CHAPTER 3 Conscience, Law, and Obedience The id

Conscience  The human organism arrives in the world

equipped with an unorganized chaos of
 Conscience is the most secret core and instinctual drives: hunger, self-preservation,
sanctuary of a person. There he/she is alone sexuality, and love. These drive urges for
with God whose voice echoes in his or her gratification. They constitute the id.
depths.  The id is the aggregate of the entire individual's
 It alludes to basic interior experiences and most primitive emotional striving. It is the
activities inherent in the mature human person. unconscious reservoir of instinctual drives
 For Christians, conscience is not a personal dominated by the pleasure principle.
ideal or have social norm. It is bound up with  It constitutes competence to distinguish
the mystery of Christ and the life of the spirit. between the inexorable reality of the external
 The foundation of conscience is the Trinitarian world and an interior dynamism of response.
life and his discretions are constituted in the  An id impulse is defined in terms of its
mystery of the fall, the incarnation, redemption, operation. It is striving for immediate reduction
and the eschatological fulfillment of the of compulsion, in disregard of consequences for
kingdom. itself or for other impulses. Compulsions are
 The mature conscience is illumined by the Spirit subjectively painful, the reduction of
and is in accord to Christ, and through Christ is compulsions are pleasurable.
united to the Father.  The id operates in conformity with the pleasure
principle, the organism's general tendency to
Moral Conscience and the Superego evade pain and to seek pleasure.
 A criterion of a mature moral conscience is the
The ego
competence to establish one's mind for oneself
about what ought to be performed. The mature  The modified part of the id. It is the conscious
conscience is formed and exercised in structure, which operates on the reality
community in dialogue with other sources of principle to mediate the forces of the id, the
moral wisdom. demands of society, and the reality of the
 If a person spends his/her whole life performing physical world.
what he/she is told to do by some authority  It takes into consideration circumstances that
simply because the authority says so, or it is exists in the real world and seeks to govern
because it is expected by the group, then that activity to gain in the long run a maximum
person never really makes moral discretions satisfaction of needs.
which are his/her own.  It protectively selects and orders its chaos
 For moral maturity one must be one's own anent the external world. The stronger the ego,
person. It is not enough merely to follow what the more effectively it will perform its functions.
one has been told. The morally mature person  The indices of ego strength are measures of the
must be competent to perceive, choose, and adequacy of performance in various spheres of
identify the self with what one does. activity.
 On the moral evil, we perceive every choice  Accuracy of perception, obiectivity judgment,
between being an authentic and an inauthentic common sense, tolerance of ambiguity, self-
person. We act either in character or out of insight, initiative, persistence, competence in
character. solving problems, tolerance of frustration,
 In brief, we give our lives meaning by flexibility of adaptation, ability to learn from
committing our freedom. The morally mature experience, capacity for logical thinking,
adult is called to submit his/her freedom. As planning ability and foresight, ability to stick to
long as we do not direct our own activity, we promises and to carry out resolutions are some
are not yet free, morally mature persons of the indices of the ego's strength.

The Structures to our Personality (Freudian The superego

School)
 Is a modification of the ego? It is a hypothetical are the source of love and approval. We follow
construct invented to explicate such the commands of the superego out of the fear
phenomena as self-blame, self-abasement, of losing love, or out of our need to be
feelings of guilt, depression, suicidal thoughts, accepted and approved.
and anxiety in the absence of actual threats,  Moral conscience stem from personal
over-submissiveness to external authority, night perception and appropriation of value, which
terrors, compulsive strivings to gain high moral we discover in the stories or, examples of
standards. persons we want to be like. Moral conscience is
 It is part of the ego, which responds to and the key to responsible freedom of wanting to do
transmits the restrictions imposed by the what we do because we value what we are
external world through external authorities. seeking. "Shoulds" and "have-tos" of the
Gula presented this as the ego of another superego look to authority. The "wants" of
superimposed on our own to serve as an moral conscience look to personalized and
internal censor to regulate our conduct by using internalized values
guilt as its powerful weapon.  The conscience/superego mix up helps us to
 The superego is like an attic in an old house. It understand in part what makes a person with
stores all the should " and "have-to's" which we an overly developed or overly active superego
absorb in the process of growing up under the have a difficult time distinguishing between
influence of authority figures, first our parents what God is enabling or calling him her to do
but later any other authority figures - teachers, from what someone in authority says she/he
police, boss, sisters, priests, pope, etc. should do.
 It's powerful weapon of guilt Springs from
automatically for simple faults as for more John Glasser in his article Conscience and
serious matter. Superego: A Key Distinction draws up
 The super ego tells us we are good when we do contrasting characteristics between
what we are told to do and it tells us we are Superego and Conscience.
had and makes us feel guilty when we do not
do what the authority over us tells us to do.
 For Glasser, to understand the superego it is SUPEREGO CONSCIENCE
necessary to begin with childhood. As we
advance through childhood, the need to be Commands that an act Invites to action, to
loved and approve is the basic need and drive. be performed for love, and in this
 We fear punishment as children not for its approval, in order very act of other-
physical pain only, but more because it to make oneself directed
represents a withdrawal of love. We regulate lovable, accepted; commitment to co-
our behaviour so as not to lose love and fear of love- create self-value.
approval. We absorb the standards and withdrawal is the
regulations of our parents or anyone who has basis.
authority over us as a matter of self-protection
 The authority figure takes up a place within us Introverted: the Extroverted: the
to become the source of commands and thematic center is thematic center is
prohibitions Glasser. an aspect of one’s the value which
 The divergence between superego and moral value invites; self-value is
conscience is in differentiating between the concomitant and
shoulds" or "have-tos" and the "wants" as the secondary to this
source of commands directing our behavior.
"Shoulds" and "have-tos" belong to someone Static: does not grow, Dynamic: an
else. "Wants" belongs to us. does not learn; awareness and
 Our friend sometimes reminds us. I don't want cannot function sensitivity to value
to be the way you think I should be. creatively in a new which develops and
situation; merely grows; a mind-set
 The command of the superego tells us that we
repeats a basic which can precisely
should do come from the process of absorbing
command function in a new
the regulations and restrictions of those who
situation
 Conscience is the whole person’s commitment to
Authority-figure Value-oriented: the values and the judgment one must make in light of
oriented: not a value or disvalue is that commitment to apply these values.
question of perceived and
perceiving and responded to, THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE
responding to a regardless of
value but of whether authority When the right choice becomes of primary interest,
obeying authority’s has commanded or the formation of conscience becomes a matter of
command “blindly” not acquiring:

“atomized” units of Individual acts are  Skills necessary to assess morally relevant
activity are its seen in their factors: Action itself, intention,
object importance as a circumstances, consequences, values, and
part of a larger norms
process or pattern
 The competence to consider the entirety of
Past-oriented; primarily Future- oriented: the contention.
concerned with creative; sees the
cleaning up the past as having a
 The competence to offer sound reasons for
record with regard future and helping
a moral judgment.
to past acts to structure tis
future as a better
 The competence to constitute a decisive will
future
to execute a judgment.
Urge to be punished Sees the need to repair
and thereby earn by structuring the For Kohlberg, moral life is a matter of making
reconciliation future orientation choices on the basis of reason. Moral development
toward the value in is a matter of acquiring the ability to provide
question (which increasingly more principled reasons to justify those
includes making choices.
good past harms)

Rapid transition from A sense of the gradual LAWRENCE KOHLBERG SCALE OF MORAL
severe isolation, process of growth DEVELOPMENT
guilt feelings, etc., which characterizes
to an aspect of self- all dimensions of STAGE Obedience and punishment
value accomplished genuine personal 1 orientation. Egocentric deference
by confessing an development to superior power or prestige, or
authority figure a trouble- avoiding set.

