HUMAN ACTS and ACTS of MAN
consequences.
HUMAN ACTS
• Human acts are actions done
intentionally, free, and
deliberate of a person.
• These are actions that a man
properly masters for he does
them with full knowledge and
of his own will
• Acts which proceed from a
deliberate freewill
• A man is fully responsible with
the consequences of his acts.
• Involves and man’s
responsibility and
accountability of the results of
his/her actions.
ESSENTIAL ATTRIBUTES/ELEMENTS OF HUMAN
ACTS
KNOWLEDGE
• An act is done knowingly, when
the doer is conscious and aware
of the reason and the
consequences on his actions.
• Knowledge is supplied by the
intellect and it directs the will
to want the object it proposes.
FREEDOM
• An act is done when the doer
acts by his own initiative and
choice without being forced to
do so by another person or
situation.
VOLUNTARINESS
• An act is done willfully when
the doer consents to the acts,
accepting it as his own, and
assumes accountability for its
• It is naturally inclined to the
good, but man may sometimes
deliberately choose evil.
ACTS OF MAN
• Are instinctive, such as
physiological in nature.
• These are actions done under
the circumstances of ignorance,
passion, fear, violence, and
habits.
• Acts that are performed by men
without being master of them,
through his intellect and will,
therefore acts of man are
involuntary actions.
Acts of persons without the proper use
of reason.
➢ Example: children or innate person
➢ people who are asleep or under the
influence of liquor or drugs
• Primo –prime acts or acts that are quick
and nearly automatic reactions.
Modifiers of Human Acts which become an
Acts of Man
• IGNORANCE – is the lack of knowledge
regarding a certain thing.
• FEAR- is a mental agitation brought on
by the apprehension of some present or
imminent danger.
• PASSION – considered as mental
responses, either tendencies towards
desirable objects or tendencies away
from undesirable objects
• VIOLENCE – is a force exerted on a
person by another in order to compel
 him to perform a certain action against
his will.
• HABITS – is a constant disposition that
tends to influence one to perform
repeatedly similar actions.
Degrees of sin
SIN
➢ A word, an act or a desire contrary to
the eternal law (Saint Augustine)
➢ An offense against God in disobedience
to his love. It wounds human nature
and injures human solidarity
➢ Christ in his passion fully revealed the
seriousness of sin and overcame it with
his mercy
Sin in the Bible
Sin: General Perspective
1. Missing the mark- offense inflicted on
another by failing to meet one’s
obligation
2. Depravity and perversity- defect of
character or disorder that weighs down
the sinner
3. Rebellion and transgression- a
conscious choice which destroy positive
relationship
Sin: Biblical Perspective
Old Testament
1. Defilement or stain- being unclean
before the all-holy God
2. Crime- willful violation of Yahweh’s
covenant
3. Personal rejection of a love
relationship
New Testament
- Christ calls for a radical conversion of
the heart – a turning away from sin, in
order to serve the kingdom of God.
How does sin proliferate?
- Sin creates a proclivity to sin. It
engenders vice by repetition of the
same acts.
➢ Mortal Sin – a serious offense against
God which turns man completely away
from Him from his eternal destiny.
By such sins, a person freely
rejects God, his Law, the Covenant of
love God offers, preferring to turn in on
himself or to some created and finite
reality, something contrary to the divine
will. Such sins must be confessed in the
sacrament of Reconciliation.
A mortal sin is committed when these
are simultaneously present: grave
matter, full knowledge and deliberate
consent. This sin destroys charity in us,
deprives us of sanctifying grace and if
unrepented, leads us to the eternal
death of hell. It can be forgiven in the
ordinary way by means of sacraments
of Baptism and of Penance of
Reconciliation.
➢ Venial Sin- are less serious offenses
which usually lessen the intensity of
one’s love of God and weaken the bond
of union with Him.
A venial sin is committed when
the matter involved is less serious or
even if it is grave, when full knowledge
or complete consent are absent. Venial
sin does not break the covenant with
God but it weakens charity and
manifests a disordered affection for
created goods. It impedes the progress
of a soul in the exercise of the virtues
and in the practice of moral good. It
merits temporal punishment which
purifies.
What does the acceptance of God’s mercy
require from us?
