WHAT IS MORAL THEOLOGY

WHAT IS MORAL THEOLOGY

            Traditionally, morality has to do with the understanding of proper ethical norms and the conduct which follows upon understanding. Morality deals with the standards by which we judge our actions to be either good or bad. Morality attempts to answer the questions: what is the good? What values and goals should be pursued? What attitudes and dispositions should characterize the human person? What acts are right? What acts are wrong? How does the individual and society go about making moral decisions? What are just societal structures?

            But, in order to understand rightly the meaning of Christian morality, we must define its scope within the general meaning of Christianity. What then is Christianity in this context? Christianity is the unveiling of the father, son and Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ, who is the Son. It is the communication of the divine life and knowledge to man. This differentiates Christian morality then from other ethical systems and religious beliefs. Christic Morality is no stranger to the human person, because, Jesus came not replace old and existing set of rules but to promote a totally new way of living, the saving life of God. Christian morality is therefore based on God’s self-revelation. Thus, the reality of God, and his self-revelation in Jesus. Christ is therefore placed at the very center of Christian morality.

The science of theology demands that knowledge through faith be deepened, explained and strengthened by reason and be together with their conclusions arranged systematically. Moral theology is then a systematic branch of theology which deals with the study of human actions and the morality of human actions, so as to direct them to a living vision of God as seen as our true complete happiness and our final end (Thomas Aquinas). It studies this from the fundamental presupposition of faith and revelation together with reason. Moral theology includes everything relating to man’s free actions and the last or supreme end to be attained through them. Its subject matter is man as a free agent under the guidance of revelation. In moral theology, morality is not an extraneous quality, it is a response of love; a response to the God who initiates the response. This necessitates a call for discipleship, which further necessitates a call for conversion.

This is why it is a practical science, because, its instructions and interests must embrace moral character/behavior; because it delves into examining man’s actions to determine its limits; because it entails a response that is practical, entailing doing.

Characteristics of Moral Theology

--The concepts of good and evil; virtue and vice are determined by God. This gives the Christian moral message its divine origin and conviction, showing us that its messages are the best for man.

--Its requirements necessitates the aid of God’s grace. Since we are ordained to a higher end (eternal life), and weakened by the weakness and corruption of human nature, grace comes to ennoble our human nature, perfect it and order it perfectly and appropriately.

--It affects the entire person and his actions. It is addressed to the totality of the human person, who with the aid of grace becomes a new creature. Since he is a new creature, and action follows being, his actions now become new too.

--Christian morality finds its beginning and end in love. The well-spring of Christian morality is not an external norm but the experience of God’s love for every individual. It begins with the love of God, and culminates in the love for God and neighbor.

Vatican II

Prior to Vatican 2, many schools of thought reduced morality to obligations, rules and regulations like Kant’s Deontological Ethics and his Categorical Imperatives. But, Vatican II Council called for a renewal of moral theology (VS., 7). It;

--recognized that previous manuals on Christian morality were about obligations instead of an internal loving response to the call of God.

-- Called for the nourishment of Christian morality by the scriptures and the fathers of the church.

-- Called for the grounding of Christian morality in science and philosophy to show a more judicious engagement with contemporary thought.

Sources of Christian Morality

The primary sources are Sacred Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium. Although it could borrow from other secondary sources, it goes beyond these secondary sources to clarify and show their loopholes by an authentic reading of the primary sources.

Sacred Scripture

The written word of God teaches what the moral values proposed by God are. Here, we have the OT and NT, but Christian morality is mainly deduced from the NT. Herein, Christian morality is based on the teachings, and deeds of Jesus which shows the truth about moral actions, and who makes known God’s plan for salvation. In St. Paul, contra Jewish and Greek systems, it is faith in Jesus Christ that is the basis for morality. It is this faith that joins the believer with the person of Jesus Christ, uniting him very intimately with the Love of God.

Sacred Tradition

Comes from the Latin word tradere, meaning ‘to hand on’. It refers to those truths passed from generation to generation. It is the very life of the church which preserves and guards the teachings of Jesus Christ. Central here are the writings of the fathers, which systematize moral doctrines and apply NT teachings to different times (VS, 27).

Magisterium

It derives from the Latin word magister, meaning teacher. It is the teaching office of the church and refers to the authority of the pope and bishops united with him in teaching matters of faith and morals. It is at the service of God’s word. With the Holy Spirit, she listens, guards and faithfully teaches the deposit of faith that is divinely revealed (DV. 10). She also warns the faithful of possible, and somewhat negligible and implicit errors like freedom (VS 95,110; CCC 2032-2040)

Ancillary Sciences

These include philosophical ethics/morality, human sciences, anthropology, biology, psychology and the biological sciences. But, moral theology while needing these sciences does not exclusively depend on the results of formal empirical observation of phenomenological understanding alone. The relevance of these sciences must always be measured against the primordial question of what is good and evil? What must be done  to have eternal life? (VS. 111).

Anthropological Discourse

Anthropology comes from two greek words ἄνθρωπος (man) and λόγος (study) which means the study of man. Given this background, Christian anthropology is the Christian study of man. It is Christian, because, it studies man from the person of Christ. Since God is the presupposed caller of man out of freedom, there is the need to study man who responds to this call. Man is created by God and is returning to him. Since God is both the source and end of man, it is needful that man acts felicitously to his origin and end.

The candid inability to fact the origin and end of man in the diverse approaches to anthropology in many anthropological studies, confers incoherency, contradictions and illegitimacy to different and variegated approaches to the study of man like the reason-based theory of Descartes and that of Kant. These variegated approaches define man solely with respect to experience, rationality, emotion, perfunctoriness etc. While, on the other hand, moral theology and Christian anthropology acknowledges and shares some of these aspects of secular humanistic studies regarding man, it distinguishes itself and speaks of them as limited definitions. In the Christian understanding, man is part of creation, who comes from God and is returning to God. He is created for a relationship with God (as creator) and fellowmen and environment (as creatures). According to CCC, Man is created to know, love and serve God in this world, and be happy with him forever in the next. Hence, that we are created by God, further implies that we have a nature for God (freedom, leadership and sanctity of life and holiness).

The Novelty of Christian Anthropology

--There is no cleavage between body and soul, like we see in Plato, atheism and agnosticism. In the human person, soul and body are integrated and the human person is thus at once corporeal and spiritual, CCC. 362.

--Man is a social being.  Called to relationality, lives in the society and is a being-for-others, serving and loving them. This further implies rights and duties.

--Equality of human nature. All have been redeemed by God and are called to share in the same divine happiness.

--Christ the revealer of the real mystery of man as the New Man (Gaudium et spes, 22).