Possible great Experience of guilt STAGE Naively egoistic orientation. Right

disproportion proportionate to 2 action is that instrumentally
between guilt the importance of satisfying the self’s needs and
experienced and the value in occasionally others
the value in question, even
STAGE Good-boy orientation. Orientation to
question; extent of though authority
3 approval and to pleasing and
guilt depends more may never have
helping others
on weight of addressed this
authority figure and specific value.
STAGE Authority and social-order
“volume” with
4 maintaining orientation.
which he speaks
Orientation to “doing duty” and to
rather than density
showing respect for authority and
of the value in
maintaining the given social order
question
 for its own sake which serves wisdom own” and the
us the wherever moral action
STAGE Contractual legalistic orientation. presupposition they may be expressive of
5 Duty defines in terms of contract, to moral found. "me" by
general avoidance of violation of assertion or realizing and
the will or rights of others, and disagreement The goal of expressing my
majority will and welfare. on a specific its tasks is fundamental
contention. attained stance.
STAGE Conscience or principle orientation. "evaluative
6 Orientation not only actually knowledge," This is the
ordained social rules but also to personally conscience,
principle of choice involving appropriated, which I must
appeal to logical universality and interiorized obey to be
consistency. knowledge. true to myself.

The quest for This is the

what is right “secret core
through and sanctuary
THREE SENSES OF CONSCIENCE accurate of our self
perception, which must
MORAL and as not be
SYNDERESIS CONSCIE CONSCIENCE process of violated. Each
NCE reflection and is bound to
A CAPACITY A JUDGMENT analysis. follow his
A PROCESS conscience
faithfully in all
The aspect of The aspect of The concrete his activity so
fundamental our method judgment of that he may
qualities of of visualizing what I must do come to God,
being human, and thinking. in the situation who is his last
which makes it grounded on end.
possible to The realm of my personal Therefore, he
know and to moral perception al must not be
be good. disagreement and forced to act
and error, apprehension contrary to his
Our general blindness and of values. conscience.
aspect of value insight.
and The primary Conscience, for the Psychologists' especially
fundamental The proper object of this Kohlberg, is a set of cultural rules of social action,
aspect of realm of the judgment is which have been internalized by the individual.
accountability formation not merely this Concerning internalized rules, emphasis diverged in
which makes it and or that object researchers' conception of morality. Conscience is a
possible for us examination of choice but nebulous thing. It does not represent a unitary,
to engage in of being this or internally consistent set of principles or sanctions.
moral conscience. that sort of The formation of conscience goes beyond mere
argumentation person knowledge of external formulas of law and the
s to assess the Ensues moral through what I skills stated above. It goes beyond the moral
specific moral truth, which choose. development presented by Kohlberg. Insistence on
good. explores to external law is the haven of the insecure
apprehend by The act of (neuroticism, scrupulosity) or shallow (legalism,
The making use conscience Phariseeism). Christian morality is love, and I thou
fundamental of sources or makes a moral relationship between God and man. It is
condition, of moral discretion “my communitarian and creative (attuned to the Spirit
of God). The Christian grows in wisdom, age, and or another course of action, we make ourselves
grace. It acknowledges man's engagement with into certain sorts of persons
others in the kingdom of God. It evades excessive  Gula cited Thomas More saying, when we do
individualism. An authentic Christian conscience not act in conformity to our character, our very
directs man to have an affirmative commitment to self can be lost. Moral choices are
the kingdom of God. It makes Christianity and fundamentally matters of integrity: we act in
Christian love the light of the world and the salt of character or out of character. When we "size
the earth. It is also considering the findings of people up" to get a glimpse of their character,
positive sciences. what do we attend to? We focused to patterns
of actions, which mirror attitudes, dispositions,
Conscience is formed in dialogue with several and the readiness to see things and to choose
sources of moral wisdom. As humans, we consult in certain ways.
our own experience as well as the experience of  Gula envisages that these are indices of
family, friends, and experts in the field, which character, since character exhibits itself in its
pertains to the area of judgment at hand. We fruits. Character identifies the responsive
analyze and test the stories, images, language, orientation of a person: seeing the world as a
rituals, and actions by which the various hostile or friendly place, or being a person who
communities in which we participate live the moral loves and helps or one who is fearful and
life. As Christians, we turn to the testimony of selfish.
scripture the religious convictions of our creeds, the  Gula delineates that the acquisition of character
values of moral virtuosos, and the informed is fashioned by directing our freedom to
judgment of theologians past and present to help loyalties outside ourselves. Christian character,
interpret the traditions of Christian life. Christian for example, is shaped by directing freedom to
communities have access to a rich heritage of the person and message of Jesus as the
stories, images, language, rituals, devotional ultimate core of loyalty. Character is the
practices, and spiritual disciplines, which nurture consequence from the values we consider our
one's moral Vision, and practice. These own.
communities have also official Statements of moral  When a value has woven its way into the fabric
teachings from its readers to give guidance in areas of our being, we delight in doing what pertains
of specific concern. As Catholics, we pay attention to that value. Character predisposes us to
to our rich heritage of stories, images, and choose in certain ways, even though it does not
practices as well as the official teachings of the predetermine every choice. We can act against
Magisterium, which are pertinent to our areas of character, and by making new choices we can
concern change our character.

Conscience as Disposition Pope Pius X11 considered natural disposition as the

natural image of man. Essentially, the natural
 a judgment of conscience is to be a response disposition is constitutive of three dimensions:
from the heart. It is dependent on character, or
virtue. It is necessary to explore the moral The Dimension of the Intra-Individual
import of who we are and to value in full weight
all the factors, which influence the formation of  Is designated as the conscience of biological
character. fitness. It is the innate drive of the somatic
 Moral choices are made by people who visualize organism to flourish, its several warning signals,
the world in a certain mode because they have its need for a healthy state of equilibrium.
become particular sorts of people. The  It exhibits a dual aspect: It is a strongly ego-
description of a specific condition and the kinds related as it is value-related. Its ego-
of choices we apply follow from the kind of relatedness becomes clear when we remember
character we have. Character gives rise to that it is from the depths of the psyche that we
choice. receive those alarm signals, which register
 Choices affirm and qualify character for choices danger, loss, injury, and inner discord.
are self- determining. In choosing to adopt one  From the same depths come feelings of joy and
inner satisfaction when the psyche is able to
 unfold naturally. The ego experiences is either choices. But these modes of seeing are not
well balanced or as threatened and disunited. connected with the logical application of rules.
 The quality of value relatedness is expressed  It is anchored with the images assisting us to
wherein the go cannot remain indifferent to the apprehend what we visualized. Visualization
voice of the natural disposition but feels itself directs and restricts actions performed. It
summoned because it senses value, which it engenders certain choices and disposes the
experiences as its own value. person to respond.
 The intra-individual dimension strives for self-  Selection performed for others may never stem
realization. It is living in conformity to one's as expected for it is not an option/choice. The
conscience. It is letting one's individual human person may not visualize the world the
potential unfold in conformity to its own laws. way others visualized it.
 For St. Augustine, visions are corporeal,
The Dimension of Social Commitment and imaginative, and intellectual. The eyes perceive
Orientation an object that would normally be imperceptible
to the sense of sight. God may cause the
 For Aristotle, social commitment and orientation phenomenon through the mediation of angelic
are constituent elements of man's makeup. powers. The person is given an intuitive
Conscience is shaped by man's social nature. understanding of some supernatural truth or
Man is not a self-contained monad. He is open divine mystery.
in all directions. The realization of his best self
is living in a community. Moga proposed the following paradigms for
understanding seeing:
The Dimension of Transcendental
Relationship The Figure-Ground Paradigm

