Formation in Morality is at the forefront of the
development of the faith of a Christian. To live a moral life
entails that Christians conform to the life and teachings of
Jesus. However, for them to live a moral life, it is crucial
that they understand what morality is and to unlearn all
sorts of misconceptions. For a clear understanding of
morality, one is able to ascertain what action is
appropriate and necessary for a certain circumstance.
With this, the concept of morality must be very clear to
the human person since this will be his/her very guide for
his/her day to day living.
 
Before going to the unique or specified Christian sources
of morality this lesson will first present the basic concepts
on how Christians arrived with their different general
moral norms so that we will be able to connect the
different concepts or norms of morality laid for the human
person.
The Descriptive title of our course is Christian Morality in
Our Times. First and foremost, we have to ask what is
Morality? Basically, Morality is connected with norms. So,
the next step is to ask if what is a norm?
 
Norm is a fundamental concept in the social sciences. It is
commonly defined as rules or standards that are socially
enforced. In the ancient times, when there were no formal
social structures such as government and the Church; or
when the different religions were not yet as organized as
they are now, norms often come in the forms of customs,
rituals, and traditions. This was so since people would
easily follow these standards if it becomes part of their
life-styles until it becomes part of their way of living. In the
Philippine context, respecting one’s parents would be
taught by saying “po” or “opo” to them, or by the practice
of “pagmamano”. Norms would only come in the forms of
rules, regulations, or technically called law when society
became more socially organized in their government
systems. When different societies mature or develop, their
moral standards would also become more organized, more
so when they realized how important is the laying out of
the rules to govern human actions for the sustenance of
the peace and order in society which will pave the way for
more social progress and further developments. So, what
is “Morality” in a more technical definition?
Morality is a science that deals with the “quality”
(goodness or badness) of human acts/actions.  “science”
generally means a field of study.  So, Morality will judge
whether a certain act or action is good or bad. How does
morality judge human acts/actions? Morality needs
basis/bases which are the rules or standards or technically
called Law. In general, these rules or standards or laws are
called Norms.     The moral laws will greatly respect the dignity of that
 
Our next question is, how did morality arrive with these
norms? If the human person came up with these norms or
found these norms by thinking deeply/ reflecting or so,
called philosophizing, then the process or the science is
called Moral Philosophy. In other situations, if the norms
or rules were given or revealed by God or the Divine being,
the science is called Moral Theology.  What is the
difference between the two? Moral Philosophy found out
the norms or rules by using purely human reasoning or
called philosophizing, while in Moral Theology, these rules
or norms were given or revealed by God. An example of
norms in Moral Theology is the Ten Commandments. So
Moral Philosophy relies on pure reasoning/deeply thinking
while Moral Theology would depend on God’s revelation
and faith. Aside from Philosophizing and God’s revelation,
let us try to find out how others come up with norms for
the human person   .
Sources of Norms:
Three Bases in coming up with a good/right norm for
human act/ human life: Knowing the Origin, Nature and
the End/Destiny of the human person.
The concepts of the Origin, Nature, and the Destiny of the
Human Person and their serious implications in coming up
with moral norms.
1. The Concept of the Origin of the Human Person
and all things that surround him/her.
 
                      →   God (man is a creature of God)
    Origin:
                       →  Apes (man came from apes)
 
Most if not all religions would strongly believe that all
creation and the human person came from a creator which
we call “God” whether you call that God YHWH, Allah,
Brahman, Bathala, Kabuniyan or what so ever term which
would indicate being all-powerful and other traits
expected of a supreme being.
Outside the realm of beliefs, some would strongly propose
other theories for the origin of the human person such as
the theories that the human person evolved from other
creatures or animals or even product of purely natural
happenings.
Serious Implications to Morality:
         If you believe that the human person originated from
a supreme being called “God”, then it follows that your
moral norms/laws will depend on the characteristics of
that “God”; or that “God” will be the one to command or
give norms to the human person. An example of this is the
10 Commandments in the case of Judaism or Christianity.
1
“God” and the human person whom He also created.
There is what you call “fear of the Lord” as pat of your
moral norms.
 
         For the second concept of the origin of the human
person which suggests that we evolved from other animals
or just product of purely natural events, its moral norms
will just depend on the nature of the human person which
will just be purely animal. With this, there will be no higher
dignity for the person to be respected and there will also
be no fear or respect for a higher being or higher authority
which is called “God”. So, you can just do whatever you
want such as easily manipulating others even to the point
of killing fellow human persons since you may think that
man is the highest authority on earth.
 
2. Human Nature / Natural law (since man is part of
the whole nature or Creation)
           The same with the concept of the origin of the
human person, one’s concept/view of the nature of the
human person will also dictate what set of moral norms is
being set to be followed or lived by us humans.
 
Serious Implications to Morality:
          As being explained above in the concept of the origin
of all things, if you believe that we are both bodily and
spiritual beings since we are creations of God, then our
moral norms will flow from such concept, and if you just
believe that we are purely animals, then our moral norms
will also flow from such view like treating us as purely
animals.
 
3. Destiny / End / or the Ultimate Goal of human
life
          Different religions commonly believe that as we were
created by a higher being or called supreme being, we also
have a good destiny prepared for us. We commonly
believe that there is a life after the death of our physical
aspect. This is called “heaven” in Christianity, and other
religions have also their own terms for such a destiny for
the human person.
 
          On the other way around, other people who do not
believe in beings that are higher than the human person
will just say that there is no such thing as life after death.
Death is the ultimate end of the human persons.
Serious Implications to Morality:
        The same with the case of the concept of the origin of
all, the view for the end/destiny of the human person will
also dictate what set of moral norms is being laid for us. If
you strongly believe in the life after death and going there
at the end of life requires good moral life, then we have to
do good in our lives to be able to attained such destiny. On
the other hand, if there is no noble end/destiny for the
human person, then there are no such thing as moral
norms. There will be norms but they will greatly depend
on the concept of the people who can manipulate the
others.
      
           With the presentation of the different sources of
moral norms, I hope it now clear to us why there are
norms or laws which we find not compatible what we
believe especially with our views on the origin and the
destiny for the human person. There are also norms/laws
which we find not compatible with our basic nature as
human persons. These norms which we strongly believe as
not good for us are what we call misconceptions on
morality. So, coming up with “wrong” norms is a product
of one’s misconceptions of morality. The misconceptions
on morality are just product of the “wrong” concept of the
origin, nature, and the destiny for the human person.  
 
           Summarizing what is being discussed above,
morality is centered on norms use to judge human
acts/actions or other practices of society whether they are
good or bad. The nearest and best basis to come up with
moral norms is the nature of the human person and
his/her surroundings/environment since for some people,
the origin and destiny for the human person is still unclear
or for them others’ belief on those matters is
unacceptable.
 
           As stated in the beginning of this discussion, for us
Christians, the two basic ways on how we arrived with our
moral norms are Philosophy (Moral Philosophy) and
Theology (Moral Theology). Formally defining the two will
be as follows: Moral Philosophy studies the goodness and
badness of human actions in the light of the highest
principles based on human reason alone while Moral
Theology studies the goodness and badness of human
actions in the light of revelation (in the light of Christian
faith to attain his final goal).
          Our course Christian Morality is based on both Moral
Philosophy and Moral Theology. Christian Norms are
product of these two fields of science.
2