Christian Morality

1. Christian Morality Section 1: Foundational Principles for Christian Morality

2. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • God made us to live in loving communion with Him and with one another so as to experience true happiness and peace. • The core of Scriptures tells us that humans were created to be in loving relationship with Him. • Humans were not created by gods to feed upon their egos or for their amusement; if so, humans would be at the mercy of the changing whim of the gods, be self-centered, be in competition with each other always, and love would not be freely given.

3. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • The effects of Original Sin make it difficult for some people to know or understand God’s plan. • Idolatry is the primary sin against the First Commandment and the most prevalent in our world. • God made us in His image and likeness, bringing us into even deeper communion with who He truly is and calls us to be.

4. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • God gave us three gifts that allow us to be with Him for all eternity, which are our: • Soul • Intellect • Free Will • Our soul is our spiritual principal that is immortal and which makes us most like God. • Our soul is created by God, united with our body at conception and is the seat of human consciousness and freedom.

5. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Our soul and our body form one nature called human nature and are not separate. • Intellect is the divine gift that allows us to understand and see the order of God’s creation and understand God through that order. • We understand how to be in communion with God by knowing what is truly good and what only appears to be good.

6. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Free Will is a gift from God that allows us to choose from various actions, for which we are accountable for. • Free will is the basis for moral responsibility. • Our free will shows God is not manipulative and does not force us to love Him. • Our soul, intellect, and free will orient us toward God and a loving relationship with Him; however, intellect and free will can also separate us from God if not used properly

7. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan

8. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Every person who has ever lived is free to accept the will of God and His love or reject it. • Adam and Eve chose their freedom to reject God when they disobeyed His command to them not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. • Pursuits of popularity, pleasure, and wealth all are evils that can distract us from true happiness. • Unlike animals, whose instinct drives their actions, we can analyze an action as wither good or bad before acting.

9. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Freedom and responsibility go hand in hand since we must be responsible for all actions we freely take, whether right or wrong. • Some situations, such as fear, side effects of prescription drugs, or social pressures affect our moral choices and do not allow us to make perfectly free choices on our part. • Our basic human right of free will is built into us and no one can take it from us, even if it is lessened by outside agents (though they are not excuses for acting badly).

10. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Original Sin is the sin of Adam and Eve, the first humans, who disobeyed God’s will by choosing their own will, losing holiness and becoming subject to death. • Original Sin is also the fallen nature that affects every person born into this world except Jesus Christ and Mary, His Mother. • Original holiness is the original state of humans in communion with God, sharing in the divine life in full relationship with Him.

11. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Adam and Eve sinned not just against themselves, but all human nature, since their state of original holiness was for all their descendants as well. • Original sin weakens human nature, making us concupiscent, or the tendency toward sin as a result of Original sin. • The most serious loss of all due to Original Sin is that humans now experience death, something God never intended for life.

12. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan

13. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Change can be a very difficult thing to accomplish and we sometimes give up on changing something in our life when it just seems too difficult. • God did not give up on humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve; instead, He called humanity to change from sin and turn to Him. • God formed covenants with humanity, gave the 10 Commandments, provided leaders for the Israelites, a people He chose as His own.

14. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • At first, when God allowed for a new leaf to be turned off, the Israelites rejoiced and tried to follow God; however, within one generation, the people God called His own has strayed from His ways again, just as Adam and Eve did. • God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to complete salvation history, or the specific events in human history that revealed God’s presence and saving actions.

15. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Through Christ’s Paschal Mystery, which was the work of salvation by His death, Resurrection, and Ascension, we are called to new life in Christ; to turn a new leaf away from the death of the Old Adam to life in the New Adam, who is Christ Himself. • When we place our trust in Christ, we are called to live the life of the Beatitudes, which are our vocations as Christians and the goal of our existence. It is truly blessedness and happiness experiences partially on Earth and fully in Heaven.

16. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • The Beatitudes show us the paradox nature of God’s wisdom in comparison to what we hold true. • The Beatitudes teach that by embracing the hardships of life, we gain meaning to our moral choices. • We will not experience full happiness in life on Earth when living by the Beatitudes, but will do so only in Heaven.

17. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Through Scripture and Tradition, we are given direction to live as disciples. • By Baptism, Eucharist, and the Sacraments, we are given God’s grace and strength to follow through on change. • We grow closer to the Holy Trinity when we make moral choices when we are called forth by the Father, guided by the Holy Spirit, and taught by Christ the Son.

18. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • God calls us to enter through the narrow gate, the path less trodden, since the wide open gate leads to destruction and death, pot hole filled and ridden with pain. • God never gives up on us; He did not give up on Adam and Eve and their descendants, us men and women, since He sent for us to die His only, beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

19. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan

20. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • We are saved through God’s works, not our own. • Our primary goal then is to collaborate with God’s grace and not just try to earn our way to Heaven. • Justification is the process by which God frees us from our sins and sanctifies us. • Original Justice is the state our first parents, Adam and Eve, had with their inner self, with each other, and with creation.

21. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • In Baptism we united ourselves with Christ as original sin is washed away, though its effects remain. • Justification starts with conversion on our part as we realize we do need God, in both good and bad times. • At the end of the justification process, we become sanctified, or holy people, like the saints, by giving praise to God through our lives.

22. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Saint Ignatius of Loyola wanted to be a nobleman when he was younger; yet these dreams were dashed when he was hit by a cannonball at age 30. During recuperation, Ignatius learned about the saints and read about Christ, thus beginning his conversion. Ignatius was sanctified by God’s grace and achieved true holiness thereafter.

23. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Merit is God’s reward for those who love Him and follow Christ’s law of love. • To have merit means you are justified in the sight of God, freed from sin and sanctified by His graces. • We do not earn merit on our own; it is a free gift to us from God due to the grace of Christ in us.

24. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan • Merit is first and foremost God’s free gift to us, then secondly, our acceptance of His gift and participation in His saving plan, for nothing we do can earn merit in God’s sight. • So why should we be good? • Because that is how God made us to be. • We should be good not to impress others or earn our way to Heaven because this puts US at the center of our deeds and not God. • God justifies and sanctifies us so that we can live in perfect communion with Him.

25. Part 1: Moral Choices and God’s Plan

26. Part 2: The Law of God • God is the source of all true law. • Moral laws govern how people should be in relationships with one another and with God. • We are the only creatures that can cause chaos and disaster to the order of the universe God has set in place, as well as support and strengthen the natural order of creation.

27. Part 2: The Law of God • There is always a price to pay when going against God’s natural order, such as when telling one lie after another. • The Eternal Law is the order in creation that reflects God’s will and purpose; it is eternal because it is always true and never changes. • All other laws have their basis in the Eternal Law and are only true laws when they reflect the truth of the Eternal law.

28. Part 2: The Law of God • In general, law is a rule of behavior that is made by a competent authority for the sake of the common good. • Moral law is established by God and is a rational expression of the Eternal Law. • Moral law reflects God’s wisdom and is the teaching that leads us to the blessed life He wants for us. • It is our conscience that allow everyone to know the moral law.

29. Part 2: The Law of God

30. Part 2: The Law of God • Through the gift of reason, all people can follow moral laws. • Natural law is the moral law that can be understood through the use of reason; it gives our God-given ability to understand what it means to be in right relationship with God, other people, the world, and ourselves. • The basis for natural law is our participation in God’s wisdom and goodness because we are created in the divine likeness.

31. Part 2: The Law of God • The Golden Rule is an example of natural moral law. • People of all faiths and non-faiths hold fast to the Golden Rule, showing that it goes beyond laws and into the gift of human reasoning. • The natural moral law is an expression of the Eternal law, meaning that they do not change with time, culture, or beliefs.

32. Part 2: The Law of God • To be moral is to be fully human since natural law is part of our nature as human beings. • Laws based in custom, according to Aristotle, are true to a particular place and time, but natural laws are true everywhere for everyone. • Saint Paul says that knowledge of God and of moral law is evident to every person through creation.

33. Part 2: The Law of God • Saint Augustine compared how all people of all religions know in their hearts what is right based on natural moral law to how a king stamps a royal seal into wax like God stamps the Law into our hearts.

34. Part 2: The Law of God • In the Bible, the most dramatic and awe-inspiring appearance of God was right before He gave Moses the 10 Commandments, using the signs of lightning, thunder, and earthquakes as ways to make the Israelites “pay attention.” • Natural moral law is not obeyed by everyone, as we can see today in certain hot topics of debate where one side says they are fighting for morals, yet in reality go against it.

35. Part 2: The Law of God • It is for this reason God gave us His own law through Scripture and Tradition. • The Old Law was the Divine Law revealed in the Old Testament to Moses in the 10 Commandments. • The 10 Commandments are also called the Decalogue. • The 10 Commandments make perfectly clear the natural law God already had placed in nature.

36. Part 2: The Law of God • The 10 C0mmandments are part of the Old Covenant, or Original Covenant God first made with the Israelites, sometimes called the Sinai Covenant. • The covenant was a loving relationship between God and His people. • God wanted to restore a loving communion between Himself and His creation, starting with the Israelites, then with all the Earth.

