ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

Christian Morality

Content Material

Prepared by:

Ernest Joseph G. San Jose

2021

AdDU Senior High School | Christian Morality Page 1 of 4

 ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Km 7 Central Park Boulevard, Talomo, 8000 Davao City

Christian Morality

Authentic Human Freedom

Introduction1
Indispensable for morality: As John Paul II asserts: "The question of morality, to which
Christ provides the answer, cannot prescind from the issue of freedom. Indeed, it considers
that issue central, for there can be no morality without freedom: [quoting Gaudium et spes 11]
`It is only in freedom that man can turn to what is good'." [Veritatis Splendor (6 August 1993),
#3
Essential for human dignity: "Human freedom belongs to us as creatures; it is a freedom
which is given as a gift, one to be received like a seed and to be cultivated responsibly. It is an
essential part of that creaturely image which is the basis of the dignity of the person."
(Veritatis Splendor, #86)
Theological Foundation: God created the human person as a rational being, conferring
on him the dignity of an individual who can initiate and control his actions. God willed that
man should be ‘left in the hand of his own counsel’ so that he might, of his own accord, seek his
Creator and freely attain his full blessed perfection by cleaving to him. Man is ‘rational and,
therefore, like God. He is created with free will and is master over his acts.’
Definition: Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this
or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. By free will one shapes
one's own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it
attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
Authentic Freedom: It is not simply “doing what I want”. It is not “the right to say and do
anything” but to “do the good” that will lead.
1. Types/ Levels of Freedom2
A. Freedom of Choice (Moral Freedom or External Freedom)
Freedom of choice is that level of human freedom where a person
exercises his or her ability to choose among a number of options. It is in the
exercise of this freedom that a person shapes who he or she wants to become
through particular choices. The freedom of self-determination is expressed in
the everyday through the exercise of freedom of choice.

1
This section is an excerpt from Salibay, Esteban Jr. Christian Morality in Contemporary Society. (Quezon City: C & E
Publishing Inc., 2013), 8-9.
2
Gula, Richard M. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality. (New York: Paulist Press, 1989), 75 -
80.

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 ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Km 7 Central Park Boulevard, Talomo, 8000 Davao City

Christian Morality

B. Freedom of Self-Determination (Basic Freedom also called Inner Freedom)

We acknowledge that human beings have the freedom to determine
themselves for the present and for the future, within the limits and possibilities
available to them. We do not have absolute freedom because we are neither
limited physical beings; neither are we completely determined by our
limitations. We are neither gods nor animals. Our freedom is something in
between infinity and zero. It is a freedom that acknowledges limits but also
strives to go further whenever possible.
One purpose of this freedom is to appropriate actively what happens to
us into the persons we are now and the persons we can become. This freedom
allows as to integrate the good and bad experiences of our lives in order to build
our character and enables us to be better and stronger persons.
We can strive to overcome certain obstacles to growth and become better
persons. E.g. We can choose to hope even under despair, or we can choose to
love even if we do not receive anything in return, or We can forgive enemies.
C. Threats to Freedom of Self-Determination
Some threats to freedom come from outside of the human person which
includes subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, inhuman working
conditions, exploitation, and tyranny, among others.
While some threats originate from within the human person. These
threats include IGNORANCE and PASSION. Ignorance blurs an individual’s vision
and makes him/her react in an impulsive or instinctive manner rather than in a
rational and responsible way. Uncontrolled passions, on the other hand, enslave
the human person. They draw him/her irresistibly and uncontrollably to the
object of that passion which, among others, can be power, wealth, or pleasure.
2. Authentic Human Freedom3
A. Freedom FROM
Authentic Freedom involves first freedom from everything that opposes
our true self-becoming with others in community which includes interior
obstacles like ignorance, disordered passions, fears, personality defects, bad
habits, prejudices or psychological disturbances and exterior forces such as
violent force or even the threat of violence. Sources of Impediments to Authentic
Freedom: a) Biological-external defects caused by abusive use of substances like

3
Salibay, 9-10.

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 ATENEO DE DAVAO UNIVERSITY
SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Km 7 Central Park Boulevard, Talomo, 8000 Davao City

Christian Morality

drugs; b) Psychological-or interior compulsion including those originating from

the unconscious; c) Social Pressures- such as various economic, political, and
cultural obstacle which impede the right to freedom.
B. Freedom for: beyond being liberated from all the obstacles to authentic freedom
is the freedom for growing as full persons and children of God, sharing in the life
of Christ our liberator through his spirit. It is freedom found in authentic love.

References

Salibay, Esteban Jr. T. 2013. Christian Morality in Contemporary Society. Quezon City: C & E
Publishing Inc.

Gula, Richard M. 1989. Reason Informed by Faith: Foundations of Catholic Morality. New York:
Paulist Press.

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