CHRISTIAN MORALITY notes
and reviewer (2nd sem prelim)
CHRISTIAN MORALITY
Introduction to the nature of faith
lived in daily circumstances of life
Module 1: Introduction of
Important Terms in Christian
Morality
Theology - is the study of our
contemporary human experience
in the light of Christian faith and
our Judeo-Christian tradition.
Christian – is a person who
believes that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and who tries to model his or her
life on him.
Morality – is the practice or effort
to become ever more truly and
fully human by living peacefully
with others or by co-existence
with others. According to Fr. Marc
Oraison, “it is the science of what
man ought to be by reason of
what he is.”
Christian Morality – is the lived
response to God’s revelation with
the Bible as the primary source.
Catholic Morality – is living a
Christian way of life based on
Catholic teaching.
Ethics - is the reflective
investigation into what is morally
proper to do.
• What do you already know
about “Christian Morality”?
• What do you expect to learn in
this course?
• Moral issues always confront us
as a human being. There are
many ways of making sense of
moral issues in our day to day
lives.
• In this course, you will learn
about the wisdom of the Catholic
Christian religion in making sense
of moral issues in life and more
importantly in your day to day life.
Module 2: 5 Ways of Looking at
Morality
1. Morality as Law
“Morality not only comes outside
us but also outside authority
figures. It is founded on the
nature of things.”
 There is a moral order of
the universe.
 Authority figures just
interpret it.
 Own Role: Duty,
Obedience
 Outcome: Reward versus
Punishment
2. Morality as Inner
Conviction
This way is not something that we
just make for ourselves but rather
morality has been internalized.
The Vatican 2 document the
Church in the Modern World
teaches that
“Deep within our conscience we
discover a law that we have not
laid upon ourselves, but which we
must obey.”
Own Role: Conscience, Integrity
Outcome: Inner Peace versus
Inner Disquiet
3. Morality as Personal
Growth
What is happening to the person
as a result of the action?
Are you becoming virtuous or
vicious?
Ex. Telling of lies
The real tragedy in deceit lies not
in the violation of the law but in
the person becoming dishonest or
a relationship becoming false.
“It is very hard for people in the
state of grace to commit sin
because their whole inclination
goes against it.” - St. Thomas
Aquinas
Own Role: Value, Conversion
Outcome: Wholeness versus
Fragmentation
4. Morality as Love
In this way, the other is as
important as the I. The primary
moral experience is an
experience of the I with the other.
It is an invitation and response
type of morality.
It focuses on a loving relationship,
becoming alive to that fact, and
being responsive to the demands
that it entails.
“It’s about going beyond
ourselves, transcending our own
egoism and egoistic horizons,
and in the process realizing our
existence as love.”
Own Role: Faithfulness,
Response
Outcome: Communion versus
Isolation
5. Morality as Social
Transformation
To be moral, in this perspective,
means that we allow ourselves to
be personally affected by
suffering and injustice and being
motivated to do what one can in
response.
We respond, not just by providing
immediate aid, but also by asking
why the wrongs are happening
and why things are structured the
way they are in society.
Own Role: Justice, Solidarity
Outcome: Social Peace versus
Division
Module 3: Integrating the 5
Approaches to Morality
In a sense, we can say that all the
5 perspectives are right but failure
to integrate one with the rest
leaves us with an impoverished
and possibly distorted
perspective.
● If we will look at morality in
terms of law neglecting the other
four, we will have the problem of
legalism.
• In this distortion, the law will
become just a law, absorbed in
itself, missing the wood for the
trees – so that people are
burdened with demands that
makes no sense because there is
no meaningful reference frame.
● If we will look at morality in
terms of inner conviction ignoring
the rest, we will encounter the
problem of subjectivism
• Subjectivism in its pejorative
sense means an emphasis on
‘following my conscience’ that is
oblivious to the truth that
conscience itself is nothing more
than the capacity to appreciate
the underlying meaning of moral
law, of the dynamics of moral
growth, and of the complex
demands of love and justice.
