CFED 1023 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS CHRISTIAN MORALITY Week 2 What is Morality?? title of our course is Christian Morality in First, 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 scienos commonly defined as rules or standards that are, enforced. In the ancient times, when there were = social structures such as government and the CI “when the different religions were not yet as orgai they are now, norms often come in the forms of cu! 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”.What is Morality?? Norms would only come in the forms of rules, regulations, or technically called law when society became more socially organized in al their government systems. When different __=moralit societies mature or develop, their moral ‘ntegrty_ CONCEPb =a a standards would also become more organized, ~—] (esr ethieeeel. more so when they realized how importantis| £3 aI Se 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 ‘ocial progress and further . So, what is “Morality” in a hnical 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.(Our next question is, how did morality arrive with these norms? If the person came up with these norms or found these norms by thinking di reflecting or so, called philosophizing, then the process or the science Is cal Moral Philosophy. In other situations, if the norms or rules were given or reveale« 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 jlosophizing and God's revelation, let us try to find out how others come up with is 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 tt serious implications in coming up with moral norms. 4. The Concept of the Origin of the Human Person and all him/her 1s that surt God (man is a creature of God) Origin: a “~* 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 alkpowerful 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 Iman ‘An example of this is the 10 Commandments in the case of Jui janity, The moral laws will greatly respect the dignity of that “ person whom He also created. There is what you call “fear of Jour moral norms. 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 conceptiview 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. ‘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 ow from such concept, and if you just believe that we are purely animals, then our moral norms will also flow from such view lke 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 calle« ‘supreme being, we also have a good destiny prepared for us. We commonly believe th is.allife after the death of our physical aspect. This is called "heaven" in Christianity, an: 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 hig Juman person will just say that there is no such thing as life after death. Death is the ite end of the human persons. ‘The same with the case of the concept of the origin ofall, the view for the endidestiny 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 ave to do good in our lives to be able to attained such destiny. On the other hand, ifthere is 10 noble end/destiny for the human person, then there are no such thing as moral norms. here 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, | 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 1n person is still unclear or for them others’ belief on those matters is u 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.