in this video we will be talking about

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christian morality we begin by saying
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the most basic principle of the
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christian moral life is the awareness
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that every person bears the dignity of
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being made in the image of god
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he has given us an immortal soul and
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through the gifts of intelligence and
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reason
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enables us to understand the order of
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things established in his creation
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[Music]
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god has also given us a free will to
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seek and love what is true
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good and beautiful
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sadly because of the fall we also suffer
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the impact of original sin
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which darkens our minds weakens our
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wills and inclines us to sin
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baptism delivers us from original sin
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but not from its effects especially the
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inclination to sin
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or known as concupiscence
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within us then is both a powerful surge
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toward the good because we are made in
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the image of god
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and the darker impulses toward evil
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because of the effects of original sin
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let me bring you to the context of
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morality
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animals are not responsible for their
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actions or the way they behave
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this is not so with man
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there is responsibility or morality only
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in the context of humanity
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there is no morality outside the context
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of humanity
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we say there is morality because there
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is man
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morality is founded on the natural and
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eternal laws of god
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from the basis of our experiences we
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want to be good because of our belief in
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salvation
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man is indeed a reward-oriented creature
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and so we are lucky that god
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in his wisdom knows how to reward us
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properly not only later in heaven but
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already here on earth
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our moral lives can't be fully lived
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understood
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and explained through our reasoning
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alone
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[Music]
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let us see the definition of morality
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first according to franz bakl
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a german theologian morality is the part
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of theology that searches for the norms
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of free human conduct in the light of
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god's revelation
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again morality is that part of theology
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that searches for the
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first norms of free human conduct then
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second
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in the light of god's revelation let us
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see the two elements according to bachel
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first morality is concerned with free
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human conduct
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it means morality presupposes freedom
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and freedom means we can make choices
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about our lives or actions
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and lastly morality concerns with what
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we do with our freedom
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the second element is morality is guided
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by god's revelation
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it means man has more than reason or
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human intelligence to guide his actions
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we will note that revelation means god
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unveiled himself in human history
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by inviting people to share his very
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life
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[Music]
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god's self-disclosure is known as
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salvation history and this is recorded
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in the old testament
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the chronicle of yahweh is dealing with
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the jews and is fulfilled in the new
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testament
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when god's own son jesus christ came as
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god's final word
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his total self-communication
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let us have a look on the definition of
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morality according to anton and sertal
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ages a french theologian
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morality is the science of what human
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ought to be by reason of what he is
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it is concerned with what humans ought
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to be in the light of what humanity is
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let us see the three elements according
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to sertal ages
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first morality is a science it means
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it is an open-ended body of study it
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builds up it develops
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it is good to note that the more a
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person understands himself
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the more refined his behavior will be
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the second element is morality is
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concerned with what humans ought to be
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it focuses on how things should be and
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how people should act
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the third element is in the light of
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what humanity is
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morality asks people to be the persons
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they are meant to be
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[Music]
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christian faith defines men and women as
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children of god
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with basic dignity having an eternal
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destiny and is created by god
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redeemed by christ indwelt by the spirit
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destined to eternity or god
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what is right is to act as a child of
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god what is wrong is to forget one's
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basic dignity
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[Music]
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and so in anything a christian asks what
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is the human thing to do
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before we go further let us talk first
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about ethics and morality
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the terms ethics and morality can be
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used interchangeably
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however there is a fine line that
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divides the two
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ethics is the systematic study of the
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rightness and the wrongness of human
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actions
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it is also known as the science of
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morals
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morality is the rightness and wrongness
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of the human action
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we call this one as the practice of
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ethics
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morality refers to principles of right
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and wrong behavior
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or rightness and wrongness of human
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actions
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[Music]
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in determining the morality of human
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actions the moral agent is guided by the
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broader rules
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or principles of ethics ethics attempts
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to provide systems of moral principles
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and the reasons why these principles are
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valid
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[Music]
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hence ethics is more concerned with the
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theories that can be used to explain why
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a particular moral principle is valid or
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not
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right or wrong it is in this reason that
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ethicists have come up with some of the
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basic ethical principles that may help
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determine the rightness or wrongness of
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a human action
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some of these basic ethical principles
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are
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respect for persons truthfulness and
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confidentiality
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autonomy and informed consent
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beneficence
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non-maleficence justice
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in ethics killing is wrong because it
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violates the basic ethical principles of
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respect for persons or non-maleficence
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in morality we do not kill because it is
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wrong
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morality comes from the latin word mose
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or mores which means custom
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ethics is derived from the greek word
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ethicos or ethos
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the english translation of which is
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custom or character
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customary behavior ethics is a
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philosophical science which deals with
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the morality of the human acts
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morality of human acts refers to the
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goodness or the badness
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the rightness or the wrongness of human
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acts
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[Music]
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ethics as a moral philosophy provides
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principles on the morality of human acts
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provides a theoretical knowledge of the
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morality of human acts
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provides basis of right or wrong and
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good or bad actions
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it does not necessarily follow that man
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does what he knows ethics does not
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actually guarantee that man will be
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moral
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one can be moral when one applies ethics
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or theory
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morality as a moral theology means the
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practice or practice of the ethics or
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theory
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properly called applied ethics
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actualizes the theory into a real action
