Sem. Jonathan DP.

Racelis September 12, 2020

REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. WHAT IS MORALITY? WHAT IS ETHICS? WHAT IS THE GOAL OF ETHICS?
Morality refers to the standards or norms that an individual or group holds
concerning good and evil, what constitutes right and wrong behavior. It concerns
the basic moral principles that are considered beneficial for society.
Ethics is the inquiry into, or the investigation of, the subject matter of
morality, or the study of how we are to act in morally good ways. It’s the discipline
that critically examines the moral standards or norms held by a particular society,
and then applies these standards or norms (assuming they’re reasonable) to life.
The goal of ethics is to develop a body of moral standards on which we can
draw to help us respond to the many moral challenges we face.
2. WHY IS MORALITY NOT STATIC?
Morality is not static because different cultures have different standards or
norms of acceptable behavior as do different religious traditions, social classes,
and age groups.
3. WHAT FOUR IMPORTANT POINTS DO WE NEED TO KEEP IN MIND WITHIN ANY
DISCUSSION OF MORALITY?
The four important points that we need to keep in mind within any discussion
of morality, are as follows:
Personal Responsibility – Personal Responsibility means that one is ultimately
accountable for one’s actions, as long as he/she performs the act with full
knowledge and freedom (an act of the will), responsibility for it lies within the
person.
Morality, as “housed” in the Human Will - Morality is inextricably related to
our ability to make free choices.
 Consequences on Moral Actions or Decisions – When we perform an action,
we set into motion a chain of events that would not have happened had we not
chosen to act. The more serious the action, the more serious the consequences.
Morality has a Communal Dimension – This means that in addition to
affecting ourselves, our moral decisions often have profound effects on others.
4. WHAT IS MORAL PHILOSOPHY? ON WHAT IT IS BASED?
Moral Philosophy is a systematic endeavor to understand moral concepts and
to justify moral principles and theories. From the Philosophical perspective the
foundation of morality is moral reason.
5. WHAT IS MORAL THEOLOGY? ON WHAT IT IS BASED?
Moral Theology is a subcategory of theology and refers to the study of what
God reveals to humanity about how to live a moral life. Catholic moral theology
incorporates human reason as an essential element in the formation of
conscience.
6. FROM THE CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE, WHAT ARE THE TWO FORMS OF DIVINE
REVELATION, AND HOW ARE THEY RELATED?
From the Catholic perspective, the two forms of Divine Revelation are
Scripture and Tradition of the Church. They are related through faith, from where
one recognizes God’s revelation in Scripture and Tradition, believes in it, and seeks
to act in accord with that revelation in one’s life.
7. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON?
Catholic moral theology holds that faith always informs reason. We use our
capacity to reason in making moral decisions, but our reason is always informed by
the truth that God has revealed. The Church’s often-used-phrase, “Reason
informed by faith” captures this relationship perfectly, as does St. Anselm’s
dictum, “Faith seeking understanding.”
8. WHY IS THE THEME OF LOVE SO IMPORTANT FOR THE BOOK OF
DEUTERONOMY?
The theme of love is so important for the Book of Deuteronomy because the
understanding within Deuteronomy is that God does not give moral laws simply
for the sake of giving moral laws. God gives these laws because, as the people’s
God, He knows what is in their best interests. Thus, for Deuteronomy, following
moral laws is not a form of legalism, it is the people’s proper response to the love
that God continually offers to them.
9. IN THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, WHAT DOES JESUS MEAN WHEN HE SAYS WE
ARE TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER?
In the Christian sense, love means consistently willing the good of the other.
If we truly love our neighbor, we will their good in every circumstance – just as we
will the good of ourselves – and do whatever we can to help them achieve it.
10. HOW DOES JESUS DEMONSTRATE HIS COMPASSION FOR THE POOR AND
POWERLESS?
Jesus demonstrates his compassion for the poor and powerless by
ministering to, and even socializing with, those whom the community rejects. He
focuses his greatest attention on lepers, tax collectors, people possessed by
demons, and even prostitutes, all to the consternation of the religious authorities.
11. WHAT MODELS FOR LIVING A MORAL LIFE DO WE FIND IN THE BEATITUDES?
Models for living a moral life that we can find in the Beatitudes are those
recognizing complete dependence on God, those who realize that everything they
have comes from God. These people are grateful to God for what they have been
given and in turn are willing to share their gifts with others in need. Further
Beatitudes are also important for a person in living a Christian moral life: when
they are meek (humble), when they hunger and thirst for justice, when they show
mercy to others, when they are clean of heart, and when they act as peacemakers
in the world.