 Through man's participation in the divine, man  is an apprehension of human experience

enters into communion with the Corpus Christi through focusing of attention and a background
Mysticum. context. The focus of attention (the figure)
never emerges completely by itself.
Conscience as Seeing
 Human seeing is constitutive of both a figure
 Gula maintains that seeing and choice are key and a ground. The ground is construed as a
notions, which alludes to conscience and horizon of possibilities. It has the capacity to
disposition. Seeing precedes choices in the exhibit a comprehensive standpoint of totality.
moral life. Any performance we endeavor is a It reinforces to offer a description of the
selection grounded on seeing. meaning, value, and truth present in human
 We visualize what we see because of our experience.
disposition as to who we are in person. The first
task of the formation of conscience is the The Project Paradigm
attempt to help us see. Responsibility paradigm
for moral life indicates that we respond to what  Is a distinctive structure of human existence.
we see e.g., if we look on children as a burden, The image is a casting forward into a plan or an
we refuse to carry them; if we look on our envision of life. It is a description of human
colleagues as competitors, we refuse to selfhood situating itself in the projects of life. A
cooperate with them. project is experienced as a plan.
 Gula further noted that a phenomenology of  It offers direction, as it is a preparatory
seeing begins from experiences of seeing. It standpoint of life. Potentially, it is a schema of
reflects on those experiences describe and possibilities; a mode of life can possibly be
clarify the basic structures of such experiences. lived. Hence, it is temporal. It is a transition
 Seeing is an expression of our disposition. It is into the future. It is an adjunct to one's
more than observation. Seeing is interpreting essential being.
and valuing. "My employer is bossy" are modes  The project is an essential reality of an
of seeing which has a deeper impact in our experiencing sell. Seeing, therefore, is a
 description of a mode that a human person  Visualization is enhanced by a community. The
projects. This projection becomes a horizon of visualization demanded is in part the
meaning for whatever is envisioned. consequence of internalizing the beliefs and
values, causes and loyalties of the community,
The Paradigm of Living in a Process which comprises the environment. Visualization
is dependent on concatenated engagements, on
 Life is a process that is always in a state of the sphere in which we live, and on the
transition. It is unceasingly moving. It involves commitments we have dedicated and
the three temporal dimensions of past, present, established.
and future. It is experienced as a totality, It  Consequently, the morality in which we are
also constitutes an experience of unfolding. socialized is not a set of rules but a collection of
 This is exemplified in human life wherein the narratives and images of what establishes life
human person takes the growing bountiness of worth living.
his past in to the future, It is a transition  An experience of God's love forms the
toward completion. This sphere is expanded in disposition and consciousness of being loved by
Aristotelian aspect nature known as the God even during trials and tribulations,
teleological (goal) process. It is a transition excruciating spiritual suffering of uncertainty
toward an ending or death. and doubt.
 Man experiences this ending process and  Here, the historical experience of the
simultaneously a fulfilling process. The community of the church is an attestation to
paradigm of living also differs in tempo. There the conviction "God is love and his lived
are transitions having a speedy tempo, others personal experience of human engagements
are slower or boring. which accorded on that conviction entered into
 It also consists of a gradual transition of the molding of his consciousness and assist in
meaning, and finally, it is creative. It is not a sustaining him even when circumstances might
mechanical reiteration of the past. have led him to object to such a conviction.
 The world of family and church are not the only
The Involvement Paradigm worlds we live in. Religious practices and
narratives are not the exclusive formator of our
 Constitute a spatial image comprising a lives.
sphere of transition from the centrality of  The formation of conscience occurs in these
the self to another. communities so that one's conscience mirrors
 It is dedication and commitment casting the values and loyalties of the most influential
itself in a process of involvement forward. community’s c.g., as would put it parents worry
The human self is not a simple reality. about where their children go to school about
 In its intricacy, it is anchored to both core the friends they make, about what they do in
and plans of life. It accentuates the their free time, about the television shows they
relational disposition of human existence. watch? They worry because the inner spirit, or
the conscience, is shaped and developed by the
Conscience as a Narrative structures within which we live, by what we
see, and by what we do.
 Most people do not make moral choices  To speak only morals to children and to expect
grounded on impersonal rules, rational that this will make them Virtuous is to miss the
abstractions or logical procedures. mark of forming conscience. Parents must pay
 The moral world of our moral choices is a attention to their schools, their friends, the
composite of imagination, visualization, habits, books they need read, the television programs
affections, dispositions, somatic reactions, and they watch, and so on.
countless non-rational factors which logical  The profound participation in the Christian
generalizations never consider in discretion community, its practices and narratives will
making. highly mold one's moral conscience.
 Discretions are established by the beliefs we  We also live in the worlds of our ethic
live by and the habits we have projected out of community, school, profession, sports, politics,
the principles we have learned. commerce, advertising, and entertainment.
 The more we involve in the narratives, rituals, contraceptive pills do, what sexual
images, and language of a community, the intercourse is. For everyday life, what
more we begin to conform to its mode of smoking does, what can pooling does, what
visualization. overworking and overeating do?
o The example of the religious world and
the non-religious worlds of sports, 2. Who also includes the other persons in the
television, advertising, and business decision. The moral reality of sexual
offer a distinctive sphere of modes our intercourse is different when my partner is
visualization is formed by the multiple my spouse or my neighbour.
worlds in which we live.
 Each world communicates what is good and 3. When and where: Driving over speed has
how life ought to be lived. different moral meaning when it is done in a
o These examples exhibits that most of school zone at 3’o clock than what is done
what we visualize does not lie in front of on the highway. There is a difference
our eyes but behind them in the images between yelling "fire" on a rifle range or in
which constitute our imagination. a crowded movie theater.

Conscience as Imagination and Christian 4. Why and how? Consequences: what if and
Narrative what else.