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the doing of ethics what does moral mean
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again moral is from a latin word mores
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meaning customs or habitual ways of
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doing things
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customary ways of doing things can of
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course be either right or wrong
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good or evil when we say that something
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is moral we generally mean that it is
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good
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in morality the fundamental value is
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always the human person
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and the person in relationship with
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society
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we belong to society and the human
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community by the very nature of our
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birth
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thus personal morality can never be
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divorced from our responsibilities as
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members of that society
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since customs practices habitual ways of
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doing things vary from culture to
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culture
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it can be expected that there will be
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varying approaches to morality
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the major issue in these varying
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approaches to morality
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is that people have different views of
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what is good or evil
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speaking of good or evil let us have a
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few discussions about the matter
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[Music]
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every human person has an innate
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tendency to seek his or her fulfillment
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and perfection
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[Music]
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the mere fact of being alive and being
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human means that one has purpose
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one has goals one seeks meaning in life
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also it means that one has needs and
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desires pursuant to keeping oneself
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alive
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and seeking one's own fulfillment this
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fulfillment or perfection
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we call the good hence we can state
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another fundamental truth
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anything contributing to the full
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actualization of human potential
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and the proper development of the human
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person is good or moral
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[Music]
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those who believe in god see and
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understand god as the final end and
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purpose of human life the supreme good
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for the believer human development and
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human perfection are undertaken in
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accordance with god's will
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the guiding principle of which is love
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god is love
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just as anything that contributes to the
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proper growth and development of the
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human person is good
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so anything that frustrates or acts
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against this proper growth and
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development is considered to be evil
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what are some of the things that
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frustrate human life and development
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in which everyone would therefore
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consider evil
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here is a partial list death suffering
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pain
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disability deprivation of freedom
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discrimination that deprives one of
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opportunity to improve one's self
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deprivation of worth and self-esteem
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we call these pre-moral evils that is
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evils in the objective sense before any
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moral slant has been added
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human beings may be deprived of what
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they need for their growth and
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development as persons in different ways
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one way that premoral evil may be caused
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is by natural disasters such as
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earthquakes
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floods epidemics accidents and in
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general
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things which are outside of human
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control
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we call such evils physical evils but as
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we know quite well
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most of the evil in the world does not
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occur in this way
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most evil in the world is brought on by
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the free deliberate and unjustified
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actions of human beings
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we call such evils moral evils
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and so moral evils occur when we
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voluntarily
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and deliberately become involved in the
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spread of premoral evil
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some important considerations
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first morality has to do with who and
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what we are as human beings
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and with our legitimate development as
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persons
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[Music]
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one does not have to be a religious
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person or express belief in god to be
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bound by morality
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no society can function properly for the
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good of its members
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unless there is some form of agreed upon
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moral code that binds everyone
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right is right and wrong is wrong apart
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altogether from religion
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second authority does not create
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morality
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[Music]
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things are not wrong because they are
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forbidden they are forbidden because
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they are wrong
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and lastly immoral and illegal are not
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the same thing
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what is legal may not be moral like
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abortion and prostitution
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doing bodily harm to oneself may not be
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illegal but it is almost
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certainly immoral driving through a red
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light may be illegal but unless there is
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a danger of premoral evil to the public
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or to oneself it is not immoral
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two presuppositions in moral theology
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[Music]
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first man possesses freedom of will
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men experience themselves not merely as
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instruments in the hands of higher
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forces
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but as creative agents
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and are able to choose among
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alternatives
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men are capable of self-determination
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second man is accountable to an ultimate
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value or authority
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this ultimate accountability is what
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gives a moral demand or moral duty its
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character
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only on this condition is it possible to
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speak of moral duties which bind a
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person in conscience
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and which he cannot refuse to obey
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without becoming guilty
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[Music]
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from the commitment to this ultimate
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value human life receives its ultimate
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meaning
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[Music]
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the existence of god and man's
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accountability to an ultimate value
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are not two separate presuppositions
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how about the two divisions of moral
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theology
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first we have general morals this treats
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the general presuppositions of the moral
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act
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and its qualities that it may contribute
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to humans final goal
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it answers to the question why the
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action has to be done
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in short it refers to the ethics of
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being
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second we have special morals it treats
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the human action
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it answers to the question what action
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has to be done
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this is the ethics of doing the two
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subdivisions of special morals are
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first man's responsibility in the
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religious realm towards god
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and second man's responsibility towards
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the created world
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his neighbor and the creation around him
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what are the basis of moral theology
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there are two first divine revelation
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our christian
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faith that finds foundation in the old
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testament and fulfilled in the new
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testament and of course we have the
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sacred tradition church teachings
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the second is reason or human
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intelligence
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what is the challenge then to our
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christian moral living
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i leave it to you as i challenge you on
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how to become a moral agent within your
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own community
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let us just remember the teachings of
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jesus about love
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remember the cross the vertical
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direction points to god
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and the horizontal is pointing to others
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faith in god alone is not enough in
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order to live a good life
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we must also love our neighbor
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finally let me end by saying wrong is
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wrong even if everyone is doing it
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and that right is right even though no
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one else is doing it
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may god bless you all