12. WHAT IS THE NATURAL LAW? HOW DOES IT ACT AS A SOURCE FOR
CHRISTIAN MORAL REFLECTION?
The natural law is defined as the rational person’s participation in the eternal
law (law of God). Now humans cannot understand the eternal law simply because
they’re not God. God reveals these aspects through the human capacity to reason.
The purpose of natural law, according to moral theology, is to enable people to
recognize the good they must do in their lives, as well as the evil they must avoid.
Natural law is “knowable” to all people. God reveals this law through human
capacity to reason, one doesn’t need to have faith to understand it.
13. WHAT IS A VIRTUE AND WHY ARE VIRTUES IMPORTANT FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF GOOD MORAL CHARACTER?
A virtue is a disposition of the will by which an individual willingly and
consistently chooses to act in a morally good way. Virtues are ongoing patterns of
moral behavior that develop (people aren’t born with them) through our free and
intentional choices. By willingly and consistently making good moral choices, one
develops the virtues that help one become a person of good moral character.
14. WHAT ARE THE PHILOSOPHICAL VIRTUES? WHAT ARE THE THEOLOGICAL
VIRTUES?
The Philosophical Virtues:
Prudence (practical wisdom) – The virtue that disposes one to discern the
good, to choose the correct means of achieving this good, and then to act in
accord with this discernment.
Justice – The virtue that disposes one to render to each person what is due to
them. This virtue helps one to consistently act in ways that nourish right relations
with others.
Fortitude – Fortitude connotes strength, so it’s the virtue that enables one to
face difficulties well. This virtue ensures consistency in the pursuit of the good and
enables one to overcome obstacles to living a moral life.
Temperance – The virtue of self-control. It is the virtue that inclines one to
enjoy pleasures in reasonable and moderate ways, and it provides balance in the
use of created goods.
The Theological Virtues:
Faith – The virtue by which one believes in God and believes all that has
revealed.
Hope – The virtue by which one desires to live in full communion with God in
Heaven, ana places one’s full trust in the promises of Christ.
 Charity (love) – The virtue by which one loves god above all things and loves
one’s neighbor as oneself. It is the virtue that animates and inspires the other
virtues, binds them together “in perfect harmony,” and is the “source and goal” of
Christian practice.
15. FOR CHRISTIANS, WHAT IS THE GOOD? WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT
THE GOOD THAT ONE DOES IN ONE’S LIFE IS A REFLECTION OF THE GOODNESS
THAT IS GOD?
For Christians, the good is God, understood as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Anything in the created order that is deemed good is good only in relation to God,
or as a reflection or meditation of God’s own goodness. Stated differently,
goodness is not an attribute or characteristic of God, God is goodness. God is good
in God’s own self and all goodness existing in creation has its origin and ultimate
fulfillment in God. In Practical terms, this means that the good one does in one’s
life is not of oneself but is a reflection of the goodness that is God.
16. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY THAT GOD’S GOODNESS BOTH ENABLES AND
REQUIRES US TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GOODNESS OF THE WORLD?
The key to understanding what it means to live a Christian moral life lies
precisely in this question: “What is God enabling and requiring me to both be and
do?”. If God enables me with the gifts, talents, or abilities to become a specific
kind if person or to do a specific thing, then I have a moral duty to become that
person (ethic of being) or I am morally required to do this thing (ethic of doing).
We can say that our moral responsibilities are not only to ourselves, to other
people, or to the demands of rationality; they are, first and foremost,
responsibilities towards God. God enables each of us with specific gifts, talents,
and abilities and then requires us to use them to reflect His goodness in the world.
17. HOW IS CHRISTIAN MORAL LIFE OUR RESPONSE TO GOD’S OFFER OF LOVE?
WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES TO LIVING A MORAL LIFE?
Through faith, the Christian recognizes God’s offer of love through Jesus
Christ and the Holy Spirit as an open invitation to live a life of good, to live a life od
God. The Christian’s free response to this invitation is the moral life. Living a moral
life involves a deep commitment on the part of the believer to discern what God is
calling one to both be and do, to understand not only God’s call in their lives, but
also themselves as human persons. Morality truly entails a lived response to God’s
invitation of love.