 Human behaviour is a function not so much of Conscience and Church Authority

the moral propositions one adheres as
authentic, but of the imagination exhibiting the  Gula exemplified that conscience is the
images, which presents us a "picture" of the whole person's commitment to values and
world. the judgment of what "I must do in
 In shaping our consciences for the sake of response of that commitment applicable to
establishing a moral judgment, it is necessary those values.
to be critically alert to images at play in our  Conscience has been traditionally known as
imaginations. the ultimate subjective norm of morality in
 Christian morality believes that narratives and contrast to the objective norm of the moral
images emerging in the Christian narrative order, which logically apprehends through
exemplify a description of goodness in the nature and revelation.
moral life, and present authentic modes of  It is conforming and following the judgment
visualizing. of a properly informed conscience.
 The convergence of these narratives into our Inculcation of values occurs in community
own mode of visualizing, feeling. Thinking, by appealing to various sources of moral
judging, and acting will sustain our engagement wisdom.
in the world as a people molded by Christian  In the Church, the Magisterium is a source
faith of moral authority. Its teachings are
pertinent, though not exclusive, factor in
Conscience and Choice the molding of conscience and moral
judgment.
Choice stems from visualization. It is a response to
what we visualize. It is formed by the sort of The Magisterium: Official Teaching Authority
persons we have become. It is visualizing what is
real. It is a response to the "what question.  From all walks of life, we depend on experience
and advice of knowledgeable persons. We are
1. What help us to see what is really there. in agreement to be influenced by them as an
Whether war is justified, depends on what authority. To appeal to authority is essential of
war is, what nuclear weapons do. In responsible living. It does not mean becoming
medical matters, what chemotherapy does, passive or abandoning reason.
what death is, what abortions do. In sexual
matters, what masturbation does, what
 In appealing to authority we acknowledge the proclaiming to men what they truly are and
restrictions of our knowledge and experience to reminding them of what they should be before
resolve difficulties in life satisfactorily. God.
 The acquisition of knowledge in resolving
complicated matters in life direct us to allow the Disadvantage
authority to check, confirm and challenge us
concerning the things unknown to us.  If the institutionalize authority in the church
 Insufficiency of knowledge directs us to cling to does not function in a cooperative and
authority to offer better evidence and collaborative fashion, it can obscure the human
clarification. character of the process of formulating a moral
 Appealing to an authority gives us an aspect of teaching.
confidence that they will provide us a precise  The guidance of the Holy Spirit does not
solution than anyone else to which we might exempt the Magisterium from the human
appeal. process of gathering data, consulting, reflecting
 The engagement between conscience and on the data, making a proposal, entertaining
authority is inseparable e.g. child's connection counter proposals, doing more research, and so
to parents, or in a soldier's linked to political on.
authority commanding officer or in a Catholic's  Rather, the Spirit guides the learning-teaching
anchorage to magisterial authority. process in the Church and through these fallible
 In the Roman Catholic Church, the Magisterium human endeavors.
is an institutionalized authority in matters of  To obscure this process can result in creating
faith and morals. an "extrinsic" authority for teachings. "Extrinsic"
 The deposit of Christian moral teaching has authority fails to recognize that a teaching is as
been handed on, a deposit composed of a strong as the thoroughness of the homework,
characteristic body of rules, commandments which produced it, and the cogency of the
and virtues proceeding from faith in Christ and arguments, which support it.
animated by charity.
 The Decalogue is the basis of this catechesis. It Advantage
sets out the principles of moral life valid for all
men.  It provides a structure, which can bring
 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are together, in a cooperative and complementary
authentic teachers, i.e., teachers endowed with way, the experience and Insights of various
the authority of Christ, who preaches the faith perspectives so as to reach as complete as
to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be expression of truth about the moral life as
believed and put into practice. possible. When the collaborative function of
 The ordinary and universal Magisterium of the teaching is working well in the church, we reap
Pope and the bishops in communion with him the fruits of this advantage.
teaches the faithful the truth to believe the  The primary responsibility of the Magisterium is
charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for. to help us to understand the Gospel for our
 The supreme degree of participation in the times and to foster our assimilation of its basic
authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of values. By attending to the teaching of the
infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as Magisterium, we may be able to cut through
does he deposit of divine This revelation; it also the conflicting voices, competing images, and
extends to all those elements of doctrine, even our personal bias and rationalizations in
including morals, without which the saving order to hear the call of the Gospel moire
truths of the faith cannot be preserved, clearly.
explained, or observed.  Since the Encyclical Letter Humanae Vitae of
 The authority of the Magisterium extends also Pope Paul Vi in 1968, we have had extensive
to the specific precepts of the natural law, argumentations of the normative character of
because their observance, demanded by the non-infallible teaching in moral matters. While a
Creator, is necessary for salvation. moral teaching may not be defined as infallible,
 The Magisterium of the Church exercises an this does not mean that such a teaching is
essential part of its prophetic office of meaningless, useless or irrational. It means that
even though these teachings remain subject to
 re-evaluation and the possibility of revisions, 1. Eternal Law - God knows all his creatures and
the catholic may still take them into account in how they must act to fulfill their destiny. His
the formation of conscience. The formula, "no operation is eternal. He knows his law directly.
infallible decision - conscience decides", is a Through reason and revelation, human beings
complete distortion of the real function of were given the initiative to participate in his
conscience. Conscience needs to be informed. eternal law and fulfill their destiny.
 For a catholic to make a decision of conscience
with indifference to, or in spite of the 2. The Natural Law - is human participation in
Magisterium would be forfeiting one's claim to the eternal law with the use of reason
be acting as a loyal catholic and according to a
properly informed conscience. 3. Divine Positive Law - God revealed further
sphere of his eternal law to direct humans to
their supernatural destiny. This is exemplified in
the Mosaic Law and the law of the Gospel. It is
Law and Obedience authoritative like the Natural law.