● If we will look at morality in
terms of personal growth only, it
may be reduced to a search for
personal fulfilment that has little
reference to others.
• What the moral law reveals is
that personal growth is a matter
of love and justice, and without
this understanding we may be left
with much impoverished idea of
growth as a pursuit of fulfilment in
a very self-centered sense.
● If we will look at morality in
terms of love only, we might refer
to the term ‘situation ethics.’
• This stands for the theory which
holds that morality has only one
absolute, namely, to do the loving
thing. Here love comes to mean
nothing because it can mean
anything.
● If we will look at morality in
terms of social transformation
only, we will have the following
problem, that is, commitment to
justice is distorted if seen in
isolation.
• It must be subject to the
demands of love and integrity if it
is not to justify the use of any
means in achieving its end.
• One thinks of the utilitarian
theory of the ‘greatest good of the
greatest number’ whereby the
individual might be sacrificed for
the greater good.
The 5 Approaches and
Christian Morality
All five approaches can be found
represented in the Bible.
✓ Many would think immediately
of the 10 Commandments.
✓ If morality is approached in
terms of inner conviction, we
might think of the theme of the
biblical theme of the heart as the
source of moral decisions, or of
Jesus’ emphasis on the
significance of intention behind
the action.
✓ When it comes to the language
of personal growth, Paul’s three
great virtues of faith, hope, and
love come to mind.
✓ Morality as love is familiar
through the pages of the gospels.
✓ When one thinks of morality as
social transformation, the concern
of the prophets for right
relationships in society, as well as
Jesus’ love for the poor, come to
mind.
Even though the language of law
figures prominently throughout
the Bible, it can be argued that it
is not the crucial perspective in
the Bible and that, as a key, it is
limited in what it can unlock of the
riches of biblical and Christian
morality.
• There is the paradox that to love
simply in obedience to a
commandment is not really to
love.
The language of the second and
third ways of looking at morality is
incomplete also.
• For one thing, they are too much
focused on the individual,
whereas the Bible is more
properly focused on the salvation
of a people.
• They also concentrate on what
the person is doing, whereas the
Bible concentrates on the action
of God as primary.
The 4th and 5th perspectives,
with their language of invitation-
response and of social
transformation are the most
promising approaches to the
Bible.
✓ The covenant that lies at the
heart of both testaments is
presented as God’s invitation
calling on our response.
✓ And responding as a people to
God’s invitation is seen as the
way towards right relationships
throughout society.
Module 4: Moral Theology
according to the Council of
Trent and the Vatican II Council
In the early Middle Ages, some
manuals for confessions were
already written. However, it was
not until the Council of Trent
(1545-65) that the development of
full-blown theological treaties on
morality appeared. It was only at
that time that morality, as a
separate theological discipline,
could be spoken about. Roman
Catholics called the discipline
Moral Theology.
Roman Catholic authors started
to write textbooks of moral
theology, which remained within
the perspective of the sacrament
of reconciliation. The approach of
the textbooks was act-oriented,
working with a fixed natural law,
within an ahistorical or classicist
worldview, and following a
deductive method.
In a morality that was act-
oriented, the only important thing
in a moral judgment was the
nature of the act. Textbooks
described moral decision-making
in terms of the acts of an
individual that were sinful. They
also made an attempt at
describing the degree of
sinfulness: mortal or serious, or
venial sin.
Example: a person involved in the
act of stealing
The act-centered approach was
abandoned at the time of the
Second Vatican Council and was
replaced by a person-centered
approach. The question that is
asked in this approach directs us
to the person who tries to live a
Christian life. In discerning about
whether the act is good or
evil, moral theologians look
at the motivation of the
person and also take into
account the circumstances
within which the act was
done. Taking again the
example of stealing
Using an ahistorical or classicist
worldview, a law-oriented morality
understood the law as fixed and
unchangeable. Until the late
Middle Ages, scientists
considered the world as a
finished product. They believed
that the world was created with a
number of natural and
unchanging principles that were
forever valid. Moral theology was
then based on these external
principles, which were contained
in what was called “the natural
law.”
