Moral Theo Final Flashcards
Original sin and morality
- Original sin effects freedom and diminishes it; our nature weakened but still free and capable of some good
- in Adam all sinned, transmitted by propagation not imitation
- Augustine - pessimistic, without grace spirit no longer capable of guiding our lives, nature is darkened, confused, wounded, polluted, depraved
- Aquinas - optimistic, retain natural desire for union with God, beatific vision
- Protestant - our nature is incapable of good action, Church criticizes that this means we are not free to cooperate with grace
- council of trent - salvation from christ alone; but nature not completely destroyed; capable of some good acts
- empirical aspect of original sin (we can see that humans act selfishly) and aspect of mystery (evil not logical, something about evil we cannot understand)
- The Church’s position on the personhood of human beings
throughout all stages of their existence
Church affirms human beings are to be respected and treated with dignity proper to a person from conception until death, and human being retains same moral value for this span of life, though Church does not expressly define embryo as a person because that is a philosophical term
- The relationship between the Magisterium and moral theologians.
moral theologians should make contribution to the development of moral theology based on scripture and tradition and in communion with magisterium, seek deeper understanding of magisterium’s teachings (while recognizing possible limitations) and to expound validity and obligatory nature of its precepts
- The assent of faith versus the submission of will and mind as well as their application to moral statements of the Church.
response to extraordinary or ordinary universal magisterium (infallible) should be:
– assent of faith
response to ordinary magisterium (fallible, changeable) should be:
- submission of will and intellect
- allegiance of mind
- firm acceptance and belief
- seriousness and loyal submission
- presumption that the church has received the assistance of the holy spirit
- though understanding that these teachings can change (development of
doctrine) and may not be free from deficiencies
- but would be wrong to conclude that magisterium can be habitually
mistaken
Dissent in moral theology
dissent is okay – church doesn’t want us to accept its teaching blindly, we are invited to think about statements of church and contribute in a constructive way, ask if there are things to be improved, encourages us to think critically and contribute to the development of theology, as long as it is not presented to public by teacher or theologian as alternative to church teaching
Sensus Fidelium versus sensus fidei and their relevance of moral theology.
in some moral issues popular opinion contradicts church teaching (contraception), but this is not the true sensus fidelium; the sense of the faithful is based on the sense of the faith (faith and tradition); if it is based on the spirit of the age, it is not true sensus fidelium;
- Theecclesialdimensionofmoraltheology.
- you can’t separate moral theology from the church
- “thinking with the church” – being of one heart and one mind with the church
- we are not individuals, there is a communal aspect of morality, what we do affects each other, we are part of communion of saints, the one body of the church, so our moral decisions effect the entire body, building up or diminishing the church, the communion of human persons is called to become part of the communion of divine persons in the trinity
- grace of the sacraments necessary for moral life are received through the church
- we look to saints for intercession and examples of moral life
- Evangelium Vitae and gravely immoral actions
In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II declares dogmatically, as ordinary universal magisterium, the moral absolute against direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being, including abortion and euthanasia, calling them gravely immoral actions.
- the essential and primordial foundation of christian morality
following christ –
- consequentialism and proportionalism and their critique by magisterium
conseq - criteria is foreseeable consequences alone – end justifies the means
propor - weigh the good and evil consequences, and if a greater good can be accomplished the evil is permissible
critique: it is a denial that some acts are intrinsically immoral (moral norms), denial of doctrine of mortal sin and ability of church to teach universal moral norms; philosophy divorced from scripture and theology
- the primary criterion of morality according to vertitatis splendor 78.
the object rationally chosen by the deliberate will
(not just the physical act, the object is the proximate end, the act of willing, the freely chosen behavior, that makes it good or evil)
- aquinas’ moral theology
through faith in jesus christ, the holy spirit dwells in the heart, works through charity, infuses supernatural virtues (faith, hope, love) that, in cooperation with reason and will, engender natural or cardinal virtues (temperance, courage, justice, prudence), which are perfected by gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Moral theology versus fundamental moral theology.
Moral theology: a systematic reflection on who we are in the light of our faith and what we should do in order to become the beings that God wants us to become.
Fundamental moral theology: is a systematic and critical reflecting on the sources of our moral theology
- Sources of moral theology.
scripture and tradition, as interpreted by Magisterium, are most important sources of moral theology
experience is also a source