 Law is an action about actions. From the 4. Human Positive Law - ask and answer
standpoint of the lawmaker, law is an ordinance questions about reality so as to focus on higher
of reason for the common good made by the norms bearing practical life through a
one who has care for the community and prudential determination. Canon and civil law
promulgated. From the standpoint of the depend on practical wisdom (phronesis,
subject, it is a rule and measure of acts. prudential) in establishing common sense
 Immanuel Kant defines law in terms of power discretions.
or "heteronomous decision" whereby one
person governs the conduct of another The Purpose of Law
(theteros) by establishing a norm (nomos). A
lawmaker compels by communicating a choice 1. To identify basic values. Laws stems from the
of values and a sanction such as in experience of value. Legalism forgets that.
disobedience. Law, however, is more than Legalism wants to make an end of the law
sheer power Law is power rooted in authority rather than to see the law as pointing to a
whereby is meant the right to decide for value. Laws identify certain values and
another to increase the subject's good. This challenge us to foster them. Laws protect
right spring from God. It could also be values by commanding us to pursue certain
mediated. Law operates on the realm of ones and by forbidding us to jeopardize others.
common sense rather than theory. It considers Because we value freedom or bodily health, for
orthopraxis, doing practical things rightly. Self- example, we enact and accept laws to protect
appropriation of the mental operations in law is these values. Laws support our freedom to
necessary. It is about the experience and speak and to assemble. Laws prohibit smoking
apprehension of data of sense and in certain areas. In approaching laws, we ought
consciousness, verifying of insight through to understand and appropriate the values,
factual judgment, and by assessing the sphere which the laws are trying to protect and
of consciousness where law is situated. promote. Values are primary, laws are
 Bernard Lonergan called this the oneralized secondary.
empirical method. It deals about consistency
between knowing and praxis. Civil law is As expressions of the experience of values, laws
oriented toward protecting the freedom and are summation of the accumulative vision of the
upholding public order for the common good. community's experience of what advances or
Ecclesiastical law is the expression to the impedes life together. Laws open us to the wisdom
interior reality of the Church as a community of of the ages. Laws serve as repositories of moral
love empowered by the Spirit. wisdom. Laws function like a road map giving
directions to find our way through the often
Kinds of Law confusing and conflicting pathways of life. Because
of our sinfulness, (individual and social), we need
laws to protect us from our sinful inclinations and instance, homicide, rape, and theft are immoral
to challenge us to foster the good of all actions, which also bear legal sanction Doing bodily
harm to oneself or lying to a friend in a private
Laws never satisfy the full measure of moral conversation does not carry legal sanction. The
responsibility. Laws do identify basic values and former actions undermine the public order whereas
point to corresponding beneficial courses of action, the latter do not.
laws set the lower limits of protecting values. Each
person must choose and act in light of the laws to The Nature of Obedience
gain the fullness of the values at stake. Without
laws cach person would have to discover the best What is the binding power of Law?
course of action in every instance on his/her own.
But no one has the energy, capacity, or vantage 1. The Rationalist
point for such a task. It is necessary to depend on
the wisdom and standpoint of others and those  something is commanded because it is good.
who passed away. With laws grounded on the
wisdom of an amplified experience of value,  For Thomas Aquinas, as an ordinance of
everyone is freed from the necessity of deciding. By reason, positive laws are specific expressions of
having laws, everyone is freer to go about the natural law and participate in eternal law.
business of living together in an orderly way.
 God is the ultimate source of obligation. Human
2. To safeguard the public order by regulating beings must be obedient to him. Good law
relationships within the community, and by intensifies the human person to respond to the
protecting basic rights and freedom. Laws call of God.
exhibit the framework within which individuals
and institutions can exercise their freedom. Law  Authority revitalized their capacity to
protects the public order. It includes an order of promulgate good laws which public order
peace to enable individuals to live in harmony, demands, and to offer logical reasons for them.
an order of public morality, which is the
minimum moral consensus necessary to enable  For the rationalist's, the binding power of laws
people to live together, and an order of justice are proportionate to the persuasiveness of the
to secure what is due to the people, particularly reasons that are based on natural law. The
their freedom. implications: Illogical laws not beneficial for the
common good must be abandoned. Critical
Law and Morality thinking and evaluation on the promulgated
For Murray laws are necessary
 the moral law governs the entire order of
human conduct, personal and social; it extends  The basic criterion for good law is logically
even to motivations and interior acts. Law looks sound and beneficial for the common good. The
only to the public order of human society, it rationalist does not advocate blind obedience to
touches only external acts, and regards only the law.
values that are formally social.
 For Peter Chirico
2. Voluntaris
o private moral values (what pertains to
personal growth)  Something is good because it is commanded.
o public moral values (what benefits
 For Francis Suarez, there are two elements:
society as a whole). o Promulgated
 The proper realm of legislation
o Competent authority
 “The state ought not to legislate morality" is
 The will of the legislator assessed what is good.
false.
Blind obedience assessed those subject to
The purpose of law is to foster public order; the authority. By highlighting authority to assessed
states can and does use the law to enforce moral what is good, it follows that voluntarism gives
standards, which involves the public order. For all the power to the legislator and none to the
individual.
 It presumes that by birth, election, or  is a description of a behavior emerging
appointment such a person is competent of through human agency, but without the
prescribing the conduct that will protect and same knowledge or freedom. They are acts
advance public order. done by man without deliberation or
volition, and simple acts of sensation and
The Virtue of Epikela appetition such as biological, and
physiological movements. For instance,
Roman Catholic tradition of law has dealt with metabolism, respiration, the emotive sphere
inherent restrictions of laws. For instance, it has such as fear, hatred, jealousy, infatuations,
acknowledged situations wherein laws cease to and love.
bind such as invincible Ignorance, physical
impossibility, grave inconvenience, and Kinds of Human Acts (Agapay, 12-13)