37. Part 2: The Law of God • The Pentateuch are the first five books in the Bible, or the sacred Scripture of the Jewish people. • A Catechism is a book that summarizes Catholic doctrine and teachings used for formal programs and classes. • The 10 Commandments are the framework for teaching Christian morality in the Catechism because they answer and address all sorts of moral issues.

38. Part 2: The Law of God • The Old Law does not restore us to Original Holiness, but rather shows us away from sin to eternal happiness. • The Old Law shows us what we must do, but the graces and strength to actually keep the Law is from the Holy Spirit and Jesus, the fulfillment of the Old Law, at His coming. • The Old Law is preparation for the Gospel.

39. Part 2: The Law of God • When Jesus established the New Covenant, He also established the New Law, or Divine Law revealed in the New Testament through the life and teaching of Jesus. • The New Law fulfills the Old Law and is known as the “Law of Love.” • Jesus’ New Law is found throughout the Gospel, but specifically at the Sermon on the Mount, for Moses received the 10 Commandments on a mountain, and Jesus delivered His from a mountain too.

40. Part 2: The Law of God • Jesus starts the Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes, values like poverty of spirit, meekness, peacemaking, etc., thing that we must possess to live a moral life. • Jesus then says we must be “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world.” • Jesus quotes the Old Law and then teaches what the true meaning of the law is.

41. Part 2: The Law of God • “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” was the Old Law that limited revenge you could take on someone who hurt you. • Jesus teaches that the New Law preaches love and forgiveness, not of revenge. • Who can live such a life of forgiveness? • Those who follow and live by the Beatitudes. • The Great Commandments were Jesus’ summary of the entire Divine Law to love God and neighbor.

42. Part 2: The Law of God • The first three Commandments can be summarized in the first Great Commandment from Jesus; the last seven Commandments can be summarized in the second Great Commandment from Jesus. • The Law of Love becomes the basis for interpreting all moral laws. • The New Law shows us why God did not treat us with revenge for disobeying Him, but rather with love by sending us His Son.

43. Part 2: The Law of God • The love Jesus preaches though is not love we have for a boyfriend or girlfriend; rather, it is loving in which we forgive others and work at being holy people; a sacrificial love. • God wrote the natural law in man’s heart, made in clear through the revelation of the 10 Commandments, and even sent Jesus to guide us and give us the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Law of Love, the Great Commandments.

44. Part 2: The Law of God

45. Part 2: The Law of God • As Christians, we are called to live a life of holiness and be examples for others, not by judging one another for shortcomings, but by continuously striving to do good. • “How can you see the splinter in your neighbor’s eye when you have a beam in your own?” • The Church has two sets of laws: • Precepts • Canon Law

46. Part 2: The Law of God • Precepts of the Church are sometimes called the commandments of the Church, which ate basic obligations of Catholics that are dictate by the laws of the Church. • Canon Law is the official body of laws that provide good order to the visible body of the Church. • The Precepts are the minimum requirements of Catholics to participate in the life of the Church.

47. Part 2: The Law of God • Catholics are obligated to follow the Precepts of the Church, but should do so as reminders of our faith and who we are. • Each law of the church is called a canon, which means “rule.” • Canon Law governs issues such as norms for the celebration of Sacraments, Catholic education, rights and responsibilities of the ordained, and has penalties when the law is broken.

48. Part 2: The Law of God • The Magisterium is the Church’s living teaching office, composed of the world’s bishops in communion with the Pope. • The Magisterium’s purpose is to teach the fullness of the New Law of Christ first to the Church, then to the entire world. • The Magisterium uses the natural law when speaking out on such issues as abortion and embryotic research so as to speak to people of all faiths.

49. Part 2: The Law of God • When the Pope and bishops speak on a matter of faith and morals, they do so infallibly, meaning the Holy Spirit guides them to speak without error. • Infallibility is the gift of the Holy Spirit to the entire Church by which her leaders are protected from fundamental error when speaking on topics of faith and morals. • To be clear though, not every word spoken from a bishop or the Pope’s mouth in daily life are infallible, as some people believe.

50. Part 2: The Law of God • The moral law taught by the Church is not her invention, but that of God’s universal law meant for all people. • The Church public speaks its teachings, but accepts a person’s right to reject her teachings outside of the Catholic faith. • The Church has an obligation to public opinion and laws to help establish a just society for God’s people. • The Church does not want to take over the state; it just wants to assure the safety of all God’s creation.