Example: the Church’s moral
judgments in sexual ethics
The classicist worldview was
abandoned by modern science,
which adopted an evolutionary
view of reality. Stability was
replaced by historical
consciousness. Scientists made
us realize that our world is in
constant evolution. Making a
moral judgment within such a
worldview becomes a different
task. We are now aware that our
knowledge is conditioned by time
and place. We also have a limited
self-awareness and a limited
grasp of reality. We agree that
change, development, and
revision are not signs of
imperfection, but are ways of
arriving at the truth. Taking
again the example of
contraceptives
In relation to the method of
reflection, the approach of the
textbooks was deductive. They
started from the presupposition
that we have a clear and
thorough grasp of reality, of
human nature and human good.
By pointing to the prescriptions of
the law, we could arrive, by
deduction, at a conclusion about
the good or evil of a particular
act.
Ex: You shall not steal, You
shall not intervene in the
process of procreation, and
You shall not kill or harm the
integrity of the human body.
The historically conscious
worldview of contemporary
Christian ethics uses a method
that is empirical and inductive.
An act belongs to a human
person who has to live within the
complexities of human existence.
We need an inductive method
that gives attention to the
concrete, the personal, and the
historical. The norms that we
formulate will not be
unambiguous, clear-cut laws, but
rather guidelines for Christian
living.
By adopting such a relative and
historical view, we are in fact
closer to the Biblical view that
understood the “Ten
Commandments” not as laws, but
as guidelines for their covenant
relationship with God, which had
to be realized on their historical
Exodus experience towards the
Promised Land. Commandments
are patnubay, rather than batas.
They show direction rather than
coerce thinking and action.
The Renewal of Christian
Morality and the 5 Approaches
to Christian Morality
The renewal of Christian morality
can also be understood in the
perspective of the 5 approaches
of Christian morality which can be
distilled to 3 groups, representing
what might be called an
‘objective’, a ‘subjective’ and a
‘social’ style of moral reflection,
and that these three appear as
successive emphases in the
recent history.
The style of moral theology up to
the middle of the 20th century was
very objective, very much a
morality in terms of law. By
objective is meant an approach to
morality that concentrates on the
action that is done or omitted. It
works out whether a given line of
action is right or wrong and it
does this by considering, not so
much the consequences of the
act, but the principles and values
that should guide moral behavior,
and the conformity, or lack of it, of
the particular action to such
principles or values.
In the years leading up to Vatican
II, there emerged a new
emphasis on morality from a
subjective or personalist
perspective, that is, with the focus
on the person acting and not just
on the act being done. Originally,
this was inspired by the renewed
scriptural scholarship of the
previous decades.
The word personalist describes
the enrichment to moral theology.
Without any depreciation of
objectivity in morals, it brings the
person to center stage. It
considers morality as a personal
calling; it reflects on what that
calling is and on what it entails.
We can readily see how the
perspectives on morality as inner
conviction and as personal
growth correspond to this. Seeing
morality as love also belongs
here, in that the personal calling
that is at the heart of Christian
morality is fundamentally a call to
love.
In more recent years, there has
been taking place a further
development in moral theology,
which might be described as a
move from the personal to the
social.
The shift to the social in moral
theology has to do with its
experiencing the fruits of the
‘liberation theology’ that swept
western thinking from Latin
America in the 1970s. Here
theology starts with reflecting on
the inequalities and injustices in
society.
Module 5: Perspectives on the
Human Person
Philosophy #1: I cannot live
locked up inside myself. I must be
open to the world and those
around me. I must be meditative
so that other people and the
forces found in the universe can
flow through me so that I can
overcome all illusion about myself
and the world and thus discover
an ultimate reality.
