The name of the Course

 The course is called fundamental moral theology

 The three Concept are important to understand the course: fundamental,

moral and theology

 Fundamental = serving as, or being an essential part of, a foundation or basis; basic;
In this sense fundamental moral theology:

 is basis of moral thinking and judgment.

 It acts as framework of moral thinking.

 prolegomena to special moral theology prolegomena (plural of

prolegomenon) An especially critical or discursive introduction prefaced to
a literary work; preliminary remark; figurative: serving as an introduction to
something.

 Fundamental moral theology—explains the why behind the judgments of

concrete issues; examines the foundational concerns that underlie
concrete judgments

Traditional concerns of fundamental moral theology include the ultimate end of humans, the nature
of human acts, the grounds for judging human acts, sin, and virtue. These concerns have been and are
being rethought in light of how the intelligibility of theological and moral convictions is rooted in
stories. A related development is the attempt to link fundamental moral theology more intimately
with “special moral.

 Theology

 The term theology came from the Greek word ‘theologia‘ which means ‘discussions about
God‘. Even before Socrates, Greek philosophers there were attempt to explain the origins of
the universe. What is the begging of all that we see has been perennial question of rational
being. But it was Plato who first used the word ‘theology’. Aristotle further expounded on its
meaning, citing that there are three explanations to everything: mathematical, the physical
and the theological, with theological as considered to be the most honor. Theology is divided
into Contemplative and moral

 Contemplative

 Contemplative theology was formerly called dogmatic theology today is called

simply systematic. Contemplative systematic theologians try to work out a single,
coherent view of reality in the light of faith

 Moral Theology

 The term "moral theology" is used today primarily in the Roman Catholic tradition.
Protestants often use the term "Christian ethics" which has emerged as a special
discipline in Protestantism only in the last few years. The distinction between
dogmatic theology dealing with Christian belief and moral theology dealing with
actions was introduced in 12 th century, but the term moral theology only came into
 popular use at the end of the sixteenth century to designate the particular
discipline.

 Moral theology is technically used to mean a theological study of

morality. morality understood as a set of social rules, principles, norms
that guide or are intended to guide the conduct of people in a society,
and as beliefs about right and wrong conduct as well as good or bad
character.

 Like contemplative, Moral theology reflects upon the truths of faith, but its main
interest is how faith should shape Christian life? both at individual level and the
life of the Church.

 Moral theology studies the Christian moral life in a thematic and systematic way in
accord with the scientific canons of adequacy, consistency, and coherence

 Moral theology interests itself with the kind of people we ought to be (morality of
being) and the kinds of actions we ought to perform or avoid (morality of doing). In
pursuing its task, moral theology must draw upon every available source of
understanding: scripture, tradition, relevant human sciences (such as psychology,
sociology, economics), and human reason.

 Task of moral theology:

inquiries or analyses
 What is moral theology? Moral theology is theological
undertaken by individual moral philosophers regarding morality (i.e.,
the morality of a society or people).

 Such analyses which often result in diverse positions or conclusions

nevertheless, the basic features, the core elements of the morality of a
society, those moral principles and values that actually guide and
influence the lives of a people, remain pretty much what they are or
have been.

 What moral theology, through its critical analyses and arguments, try
to do is to explain, clarify, refine, sharpen, or enlarge the
understanding of the concepts and issues of morality.

 Even though the moral beliefs and circumstances of societies constitute

the immediate focus of morality because human experience is most
directly felt within some specific social or cultural context

 Nevertheless, moral theology does not think or imply at all that the
results of its reflective activities are to be tethered to individual society
as such. on contrary, in the light of our common humanity, which
speaks to the common sentiments, purposes, responses, hopes, and
aspirations of all human beings in respect of certain situations, the
conclusions of moral reflections would, surely, have implications for
the capacious community of humankind, for the universal human
 family. Thus, moral principles and rules may emerge from or evolved
by a particular human society; even so, they are principles that can—
and do—apply to all human societies inasmuch as they respond to
basic human needs, interests, and purposes.

 The traditional definition describes it as the part of theological research which in the
light of revealed principles studies voluntary human acts in relation to their final
end.

