Moral theology examines the implications of Christian faith for how believers ought to live. It shares methods and interests with moral philosophy but focuses on norms derived from divine revelation rather than just human reason and experience. Moral theology has both a theoretical and practical dimension, seeking to clarify foundational ethical principles and apply them to concrete moral issues and dilemmas through situational analysis and discernment of proper action.
Moral theology examines the implications of Christian faith for how believers ought to live. It shares methods and interests with moral philosophy but focuses on norms derived from divine revelation rather than just human reason and experience. Moral theology has both a theoretical and practical dimension, seeking to clarify foundational ethical principles and apply them to concrete moral issues and dilemmas through situational analysis and discernment of proper action.
Moral theology examines the implications of Christian faith for how believers ought to live. It shares methods and interests with moral philosophy but focuses on norms derived from divine revelation rather than just human reason and experience. Moral theology has both a theoretical and practical dimension, seeking to clarify foundational ethical principles and apply them to concrete moral issues and dilemmas through situational analysis and discernment of proper action.
B) Interests, C) Divisions, D) Structures • 2. Some Definitions: A) F Bockle, B) A Sertillanges, C) B Haring A) The Nature of MT
Species of Ethics: - shares structures & formal interests
- MT is sufficiently different from
philosophical morality or ethics (MP) Nature cont… • Is a particular expression of systematic theology (ST) which focuses on the implications of faith for the way we live (Christian or theological ethics). • ST: is an overarching discipline of theology which tries to work out a coherent view of the world by integrating truths of faith with other truths we can know. Moral Philosophy (MP) • Can reflect adequately on the nature of moral life • What constitute right or wrong (bad or good) behavior without reference to Christian Faith (CF) • Resources: Human Reason and Human Experience • MT: shares with MP’s resources plus CF B) Interests • MT wants to know what difference could a Christian believer makes in the way he/she lives his/her life… • interested in the implications of Christian Faith for the kind of persons we ought to be (“Ethics of Being”): interiority of the person or character / virtues
• Interested in the kinds of action Christian do (“Ethics of
Doing”): making decisions to resolve moral dilemmas (e.g. conflict of values) so might do proper action Interests cont. • Ethics (theoretical interests): the nature of the good, the nature of the person as a moral agent, criteria of judgment
• Morals (practical interests): fundamental
beliefs, character of the moral agent, use of norms, situational analysis C) Divisions • foundational concerns (norms: deontology, teleology, virtues)
• special concerns (concrete issues where &
when norms applied) D) Structures • Two-fold enterprise of ethics & morals • Ethics: it is concerned with clarifying the foundations of moral life on the basis of Christian religious convictions » Theoretical foundations of MT
• Morals: it is also concerned with interpreting how to
judge and act in the light of those convictions » Practical Level of MT (directs / orients behavior) 2. Some Definitions • A) Franz Bockle: That “part of theology that searches for the norms of free human conduct in the light of the revelation.”
• Concerned with norms of free human conduct
(humans are the real moral agents insofar as they are free)
• Guided by Divine Revelation (differs from MP): Judaeo-
Christian Faith and Tradition • B) Antonin Sertillanges: “It is the science of what man ought to be by reason of what he is” • “Science”: open-ended, analyzes situations, adds new data… facts, (“the is dimension”) • “What ought to be”: how things ought to be, people should be… future directed (“the ought dimension”) • “What humanity is”: nature of the moral agent (what they meant to be; anthropological constants) • C) Bernard Haring: describes MT as Responsibility (Response – Ability) • Response – it is a response to God’s invitation (“vocation”), saying YES to God’s call in the “here and now “ and the “not-yet” (fundamental option)
• Ability (“the virtues”)– the “power” given (infused, i.e.
theological: Faith, Hope, Love) to us by the Holy Spirit and those we learned through habituation (i.e. cardinal: Courage, Temperance, Prudence, Justice) • Constitutive elements of an adequate definition of MT: • It is a science; concerned about what ought to be (norms, ethics); judging right from wrong in the light of who we are (anthropological constants); dealing with human conduct, behavior in the light faith (morals, Divine Revelation); summed up by responsibility; responding to God’s call towards human flourishing (or, Kingdom of God).
• References: R. Gula, Reason Informed by Faith (NY: Paulist,
1989), 6-12; M. Pennock, Moral Problems: What Does a Christian Do? (Notre Dame, Ind: Ave Maria Press, 1979), 15-23; B. Hoose, ed., Christian Ethics: An Introduction (NY/London: Continuum, 1998), 3-162 (Cc 1-10 on “Basic Christian Ethics”). Evaluation (1/2 of yellow paper)
Explain the following:
1.I am free when ______________________... 2.What I have done is right or moral because_______________________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ ________________________________... DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY • Human behavior refers to the array of every physical action and observable emotion associated with individuals, as well as the human race as a whole. • Anthropological Constants are the values that must be, for life to exist on Earth.