✓ Philosophy #1 describes an
Oriental view of man. Some
Buddhists, for example, try to live
a life of gentle submissiveness to
the cosmic powers flowing in the
universe, powers which they try to
let control their destiny.
Philosophy # 2: I’m here for one
purpose: to get as much ‘gusto’
out of life as I can. Pain and
suffering are evils that must be
avoided at all costs. The main
thing is to always feel good.
✓ Philosophy # 2: corresponds to
the Playboy theory of life. This is
sometimes called as hedonism
where pleasure, especially of the
physical, sensual type, is almost
made into a god. You will find this
philosophy pushed in many
advertisements in popular
magazines today.
Philosophy #3: My purpose in life
is to work for the glorification of
the group. The individual has no
worth as such. I’m like a cog in a
big machine as I submit my
efforts to the larger efforts of the
state.
✓ Philosophy #3: delineates a
communistic view of man. An
individual has worth only to the
degree that he Over half the
world’s population is dominated
by this view of humanity.
Philosophy # 4: I must do
whatever I can to increase my
own ‘freedom.’ Freedom means
doing what I want to do. ‘Hell is
other people.’ What is good is
that which furthers my interests.
✓ Philosophy # 4: depicts an
individualistic way of looking at
man. It is sometimes called
atheistic existentialism. This holds
that each person is radically
alone and separated from all
others.
Philosophy #5: I have worth. I
must strive to live a life of loving
service for my fellowmen, all of
whom in the last analysis are my
brothers and sisters. Life has a
final meaning which resides
outside of me, that is, in God, and
in my relationship to Jesus Christ.
✓ Philosophy #5: describes a
Christian way of life.
Philosophy # 6: In the light of
death, life has no real meaning. It
is a joke – the tale of an idiot
signifying nothing.
✓ Philosophy # 6: corresponds to
a nihilistic world view which
maintains that man and his life
have no ultimate meaning.
The Importance of the Concept
of Man
✓ It is impossible to escape a
particular concept of man.
✓ We are brought up in an
environment which works on
certain assumptions about man.
We naturally, and very often
unconsciously, absorb these
assumptions and theories without
ever really examining them
critically to see how valid they
are.
✓ Environmental factors like
advertising, sports, movies,
television, business ethics and
numerous other social pressures
greatly affect the way we view a
person and consequently how we hear the excuse that ‘everyone
should act. else is doing it.’

Examples of Environmental ✓ This view of humanity is not

Influence in our Concept of
Man
✓ Commercials for deodorants,
mouthwashes, skin blemish
removers and other cosmetics
have a basic assumption that
man is a creature who must be
physically attractive to have much
worth in the eyes of his
fellowmen.
“How many of us judge the value
of others on external such as how
they look rather than on what
they are internally?”
✓ Advertising has another subtle
effect on us in that it creates
needs promoting the philosophy
of consumerism. Consumerism
works on the principle of “buy,
buy, buy” even if you cannot
afford the product or even if you
do not need it.
✓ A silent assumption on which
some politicians and
businessmen work is “the public
be damned.” The man who can
‘get away with something’ without
getting caught is often presented
as an ideal.
much different from the view of
advertising that sees a person as
just a body to be beautified.
Different Philosophies and How
One Should Act
✓ What we think a person is
greatly affects the way we act
towards others.
✓ The Playboy theory of life will
tend to frown upon any total
commitment to the other which
might involve sacrifice or pain
because sacrifice and pain will
lessen his pleasure.
Ex. Marriage
✓ The Marxian-communist view
of man has strong appeal in the
world today. In this view, the right
to worship, to work where one
pleases, to speak out freely
against injustices will all be
curtailed if the larger group, the
state, wants them limited.

✓ These unethical practices are

seen as o.k. as long as the
businessman or the politician can
get away with them. And even if
one should get caught, we often