 Veritatis Splendor says it’s a reflection concerned with morality, of the good and
evil acts, and is theology insofar as the end and beginning are found in God, who in
giving himself to man, offers him the opportunity of divine life. Moral theology
studies man’s movement toward good and evil in the light of the influence of God
who shows him where goodness is.(goodness is not our own making it from God)
The focus is above all is morality the rational ordering of the human act to the good
in its truth and the voluntary pursuit of that good by reason the moral facts of acts.

 William May : moral theology is systematic effort to discover who we are and what
we are to do if we are to be fully the beings we are meant to be, (Human) when
carried out exclusively by the use of human intelligence it is called moral science or
philosophical ethics. When this effort is systematically undertaken by those who
human intelligence is informed by Christian faith it is moral theology.

 GermainGrisez says Moral theology is a systematic reflection on the Christian moral

life. As it seeks to make clear how faith should shape Christian life, both the lives of
individuals and the life of the Church. It seeks to help us come to know, through the
exercise of reason enlightened by faith, what we are to do if we are to be faithful
children of God and become fully the beings we are meant to be, i.e., other Christ,
called to eternal life in and with him. It is thus concerned with human actions

 St Thomas on moral Theology

Another way to view moral theology that sound convincing is found in the teaching of
Saint Thomas. The main focus of Saint Thomas is God. Theology is a study of God, what
we know of him on the basis of what he has revealed to us. Theology is based on
revelation, in which we perceive the mystery God has revealed about himself, which we
try to penetrate in faith. We see a basic concordance of revelation with reason.

Since God is the object of study, what distinguishes moral theology from other types of
theology, is the mode of the being of God. Saint Thomas describes different ways of the
being of God. The first is his omnipresence, keeping everything in being, as their Creator.
He is present in a different manner in grace in the human person. He is present finally in
a different way in Jesus and in the way he is in the sacraments.

Therefore, attention in moral theology is focused not on morality itself but on God who
manifests himself in sanctified human activity. We look at God through the prism of a
human person, how God is transforming the person, and how the image of God is visible
in the person transformed by grace. (For St. Thomas any good we do is God’s
Manifestation)
 Moral theology tries to depict the deifying presence of God which manifests itself in
moral acts. The overall title of the moral section of the Catechism of Catholic Church,
"Life in the Spirit," suggests this perspective. To give the picture of what grace does to
the human being, we must look at Christ.

Only in the mystery of the Word made man can we understand man. By his incarnation,
the son of God has united himself with each man, working with human hands, thinking
with a human mind, loving with a human heart. The hypostatic union doesn’t happen
within us, but there is something of the grace of God in us which little by little becomes
more visible. The Catechism goes further in identifying sanctification with Christ, in a
text from Saint John Eudes put right at the beginning of the moral section. So Jesus is the
head, and our bodies, decisions, heads, are tied to Jesus, who wants to use our hands,
generosity, etc. to manifest to the world the love of the Father. The fact that this is in
the beginning of the Catechism points to the truly divine dimension within morality.

 Moral theology and other disciplines

 Moral theology and dogmatic theology:

 It is customary today to divide theology into distinct areas of study, e.g.

dogmatic or systematic theology, moral theology and mystical theology or
spiritual theology.

 Dogmatic or systematic theology is concerned with truths of "faith" in the

sense of revealed truths about God himself and his work of creation and
redemption, e.g., the mysteries of the Trinity, the Incarnation, etc. in most
cases Dogmatic theology is speculative in character, reflecting on the
nature of God, of his creatures, and of the new creation in Christ. Mystical
theology or spiritual theology focuses on our spiritual life.

 Moral theology on the other hand is more of a practical science. Availing

itself of the theological and anthropological insights of dogmatic theology,
yet taking also into account the findings of various anthropological and
natural sciences, it draws the consequences for human action and gives
guidance to man in realization of his final goal. We would say that Moral
theology is that part of theology which studies in the light of Christian faith
and of reason the guidelines (the path) that man must follow to attain his
final goal. G.S., n.22: «the Ultimate vocation of man is in fact one». G.S.,
n.24: «all men are called to one and same goal, namely, God Himself» so
what is the road that mans must follow to that end that is moral theology