- It requires that we admit our faults and
repent of our sins. God himself by his
Word and his Spirit lays bare our sins
and gives us the truth of conscience and
the hope of forgiveness.
3 dimensions of Sin
1. Spiral- of evil that enslaves us
2. Sickness- that weakens us
3. Addiction- which is compulsive and
addictive that makes us powerless
Structures of Sin
1. Personal Sin- Sin is not just “private”,
with no effect with anyone else. Rather,
just as all persons are relational, always
affecting others and the community in
everything they do.
2. Social Sin- It refers to negative moral
attitude and act or failure to act that is
common to a community and a
particular society. Its remedy is to
change what is negative or lacking in
the community.
3. Structured Sin- It refers to existing
structures that condition society in a
harmful and unjust way, such as long
standing racial and sexist prejudicial
structures, unjust economic taxation
systems, established military and
political customs and unfair
immigration legalities.
Variety of sins
➢ Sins can directly concern God, neighbor
or ourselves
➢ It can be divided into thought, word,
deed or of omission.
7 capital sins
- Christian tradition from the time of the
Fathers of the Church (Augustine, St.
Gregory etc.) put together a catalogue
of major sins. They are called “capital”
not because they are always necessarily
grave, but because they are easily
become VICES and sources of many
other sins.
- The famous Father and Doctor
of the Church, Gregory the Great drew
up a list of seven.
VICES VIRTUES
1. Pride Humility
2. Avarice (Greed) Generosity,
Contentment
3. Lust Chastity
4. Envy Gratitude,
Acceptance
5. Gluttony Temperance
6. Anger Patience, Self-
control
7. Sloth Diligence
1. Pride (or Vainglory) – is an inordinate
desire for one’s own excellence
- Pride is said to be complete when a
person is said to be filled with it that he
refuses to subject his intellect and will
to God, and to obey His
commandments. To combat pride, a
person should practice the virtue of
humility "A quality by which a
person considers his own defects and
willingly submits himself to God and to
others for God’s sake."
2. Avarice (or Greed) – is the inordinate
love of having possessions or riches
- A person motivated by greed is
preoccupied with having and having
more.
- To combat greed, a person must be
must be generous and practice the
virtue of contentment.
3. Lust– is the inordinate desire for sexual
pleasure
-Filled with lust, a person selfishly seeks
to satisfy his sexual desire. He seeks
personal, fleeting gratification. He looks
upon others as merely bodies rather
than persons. Lust leads to an
idolization of sexual pleasure.
-To combat lust, a person should
practice the virtue of chastity, guards
against the occasion of sin, and have a
clear vision of the goodness of a
person’s own sexuality, marriage and
marital love intended by God.
4. Envy– is sadness on account of the
goods possessed by another
- Envy breeds hatred, gossip, detraction
and resentment against one’s neighbor.
An envious person resents another
person’s goods (including talents, looks,
possessions, work or popularity)
Remedies for envy include the practice
of gratitude and being grateful for one’s
own goods and the goods of others.
5. Gluttony – is an inordinate desire for
food and drink
- Gluttony is injurious to one’s mental
and physical health, and oftentimes
result to a deeper spiritual problem.
- To combat this, a person should
practice the virtue of temperance which
is the virtue that moderates our
attraction of pleasures and provides
balance in the use of things of this
world.
6. Anger– is an inordinate desire for
revenge
(Keep in mind that this wrongful anger
is different from righteous anger, where
a person is angry about injustice in the
society and seeks to address the issue
and restore justice) First, anger offends
charity since a person is prone to act in
a way and say things which can hurt
another person. Second, anger offends
justice since a person goes beyond the
course to remedy an issue and seeks
revenge.
- St. Thomas Aquinas listed six effects of
anger: indignation, mental disturbance,
noisy speech, blasphemy, abuse and
quarrels.
- To guard against anger, a person must
practice the virtue of justice in thought
word and deed; be in self-control in
addressing an issue.
7. Sloth (or spiritual laziness)– is sorrow in
the face of spiritual goods in as much as
it is God’s goods
-Sloth is not just laziness but spiritual
laziness. What distinguishes the sin of
sloth from merely wasting time playing
video games or watching the tenth
rerun of a television series is the part
sadness plays in it, and its rejection of
God’s love. Sins which come from sloth
include lukewarmness toward divine
precepts.