The Virtue of Obedience Human acts are either elicited acts or commanded
acts. They are performed by the will and are not
Obedience is deduced from ob-audire meaning to bodily externalized. The compositions of elicited
hear." It denotes a willingness to hear others and acts are:
do their will. It alludes to hearing God and obeying
the divine will manifest in the will of others. The 1. Wish - the inclination of the will towards
virtue of obedience is a disposition to surrender our something attainable or not.
wills to others. It is a consciously willed and free 2. Intention - the inclination of the will to what
choice. It shapes the disposition of the believer to a is possible to occur without commitment of
sensitivity and docility to God's call in a number of gaining it.
situations. It reinforces the person to open up to 3. Consent - the agreement of the will to carry
the fullness of self-realization. It follows that; out an intention.
obedience is selffulfillment and self-sacrifice. The 4. Election - the scrutinizing of the will to opt
virtue of obedience goes beyond discerning God's for something effective in carrying out its
will. The obedient person imitates and follows the goal.
commandments, the beatitudes, and teachings of 5. Use - an act of the will moving a person to
the Scriptures as presenting God's will for everyday opt for the usage of those means necessary in
life. The virtue of obedience reinforces the human carrying its goal.
person to consciously exercise charity and 6. Fruition - enjoyment of the will deduced for
solidarity. Obedience also includes the Word of God the paining of goals intended earlier
and the human hearing of that word as a personal
Moral Distinctions (Agapay, 13]
call. It is our vocation.
Human acts could be in agreement or in
Human Acts and Acts of Man disagreement with the dictates of reason concerned
about the norms of morality wherein actions are
1. Human Acts (actus humanus)
judged. Actions could be moral immoral, or amoral.
 is a description of an action performed by
1. Moral actions - actions congruous with the
a human person in a truly authentic
norms of morality. These are good actions.
human manner. They are performed with
2. Immoral actions - actions not congruous
awareness and free choice. Human acts
with the norms of morality. They are evil
are actions performed by a human person
actions necessitating negations.
with human capacities for knowledge and
3. Amoral actions - are neutral actions in
freedom. It is done knowingly, freely (his
connection to the norms of morality. They
own volitions and powers) and voluntarily.
are neither good nor bad.
Hence, it is deliberate, intentional, and
voluntary. Actions and the Norms of Morality [Agapay,
13-14)
2. Acts of Man (actus hominis)
The connections of actions to the norms of morality b. Evaluative knowledge- is the knowledge
are as follows: of art. It deals with quality rather than with
quantity. It deals with goodness or beauty
1. Intrinsic - when it is integral to the nature of of a thing. It is a specific mode of knowing
that thing. i.e., when the nature is defective the individual existing thing and not with
due to the eclipse or absence of certain essences. It is appreciating value and
attributes or qualities. Such actions are attains a sort of ecstasy. It is not
intrinsically evil. subservient to the knower. It is superior to
the knower. The knower serves this
2. Extrinsic - when certain actions or factors knowledge, embrace, accept, and
attached through circumstances establishing appreciate the value he discovered. It
such actions in contradictory to the norms of demands commitment. It is also involving
morality. For instance, direct abortion, Tran’s knowledge. It is a command and intensely
sexuality, and so on are intrinsically evil. personal. It is not subjective in the aspect
Amputation or Therapeutic mutilation is of being fabricated by the knower. The
extrinsically evil when it is the only resort to knower is presented something that
safeguard the life of the person. transcends the self. It is an outcome from
the unique interaction of a unique subject
Elements of a Human Act (These 3 elements and a unique object. It cannot be shared in
must be present) its entirety. The process of sharing
evaluative knowledge is a process of
1. Knowledge - conscious acts are of two general education.
kinds: cognitive and appetitive. Cognitive acts
are acts of knowing Appetitive act is not in itself c. Reflex knowledge - knowledge involved in
cognitive but presupposes some cognitive act human acts. We know the object of our
such as to love one's spouse, to enjoy sunrise. attention. We know that we know. It is
There are two main types of appetitive act: knowledge that is or can be the object of its
first, positive appetite, which motivates toward own reflection within our intellect.
something such as hunger for food, enjoying
the company of a friend, enjoying a symphony. a. Non-reflex knowledge - Our personhood
It is an attraction to something known as could not be reflected upon. It could not be
"liking," second, the negative appetite involves the direct object of our attention. We do
all appetitive acts, which motivate one to evade have certain awareness and aspect of our
certain things. It consist the element of own identity. Such awareness is not
aversion known as "dislike." A properly human available as a direct object of reflection. It is
act is a mixture of appetite with intelligence, the knowledge of our core human person.
There are different ways of knowing: first,
speculative knowledge; second, evaluative 2. Freedom of the Will - is an essential
knowledge. component of an authentic human act.
Fundamental Option is brought about by that
a. Speculative knowledge - is the knowledge fundamental freedom. What sort of freedom?
of science. It is an intellectual knowledge
and has certain objectivity (a certain a. Basic Freedom or Freedom of Self
independence from the knower). It is Determination - it must be freedom of choice
universal in character. In a certain aspect, it whereby the person makes an overall self-
is an essential knowledge. It deals with the determination, not through a specific and
essence of things. It is also fact oriented. conscious discretion on the sphere of reflection,
Like scientific knowledge, it is proveable. It but in a transcendental and athematic mode.
can be taught because it is objective and Fundamental option is a choice that emerges
independent. It is also subservient to the from a personal depth or reinforces the
knower. We respect the facts to attain our fundamental direction of our lives. It must be
goals. rooted in a deep knowledge of self and a
freedom to commit oneself. Through a
fundamental option, we express our basic
 freedom of self- determination to commit categories. God confronts it. It is a freedom
ourselves profoundly toward a certain way of that opens up life. It is the freedom of human -
doing in the world. It is a choice by which a as person. It is also the freedom associated
human person directs his entire life either with perduring being.
toward God or in contradictory to God. Specific
moral acts springs from this option only partially 3. Voluntariness - is deduced from the Latin word
articulates a person's basic stance. The "voluntas". Alluding to the will. Besides sense
fundamental option itself remains untouched by perception, sensuous appetency, and
specific moral choice. It is made possible by the intellection, we experience phenomena known
presence of a number of options and multiple as volition, the activity of the will, as a phase of
possibilities. It is the freedom exercised in the our mental life. It is essential to an act. The
selection among those options and possibilities. eclipse of voluntariness makes an act a mere
act of man [Agapay. 15-17). The will is
1) Person's fundamental stance. understood and defined as rational appetency
2) The profound meaning and pertinence of or the power to strive for an intellectually
discretions of our lives. perceived good and to shun an intellectual
3) It is discretion about the sort of person one perceived evil. We strive for material and
chooses to be. It is an interior action of self- spiritual things, which seem good to us. From
definition. It is not irrevocable, not final or the individual things where are good the
definitive. It is a discretion about the person intellect abstracts the universal concept of the
as a whole but not totally as we have the good in general." "Goodness" is the suitability
capacity to reverse even our basic approach of a thing to a natural tendency or appetency.
to life. The adequate good of the human will is
everything that is good. The formal object of
b. Freedom of Choice - it has to do with the will is the good as good, provided it be
realizing our capacity to be ourselves through suitable to the willing subject.
the particular choices we make. It is subject not
only to hereditary determinants of our basic
inclinations but also to limiting factors such as
unconscious motives, peer pressure, drugs, Perfect Imperfec Conditio Simple
ignorance, passions, fears, blind habits and the Voluntari t nal Voluntar
hidden persuaders of mass media [Nery, Ethics, ness Voluntar Voluntari ism
Postulates of Ethics 6-7] ism sm

The freedom of the human act, of human-as-agent, When a When a When When a
is a dividing freedom. It takes the experience of life human human human human
and splits it into alternatives. being being being is being is
possess full performs forced by performin
a. Categorical freedom of human-as agent – knowledge an action circumsta g an
it organizes life into categories and selects from and full without nces action
among those categories. It is a restricting intention to full beyond wilfully
freedom. It is categorical because freedom is an act awarenes his control either
associated with performing. Only objects can be s and to affirmativ
categorized. Our personhood is not an object. It realization perform ely or
is a freedom associated with human action. what he an action negatively
b. Transcendental freedom - at the deeper means to .
aspect of man's being, his personhood, a do. The
human person is free not only as agents but action is
also as persons. Personhood is not an object. It performed
is a subject. Freed decisions are not categories without
of objects or another. It is all objects taken fully
together. Personhood is confronted with the intending
reality (of world, situation, body, feelings, the act
attitudes and prejudices) that transcends all
Types of Voluntariness influence on the action. The action is performed
in ignorance and with ignorance.
1. Direct Voluntariness - when the act is c. Consequent Ignorance - Ignorance is
primarily intended by the performer, as an end dependent on the will's decision.
in itself or as a means to attain something else.
2. Indirect Voluntariness - when the act is the Moral Principles:
consequence of a directly willed act. In
indirectly voluntary actions: a. Invincible ignorance annuls the
a. The performer foresees the evil voluntariness of an act; therefore, imputability
consequence. and moral responsibility are absent.
b. The performer has the freedom to b. Vincible ignorance does not annul the
refrain from actions, which would voluntariness of an act but merely lessens it.
generate the foreseen evil. Moral responsibility is still present, although
c. The performer has the moral diminished.
accountability not to perform actions
that will engender an evil consequence. 2. Concupiscence or Passion - It is the natural
inclination of the sense appetite towards what
Impediments to a Human Act is consciously perceived as a sensuous evil. To
be an adult is to be aware of the extent to
There are factors that influence man's interior which anger, envy, sexual desire, and other
disposition. It affects the mental or the emotive emotions can limit one's freedom of choice.
sphere of the person affecting the voluntariness of
an act as either increased or decreased. Almoro et. Kinds of Concupiscence
al.' gives us a clearer account on the violation
moral principles. a. Antecedent Concupiscence - is present
before any act of the will is made due to the
1. Ignorance - is the absence of knowledge suddenness of the passion as surging forth
needed by man in the performance of an act. uncontrolled.
b. Consequent Concupiscence - is present
Kinds of Ignorance when the intellect is aware of the hidden
passion, and the will chooses to foster or to
a. Invincible Ignorance - the lack of required arouse the passion.
knowledge that ordinary efforts,
conscientiousness and proper diligence cannot Moral Principles:
remove. It is also known as "total ignorance". It
has the effect of completely dehumanizing a a. Antecedent Concupiscence: Voluntariness is
human act. lessened and at times, is completely destroyed
b. Vincible Ignorance - the lack of required by antecedent concupiscence.
knowledge that ordinary efforts, b. Consequent concupiscence: Voluntariness is
conscientiousness and proper diligence can not lessened by consequent concupiscence
dispel. It is also known as partial ignorance". I inasmuch as the will consents to foster or
know where I am going but do not fully arouse the passion. Consequently, there is
appreciate the implications and consequences imputability in the actions affected by passions,
of my actions. For instance, driving in excess of and moral responsibility in the agent.
the posted speed limit. 3. Fear - Fear is the apprehension of an
impending danger and prompts the agent to
Kinds of Vincible Ignorance shrink from the threatening evil. Fear and
anxiety are the enemies of full human life and
a. Antecedent Ignorance - when ignorance authentic human discretion.
comes before the will can decide on the
morality of an act. Here, action is done because Moral Principles
of ignorance and through ignorance.
b. Concomitant Ignorance - Like antecedent
ignorance, concomitant ignorance has causal
a. Ordinarily, acts done from fear are voluntary, inadvertently coming from it are involuntary,
although voluntariness is less than when fear is and not imputable.
absent in the performance of an act.
b. In extreme cases where uncontrollable fear The Ends of the Human Act
completely grips reason and the free will, the
act performed is considered an act of man and The End of the Performer
the agent is absolved from moral responsibility.
1. Proximate or Remote End - the goal which a
4. Violence- It is the exercise of an outside person performing an action intends to finish
physical force upon a his action.