 Note however: divisions of this kind, are legitimately made only for didactic or pedagogic
purposes, and they cannot take away the radical unity of theology, nor can they be allowed
to do so. The truths of salvation which are ordinarily taken up in so-called "dogmatic" or
"systematic" theology are absolutely central to understanding the Christian moral life.
Christian morality is an integral part of the doctrine of salvation and cannot be separated
from the whole of divine revelation. Moreover, the Christian moral life, if lived fully, is a life
of holiness or sanctity; hence, the notion that "spiritual" theology, or the theology of the
spiritual life, is separate from moral theology is quite false

 Moral theology Ethics and canon law

  Moral theology must be distinguished from two other disciplines: philosophical
ethics and canon law.

 All three of these disciplines have a practical bearing on Christian life.

 Philosophical ethics, however, proceeds by the light of reason; its concepts and
arguments must be accessible to persons who have not heard (or do not accept) the
gospel. When the results of philosophical ethics are used by moral theology, they
must be evaluated and transformed by incorporation in the more adequate view of
reality provided by the truth of faith.

 Canon law studies the meaning and application of the regulations established by
Church authorities to coordinate the common life of the Church’s members. Hence,
in themselves, the provisions of canon law are rules, not moral truths. Having been
made by the Church, these rules can be changed by the Church; moreover, they
have moral force for the Christian conscience only insofar as one understands the
duty to obey those who enact them.

Aims moral theology

There exist the following aims in Moral Theology;

 The scientific aim: to accept and get to know the Human person, Holy Scripture,
voluntary human act, with a spirit of faith. This is true theology.

 The spiritual aim: the spiritual and pastoral aim of the whole of theology is
particularly found in moral theology. It is not a matter of knowing but of becoming
one with God (Orthodox theology- mystical theology).

 The kerygmatic-pastoral aim: to announce the good news and make it known in the
human and Christian realm after the spirit of St. Paul's instruction (1Cor 14:3).

 Sources
 The sources of moral theology, provides the means by which knowledge in morality
can be acquired in order to direct one’s actions. One may speak of four sources of
moral theology. They are: Scripture, Tradition, Reason and Experience. They are
known as Quadrilateral. The sources relate to one another mutually, in the sense
that no one by itself is sufficient to give direction to our moral choices. We see them
in a kind of hermeneutical circle in which they influence as well as correct one
another. The Catholic tradition adds the church as an important teacher of morality.

Reason and Faith in moral Theology

 Traditionally, faith and reason have each been considered to be sources of

justification for religious belief. Because both can purportedly serve this same
epistemic function, it has been a matter of much interest to both philosophers and
theologians how the two are related and thus how the rational agent should treat
claims derived from either source.

 Some have held that there can be no conflict between the two—that reason
properly employed and faith properly understood will never produce contradictory
or competing claims—whereas others have maintained that faith and reason can (or
even must) be in genuine contention over certain propositions or methodologies
  In moral theology, faith is an absolutely necessary condition. The intellect in faith is
capable of an insight of wisdom grasping the heart of the matter. It is a faith putting
ourselves at our Master’s feet. Faith opens our intellect and heart to the Word of
Jesus, who aids us in the grasping of the mystery.

 The modern sciences require a Cartesian, judgmental approach. (I think therefore I

am) this approach looks at things as objects, looking from the outside.

 Moral theology requires us not to judge. but to look from the inside, faith confronts
us and allows us to study the interiority of human action.

 Saint Thomas in the prologue of the prima secundae, has the intuition of the image
of man’s mirroring God when he acts from the intellect and will and mature free
choice.

 In moral theology attention should be morality with reference to the light of

revelation, (reason informed by faith) which helps us to see morality more clearly.
That stream of light brings order into the observed objects, but it always remains a
stream of light coming from outside. The relationship between faith and reason in
moral theology is elucidated by John Paul in his encyclical Fides et Ratio

 STARTING POINT

 Faith is a starting point for Moral theology but it faith does not replace ethical
reflection on contrary it is REASON INFORMED BY FAITH. Moral theology as a
process of critically engaging our moral experience in light of faith. Faith informs
the ethical reasoning of Christians and reason gives shape to faith by making it
operative and providing feedback the GOAL being Cooperation and Harmony of
Faith & Reason

