Basic

Assumptions
on Christian
Morality
 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

OBJECTIVES
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
1. explain the meaning and importance of dignity,
freedom, and conscience;
2. describe who the human person is based on the
creation story and on the teaching of the church; and
3. practice correct judgment on day to day moral
decisions as guided by free will and conscience.
 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

CONTEXT
THE STORY OF
MUNIBA MAZARI
 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

CONTEXT: THE STORY OF MUNIBA MAZARI

QUESTIONS
1.How did Muniba decide to live her life after the
accident? Why did she decide to live that way?
2.What struggles did she undergo when she made up her
mind to live in accordance with what she believes in as
the human thing to do?
 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN

ON WHAT IT MEANS TO LIVE AN
AUTHENTIC LIFE
 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

INSPIRED WORD OF GOD: Genesis 1:26-28

 Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience
THE CREATION STORY

A GIFT OF
DIVINE LOVE
Lesson 1: The Human Being with
Dignity, Freedom, and
Conscience

God's own self-

actualization through
humankind

God's care for humankind

The Moral Implications of Man
as Imago Dei
If humans are to love God, then
humans must love other humans
Human’s likeness with God can be
understood with that which does not
show an image of God
Humans also differ from all other
creatures because of their rationality
and freedom
The freedom which makes man in the
image of God is the same freedom that
made him estranged from Him (Gen.
3:1-24)
CHURCH TEACHING

CCC,27
For if man exists, it is because God has
created him through love, and through
love continues to hold him in existence.
Thus, we can relate in a loving way with
our creator and respond to Him in love
and faith.
CHURCH TEACHING

CCC,27
CHURCH TEACHING

CFC,683
“the inviolable dignity of every
human person is the most precious
possession of the individual, whose
value comes not from what a person
‘has’ as much as from what a person
‘is’”
CHURCH TEACHING

CFC,686
Although we tend to take these
characteristics of our own person for
granted, we nevertheless need to
become more conscious of them to
gain true knowledge of self and of
our relationship to others and to God
CHURCH TEACHING

We should thank God for the gift of

being human - made in His image
and likeness.

To live a moral life is to live in

accordance with our being an
Imago Dei
CHURCH TEACHING

CFC,694
“it is so easy to confuse human freedom with
simply “doing what I want.”

CCC,1740
“Authentic freedom is not “the right to say
and do anything,” but to “do the good”
CHURCH TEACHING

Vatican II
Freedom is an exceptional sign of the image of
God in us. It is in the freedom that we can turn
ourselves towards what is good.

Freedom is not simply a “freedom from” but a “freedom for.”

CHURCH TEACHING

The concomitant of FREEDOM is RESPONSIBILITY.

SIN is the greatest single obstacle to

authentic freedom.
CHURCH TEACHING
Gaudium et Spes, 16
CHURCH TEACHING

THREE SENSES OF
CONSCIENCE
CHURCH TEACHING

“To act against our conscience would be

to do violence to our true selves, to the
person God wants us to be; we damage
our relationship with God, we sin.” By
allowing ourselves to become immersed in
the selfishness of sin we damage the
ability to make sound moral judgments
(Knox, 2011).
CHURCH TEACHING

“The worst thing in the world is not sin; it

is the denial of sin by a false conscience -
for that attitude makes forgiveness
impossible.” -Bishop Fulton Sheen