliberation. Acts that are done
without full knowledge or full willingness or deliberation
or both are termed acts of man.
Human acts must conform to a standard to determine
whether they are good or bad, right or wrong, moral or
immoral.

MORAL THEOLOGY
Moral Theology seeks to relate the Christian to the complex realities
of living in the world.
Interested on the implications of the Christian faith.
A. Ethics of Being
B. Ethics of Doing
Ethics of Being

Ethics of Doing

Interiority of the person.

Interiority of the person get expressed

in behavior

Actions are always expression of a

person.

Right actions come from a good person

It pays attention to what is happening

to the person performing actions rather
than on the actions the person
performs.

Attends not only to the duties and

obligations of the person acting but
also to the circumstances which make
up the moral situation

It asks: What sort of person should I

become because I believe in Christ?

It asks: What sort of action should I

perform because I believe in Christ?

Character

Action

MORAL THEOLOGY
Special attention needs to be given to the development of moral theology. Its
scientific exposition should be thoroughly nourished by the scriptural teaching. It
should show the nobility of the Christian vocation of the faithful and their
obligation to bring forth fruit in Charity for the life of the world. (Optatem Totusis,
16)

Five Guidelines to the Development of Moral Theology

1.Vocation of the Christian
- Call to Holiness
- Invitation from Christ to a personal response of love.

2.Love God through ones neighbor

- The life of Christian must live daily in word and deed.
- As a service for others not purely between God and individual.

3.More Biblical
- More thoroughly nourished by scriptural teaching.
- Imbued with a deeper sense of the Word of God as revealed in
scripture and of the history of Mans salvation revealed in the bible.

4.More Scientific
- constant dialogue with other field of study.
5.On Going Task
- Socially oriented and must come into grips with contemporary
problems.

MORAL THEOLOGY
Someone came to Him
For the young man, the question is not so much
about rules to be followed, but about the full meaning of life.
This is in fact the aspiration at the heart of every human
decision and action, the quiet searching and interior
prompting which sets freedom in motion.
This question is ultimately an appeal to the absolute
Good which attracts and beckons us; it is the echo of a call
from God who is the origin and goal of mans life.
In order to make this encounter with Christ
possible, God willed His church.

Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life?

It is essential and unavoidable question for the life
of every man, for it is the moral good which must be done,
and about eternal life.
People today need to turn to Christ once again in
order to receive from Him the answer to their questions
about what is good and what is evil.
There is only one who is good.
The answer to the question, What good must I do to
have eternal life?, can only be found by turning ones mind
and heart to the ONE who is good; only God can answer
the question about what is good, ultimately means to turn
towards God.

If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments

God has already given an answer to this question. He did so by
creating man and ordering him with wisdom and love to his final end,
through the law which is inscribed in his heart. The natural law is no
other than the light of understanding infused in us by God, whereby we
understand what must be done and what must be avoided. God gave
this light and this law to man at creation.
The Ten Commandments are part of Gods revelation. At the same
time, they teach us mans true humanity. They shed light on the
essential duties, and so indirectly on the fundamental rights, inherent
in the nature of the human person.
Without love of neighbor made concrete in
commandments, genuine love for God is not possible.

keeping

the

Jesus brings Gods commandments to fulfillment, particularly the

commandment of love of neighbor, by interiorizing their demands and
by bringing out their fullest meaning.

INTRODUCTION: MORALITY/ETHICS
Q: What is Ethics?

A. MORAL SITUATION: AN OVERVIEW

B. CONTEMPORARY MORAL TRENDS

An overview of the moral situation

presents to us the contemporary moral trends

The present generation is characterized by the

extraordinary increase and gravity of threats to life

THE THREATS TO LIFE DIRECTLY AFFLICT

THE WEAK AND THE DEFENSELESS

THREATS TO LIFE:
A.WHATEVER IS OPPOSED TO LIFE

Murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, suicide

B. WHATEVER VIOLATES THE INTEGRITY OF

THE HUMAN PERSON

mutilation, torments inflicted on body and mind

C. WHATEVER INSULTS HUMAN DIGNITY

Subhuman living conditions

slavery
imprisonment
human trafficking
disgraceful working conditions

ALL THESE ARE:

Poisons to human society
Against the order of reason

THEY ARE:
Expanding with new prospects
Opened up by scientific technological progress

IRONY

Progress in science and technology

Regress in moral life

GRAVE CONCERN:
Broad sectors of public opinion
JUSTIFY certain crimes against life

HOW?
By invoking the rights of individual freedom and
By obtaining exemption from punishment
even authorization by the state, so that
these crimes can be done with total freedom

IT IS GRAVE AND DISTURBING THAT CONSCIENCE

IS DARKENED BY WIDESPREAD CONDITIONING
AS A RESULT,
IT HAS BECOME DIFFICULT
TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL

SYMPTOMATIC OF MORAL DECLINE

C. ROOTS AND SOURCES OF CONTEMPORARY MORAL TRENDS

1. Profound Crisis of Culture
CULTURE

pattern of human knowledge,

customary belief, and behavior of a racial, religious, or social group
the characteristic features of everyday existence
shared by people in a place or time
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices

CAUSE:
Skepticism in relation to the foundations of knowledge and ethics
EFFECTS:
difficulty in grasping clearly:
- The meaning of human existence
- The meaning of mans rights and duties

MAN FINDS HIMSELF LOST

2. Existential and Interpersonal difficulties

EXISTENTIAL
grounded in existence or the experience of existence

Aggravated by the complexity of society where people

no longer want to take responsibility for their neighbors

3. Situations of Acute Poverty, Anxiety or Frustration

CONCLUSION:
THE CONTEMPORARY MORAL TRENDS MAKE THE
CHOICE TO DEFEND AND PROMOTE LIFE DEMANDING
AS SOMETIMES TO REACH THE POINT OF
HEROISM