Object of moral theology

 Moral theology concern, deals with what is right or wrong in human behavior andconduct. It
asks such questions as what constitutes any person or action being good, bad, right, or
wrong and how do we know (epistemology)? What part does self-interest or the interests of
others play in the making of moral decisions and judgments? What theories of conduct are
valid or invalid and why? Should we use principles or rules or laws as the basis for our
choices, or should we let each situation decide our morality? Are killing, lying, cheating,
stealing, and certain kinds of sexual acts right or wrong, and why or why not? Two concern
of moral theology
o Morality of doing: What should I do, Is it Right? Good? Just? Why?
o Morality of Being : Who should I become?

Language of Moral theology

 In ordinary language, we frequently use the words ethical and moral (and unethical and
immoral) interchangeably; that is, we speak of the ethical or moral person or act. On the
other hand, we speak of codes of ethics, but only infrequently do we mention codes of
morality. Some reserve the terms moral and immoral only for the realm of sexuality and use
the words ethical and unethical when discussing how the business and professional
communities should behave toward their members or toward the public. More commonly,
however, we use none of these words as often as we use the terms good, bad, right, and
wrong. What do all of these words mean, and what are the relationships among them?
  Ethics comes from the Greek ethos, meaning character. Morality comes from the Latin
moralis, meaning customs or manners. Ethics, then, seems to pertain to the individual
character of a person or persons, whereas morality seems to point to the relationships
between human beings. Nevertheless, in ordinary language, whether we call a person ethical
or moral, or an act unethical or immoral, doesn’t really make any significant difference.
When we speak of people as being moral or ethical, we usually mean that they are good
people, and when we speak of them as being immoral or unethical, we mean that they are
bad people. When we refer to certain human actions as being moral, ethical, immoral, and
unethical, we mean that they are right or wrong.
 In Moral theology, however, the term ethics is also used to refer to a specific area of study:
the area of morality, which concentrates on human conduct and human values that is
necessarily arrived at through the use of reason.

More difficult questions of moral theology

 Moral theology is also concern with;

 How do we define a right or wrong action or a good or bad person?
 What are the human standards by which such decisions can be made?
These are the more difficult questions that make up the greater part of the study of moral
theology.
 
Division of moral theology
 From the time it became a separate theological discipline after the Council of Trent
(1545-1563), moral theology has included concerns of a general or fundamental
nature as well as those of a particular or special nature. These two types of concerns
have given rise to the twofold division of the discipline of moral theology into
fundamental moral theology and special moral theology. While these two need to
be carefully related, they can be treated separated
 From the beginning, then, moral theology has included concerns both general and
concrete. The double focus on the one hand, there are questions about the general
shape of the Christian life. What does it mean to live as a Christian? How shall we
understand all the moral terms we use: right and wrong, good and evil, sin and
virtue? What is an appropriate strategy for responding to the divine challenge? And
on the other hand, there are any number of questions about specific areas of living.
What is appropriate behavior for the Christian in such areas as justice, respect for
life, truth-telling, property rights, sexuality?

Teaching moral theology

 How in the light of what has happened in the history of moral theology are we to
teach it? The Catechism and Veritatis Splendor, give us a certain direction in moral
theology.

 Veritatis Splendor does not give us a program of moral theology, but in fact, by its
Biblical reflection on the dialogue with the rich young man, shows the way to such a
program, although it doesn’t give one. It focuses on burning issues causing dissent
( What good must I do to inherit the eternal life)

 For a general presentation of Christian morality outside of the scope of burning

programs, Veritatis Splendor sends us to the Catechism, which is not entangled in
the conflict. This is good, because Veritatis Splendor doesn’t close the door to
further research. Veritatis Splendor gives a steady guideline for Christian moral
formation in a confusing world. The Catechism is a witness of the faith of the
Church for apostolic purposes. The Creed, Sacraments, Decalogue, and the Our
Father ground the Catechism, arranging the principles of the Catholic faith.We’re
still left, however, with the problem of how to teach moral theology?

 The Jesuit in their theological orientation followed the commandments as

the point of departure

 Dominicans used the virtues (three theological and four cardinal virtues).

 Franciscan followed love