Man and Morality

1. Human Dignity
2. Freedom
3. Conscience
4. Sense of Sin
5. Purpose of human existence
General View of Theo 12
Moral being, we are capable of:
o Rightful and just decision
o Conscious call of the God
o To be fully human and steward His
creation
o Responsive to the demands and
challenges of time (moral and social
issues)
Relationship with:
o Self
o Others
o Environment
o God
UNIT I: Man and Morality
Man-Image and Likeness of God
(Gen 1: 26-27)
God created man to his own image, in the
image of God he crated him, male and female
he created them.
Like God man is:
o Rational being (ability to think)
o Freewill (ability to choose)
o Capable of loving
Man as a Moral Agent
o A moral agent must have the
reasoning ability.
o A moral agent must have innate
values.
o A moral agent must live in a society.
o A moral agent must live in a world of
scarcity.
o A moral agent must have the
freedom to act.
o A moral agent must have enough
understanding on moral principles.
The Purpose of Human Life
MORAL AGENT the HUMAN PERSON
Persons are created by God in his
image and God likeness
Redeemed by the blood of Christ
Sanctified by the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit
Called to be children of God
Destined for eternal life
Social being
Embodied spirit
Life is:

o in all aspects, to be lived must fully,

must have God as its center, nothing
less.
Virgilio A. Yuzon
o He who has a why to live can bear
with almost any how
Victor Frank
o Is sacred gift from God (Bible)
o Precious (Bible)
o Fragile (Bible)
The Ultimate Purpose of Human Life
Mistakenly some pursue riches and
material possessions.
Some pursue pleasure, education etc.
Many people in the world never achieve
these goals. And those who do achieve
them are still looking for the purpose of
life. There must be something more.
Union with God
GOD the source of morality
The center of values the all good
GOD the creator
The only uncreated reality
The primary cause
Our response:
o Dependence on him
o Dependence to one another
o Stewards of creation (reason for us
to be moral and to trust God.
GOD the beneficent
He gives freely and with love.
No one has to earn Gods love.
Our response:
o Grateful
o Use our gifts for the well-being of all
o We receive freely, we ought to give
freely
GOD the end of all creation
Humans final end is communication
with God
Communication with God means:
o Conscious and aware that we are
image of God
o We do things because of him
o He is the center of our life
o We love and desire to be with him in
eternity.
Structure of Morality
Some approaches in Morality
Morality as Law emphasizes the
external, moral rate in terms of duty and
obedience.
Morality as Inner Conviction
emphasizes the value of conscience

 Morality as Personal Growth focus on

our behavior, what is happening to the
person doing the action.
Morality as Love focuses on the loving
relationship, car us to be kind and
courteous, to be fair and sympathetic.
Morality as Social Transformation
develop a sense of solidarity with poor
ETHICS
Explores the theoretical foundations of
moral theology.
It involves a level of thinking prior to
making a decision and taking action.
3 Formal Elements
An understanding of the good as the
goal of the moral life and the basic
reason for being moral agent.
An understanding of the human person
as a moral agent.
The point of reference which serves as
the criteria for a moral judgment.
MORALS
The practical level of morality concerned
with giving direction to human behavior
in the light with what one believer to be
right or good.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Fundamental
convictions
or
religious beliefs of the person
The character with the person
who must decide and act.
The situation in which the
conflicts of values arises.
Application of appropriate norms
Knowing that helping those in need makes you
a good person
I used to give something to street children
I can say that I am really honest. Ethics
Its true, to be a disciple of Jesus is to follow his
teachings. Ethics
I did my best to change my bad habit. Morals

A Shift in Worldview (point of view or

consciousness)
Classical or Classicist Worldview
Assumes that the world is a finished
product.
Everything that can be done has been
done.
Stability is the principal virtue
Change is a threatening vice.
Adjective: abstract, universal, eternal,
necessary, essential, fixed
Believes that moral theology only needs
to make different applications of its

eternal principles to the new problems

and questions.
HISTORICALLY CONSCIOUS WORLDVIEW
Sees each thing as part of whole which
has yet to be discovered.
Recognizes that all knowledge is
concerned by time and place, limited
self-awareness, and limited grasps of
reality.
Adjective: specific, individual, changing
Believes that moral teaching should be
interpreted from within the context and
for a new audience.
Women are equal with men. HWV
Participating in the Sunday mass is one of the
religious beliefs and practices of the Catholics.
CWV
Going to confession monthly CWV
Each one can express their own opinion
HWV
No to all kinds of discrimination HWV
MORAL PHILOSOPHY
A philosophical science which treats of
the morality of human acts.
Greek word ethos which means
custom
Latin word mos
MORAL THEOLOGY
The quality of human acts by which we
call some of these acts good and some
evil.
Concerned with those actions which
make someone a good human being or
a bad human being according to the will
of God.
Be good to those who do good to you MP
I love you because you love me MP
Lending money to your friend who hurt you last
week. MT
Giving alms to beggar MT
Good karma or Bad karma MP
Morality and Human Nature
Actions which are consistent with what it
means to be a fully human person are
morality good. Actions which are
unfaithful to what it means to be fully
human person are morally evil.
Includes: Human knowledge (knows the
moral obligation) and Human Freedom
(determination or conviction)
Morals Life as a Response to Gods call
Mans actions are morally good if they
agree to Gods will and they are morally
bad if they disagree with it.

 But Gods will is not primarily expressed

in a set of calcified rules and laws.
It is first of all an inner calling and
summons to accomplish a task within
the universal plan with God for man.
Contemporary Morality
Renewal of Morality
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
From Trent to Vatican Council
The use of penitential books (6th 9th
century)
Summa Theologica of St. Thomas
Aguinas
Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Council of Trent (1545)
Vatican Council (1965)
Morality before Vatican council was
reflected as individualistic, act
centered, low oriented, and sin
conscious
A Shift in Focus
Integration of Morality with revelation
and great mystery of faith and scripture,
covenant,
vocation,
conversion,
discipleship, imitation of Christ, etc.
Rooted in the bible and integrated of the
great mystery of faith, focuses on the
total human vocation of living in
response to Gods self-communication
to us in creation in history and most fully
Jesus

HUMAN ACTS awareness; conscious

ACTS OF MAN without conscious
MANS KNOWLEDGE
CONCEPTUAL ideas; knowledge of
moral principles; ability to perceive
moral obligations
EVALUATIVE gain by experience

Understanding the lesson about morality

Conceptual
Knowing that to be good needs effort
Evaluative
Learning about the secret of the happiness
Evaluative
Learning about the theories of moral theology
Conceptual
Knowing the goodness of other people
Evaluative
MANS FREEDOM
BASIC FREEDOM core freedom;
comes from self determination
FREEDOM OF CHOICE ability to
choose from many options
Trying your best to get good grades Freedom
of Choice
Sunday Mass/ Worship is a priority Basic
Living uprightness because I am a moral agent
Basic Freedom
Im trying to be pleasing so that I will have
many friends. Freedom of Choice
Being faithful to the wife forever Basic
Freedom
MODIFIERS OF KNOWLEDGE
IGNORANCE lack of knowledge
ERRONEUOUS in error
LACK OF ATTENTION temperature
deprivation of knowledge
A five year old boy saying bad words
Ignorance
Carelessness
Wrong orientation of the family Lack of
Attention
Low IQ Ignorance
MODIFIERS OF FREEDOM
PASSION strong feelings
FEAR confronted by a danger
HABIT repeated action
VIOLENCE experiencing pressure