2. Intermediate or Ultimate End - the goal

The End of the Act The End of the desired for its own sake. The intermediate end
Performer is the goal desired as a way for gaining another
thing. The gaining of an ultimate end finalizes
The natural ending The personal goal of an action and further actions. The gaining of
of on action. It the person intermediate ends direct to another
finalizes an performing an intermediate ends or to an ultimate end.
action action.
The Church and Moral Norms
Resisting person to compel him to act against his
will. The presence of force and the fear it The Notion of Sin
engenders) inhibits and at least partially prevents
the clear thinking and free choosing that comprise Sin is an offense against reason, truth and right
a really human act. For instance, rape, shotgun conscience. It is a failure in genuine love for God
marriage. and neighbour caused by a perverse attachment to
certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and
Moral Principles injures human solidarity. It is defined as an
utterance, a deed or a desire contrary to the
a. If due resistance is offered by the unwilling eternal law. Sin listed in the Letter to the Galatians
victim, the act done is involuntary and are: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
therefore not imputable. sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, dissension,
b. If the victim does not resist or gives consent factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the
during performance, the act done is still like. Sin can be distinguished according to their
voluntary and consequently imputable. objects, as can every human act; or according to
the virtues they oppose, by excess or defect; or
5. Habit- It is a firm and stable behaviour pattern according to the commandments they violate. They
of acting with ease and readiness as a result of can also be classed according to whether they
acts frequently repeated. Good moral habits are concern God, neighbour or oneself. They can be
called virtues. The seven virtues are: faith, divided into spiritual and carnal sins, or again as
hope, charity, justice, temperance, fortitude sins in thought, word, deed or omission
and prudence. Bad moral habits are called
vices. The seven capital vices are: pride, anger, The 1st Commandment embraces faith, hope and
gluttony, lust, avarice or covetousness, envy charity. Our moral life has its source in faith in God
and sloth. who reveals His love to us. Obedience of faith is
our first obligation. Our duty toward God is to
Moral Principles believe in Him and to bear witness to Him. The 1st
Commandment requires us to nourish and protect
a. An act done by force of a bad habit or vice, our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject
which is known and consented to, is voluntary everything that is opposed to it.
and hence imputable.
b. If efforts are exerted to counteract and remove There are various ways of sinning against faith:
the evil habit, then the habit itself and the acts
 1. Voluntary doubt refuses to hold as true One can sin against God's love in various ways:
what God has revealed and the Church
proposes for belief. 1. Indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on
divine charity, it fails to consider its prevenient
2. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in goodness and denies its power;
believing difficulty in overcoming objections
connected with the faith, or also anxiety 2. Ingratitude fails or refuses to acknowledge
aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately divine charity and to return love for love;
cultivated, doubt can lead to spiritual
blindness. 3. Lukewarmness is hesitation or negligence in
responding to divine love: it can imply refusal to
3. Incredulity is the neglect of reveled truth give oneself over the prompting of charity:
or the willful refusal to assent to it.
4. Acedia or spiritual sloth is the refusal to joy
4. Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal that comes from God and to repelled by divine
denial of some truth which must be believed goodness;
with divine and Catholic faith, or it is
likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the 5. Hatred of God comes from pride. It is contrary
same. to love of God, whose goodness it denies, and
whom it presumes to curse as the one who
5. Apostasy is the total repudiation of the forbids sins and inflicts punishments.
Christian faith
The theological virtues of faith, hope and charity
6. Schism is the refusal of submission to the inform and give life to moral virtues. Charity leads
Roman Pontiff or of communion with the us to render to God what we, as creatures owe him
members of the Church subject to Him in all justice. The virtue of religion such as
adoration, pruner, sacrifice and promises and
When God reveals Himself and calls him, man vows disposes us to have this attitude.
cannot fully respond to the divine love by his own
powers. He must hope that God will give him the The 1st commandment
capacity to love Him in return and to act in
conformity with the commandment of charity. Hope  Forbids honouring gods other than the one Lord
is the confident expectation of divine blessing and who has revealed himself to his people.
the beatific vision of God. It is also the fear of  It proscribes superstition and irreligion.
offending God's love and incurring punishment. Superstition ion some sense represents a
Despair and presumption are sins against perverse excess of religion, irreligion is the vice
hope. By despair, man ceases to hope for his contrary by defect to the virtue of religion.
personal salvation from God for help in attaining it  The 1st Commandment condemns polytheism.
or for forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary It requires man neither to believe in, nor to
God's goodness, to his justice - for the Lord is venerate, other divinities than the one true
faithful to his promises - and to his mercy. There God.
are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes  Idolatry not only refers to false pagan
upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save worship. It remains a constant temptation to
himself without half from on high). or he presumes faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not
upon God's almighty power or his mercy (hoping to God. Man commits idolatry whenever he
obtain his forgiveness without conversion, and honours and reveres a creature in place of God,
glory without merit) [CCC 2090-2092). whether this be gods or demons (eg,
Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors,
Faith in God encompasses the call and the the state, money, etc.
obligation to respond with sincere love to divine  A sound Christian attitude consists in putting
charity. The 1st Commandment enjoins us to love oneself confidently into the hands of Providence
God above everything and all creatures for him and for whatever concerns the future, and giving up
because of him. all unhealthy curiosity about it.
 Improvidence can constitute a lack of supreme control of his own history. Another form
responsibility. All forms of divination are to be of contemporary atheism looks for the liberation of
rejected. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, man through economic and social liberation. It
palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, holds that religion thwarts such emancipation by
the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse raising man's hopes in a future life, thus both
for mediums all conceal a desire for power over deceiving him and discouraging him from working
time, history, and in the last analysis, other for a better form of life on earth.
human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate
hidden powers. They contradict the honor, Agnosticism
respect and loving fear that we owe to God
alone.  Assumes a number of forms. In certain cases
 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which the agnostic refrains from denying God; instead
one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to he postulates the existence of a transcendent
place them at one's service and have being, which is incapable of revealing itself, and
supernatural power over others even if this about which nothing can be said.
were for the sake of restoring health-are  In other cases, the agnostic makes no
gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. judgment about God’s existence, declaring it
 These practices are even more to be impossible to prove, or even to affirm or deny.
condemned when accompanied by harming  Agnosticism includes a certain search for God,
someone, or when they have recourse to the but it can equally express indifferentism, a flight
intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also from the ultimate question of existence, and a
reprehensible. Spiritism implies divination or sluggish moral conscience.
magical practices.  Agnosticism is all too often equivalent to
practical atheism.
The 1st Commandment condemns the main sins
of irreligion: tempting God, in words and deeds In the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted
sacrilege and simony. the making of images that pointed symbolically
toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was
1. Tempting God consists in putting his with the bronze serpent, the Ark of the Covenant
goodness and almighty power to test by and the cherubim. The Council of Niceae justified
word and deed. against the iconoclasts the veneration of icons- of
Christ, but also of the Mother of God, the angels
2. Sacrilege consists in profaning or treating and all the saints. By becoming incarnate, the Son
unworthily the sacraments and other of God introduced a new 'economy' of images. The
liturgical actions, as well as persons, things Christian veneration of images is not contrary to
or places consecrated to God. Sacrilege is a the 1st Commandment, which proscribes idols. The
grave sin especially when committed honor rendered to an image passes to its prototype
against the Eucharist, for in this sacrament and whoever venerates an image venerates the
the true Body of Christ is mad substantially person portrayed in it. The honor paid to sacred
present for us. images is a respectful veneration, not the adoration
due to God alone [CCC 2129-2132]
3. Simony is defined as the buying or selling
of spiritual things. The 2nd Commandment

Atheism denies the existence of God. It is a sin  forbids the abuse of God's name, i.e., every
against the virtue of religion. It covers many improper use of the names of God, Jesus
different phenomena. Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary and all the
Saints.
Practical materialism restricts its needs and  Promises made to others in God's name
aspirations to space and time. engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness
and authority. They must be respected in
Atheistic humanism falsely considers man to be justice.
an end to himself, and the sole maker, with
 Blasphemy is directly opposed to the 2nd focal point of the moral life. Practicing the presence
Commandment. It is contrary to the respect of God becomes essential for Christian
due God and his holy name. It is in itself a responsibility, Christian moral growth and our
grave sin. It consists in uttering against God - awareness of sin.
inwardly or outwardly - words of hatred,
reproach, or defiance, in speaking ill of God, in 1. Covenant
failing in respect toward him in one's speech, in
misusing God's name. The prohibition of In the Old Testament, sin is Miserere (an evil of
blasphemy extends to language against Christ's sin) points to violations of relationships:
Church, the saints, and sacred things. It is also
blasphemous to make use of God's name to Hattah or "to miss the mark" or "to respond"
cover up criminal practices, to reduce people to points to a willful rejection of the known will of
servitude, to torture persons or put them to God. It is action oriented toward an existing
death. The misuse of God's name to commit a relationship. The existence of the relationship
crime can provoke others to repudiate religion. makes the offense or failure possible.
Oaths, which misuse God's name, thought
without the intention of blasphemy, show lack Pesha "rebellion" is a legal term exhibiting how
of respect for the Lord. in sinning human persons reject God and his love.
 The 2nd Commandment also forbids magical It denotes a deliberate action violating a
use of the divine name. concatenated engagement in community.

The 3rd Commandment Awon - means inequity or guilt. It alludes to the

mode wherein sin twists and distorts the sinner's
 Obliges Christians to observe the Sabbath day. interior being
Sundays and other holy days of obligation the
faithful are bound to participate in the Mass Hamartia and Hamarfema is the New
unless excuse for serious reason e.g., illness, Testament term for sin. It connotes a deliberate
the care of infants, or dispensed by their own action rooted in the heart and missing the intended
pastor. Also to be observed are the day of the mark. Sin is a freely chosen deed casting aside
Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Epiphany, God's loving norms for human life.
the Ascension of Christ, the feast of the body
and Blood of Christ, the Feast of Mary the Anomia - "lawlessness". It accentuates that sin
Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her involves the spirit of rebellion and contempt for
Assumption, the feast of St. Joseph, the feast God and his law.
of the apostles Sts. Peter and Paul, and the
feast of all Saints.
Adikia - "injustice". Sin is a repudiation to accept
 Those who deliberately fail in this obligation God and his reign as disclosed in Christ and to live
commit a grave sin. in the justice that God has offered.
 The root of sin is in the heart of man, in his
free will.
Pseudos - "falsehood". It discloses sin as in
contradictory to the truth of God and of being a
A. The context of Freedom and knowledge |
human person. It is deception and lying.
different Ways of knowing:
Skotos - "darkness".
1. Speculative Knowledge
Asebia - impiety from which injustice flows.
2. Evaluative Knowledge
 For Gula, the covenant claims that God loves us
B. Sin: A Biblical Perspective
without having doing anything to attract God's
attention or to win that love.
From the bible, we see that God calls we respond.
 It is completely a bond of gratuitous love, pure
The relationship that we establish with God in and
grace. God's initiative of love (grace) does not
through our responses to all things becomes the
destroy our freedom. God makes an offer we
 can decline. God's offer of love awaits our The child's worth comprises simply by generous
acceptance. love of the parents. We must imitate children
 Once we accept the offer of love we commit before God. We experience bountiful love and not
ourselves to living as the covenant demands because of anything we may have accomplished
Gula, 91).
 In worshipping the golden calf (ex 32), Israel Instead of basing our worth in divine love, sin
missed the mark of covenantal love, or sinned, establishes worth on the foundation of surrogate
not so much because Israel broke one of the loves which we create for ourselves to give us
laws of the covenant, but because Israel broke security of being loveable and acceptable.
the personal bond of love of which the law was Depending on an idol rather than the divine love,
an external expression. the reality of sin remains with the sinner. Creating
 Sin is a deviation to the God given bond of love. surrogate loves is the sin of idolatry. These loves
Sin articulates our negation to respond may be our talent, our goodness, our efficiency,
appropriately to God's love and mercy. Sin is our charm, our wealth, our social position and
declining to live out the gift of divine love prestige, or whatever else we might create in order
to secure our worth and make ourselves some
The covenant calls us in a threefold manner body. The sin of idolatry plunges the person into
darkness and disengages in the depth of existence.
1. To respect the worth of ourselves and others as
constituted by God's love. By opening ourselves to the source of our worth in
God's will we overcome our sin of idolatry and open
2. To live in solidarity with creation and with one ourselves to the amplified values of God's creation
another as covenantal partners. and God's people.

3. To develop the virtue of fidelity as the proper 3. Solidarity

characteristic of every covenantal relationship.
 Sollicitudo Rei Socialis (Dec. 30, 1987) Pope
Sin would be to act contrary to these covenantal John Paul II spoke of solidarity as a virtue, a
requirements. moral and a social attitude. This then is not a
feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress
2. Worth at the misfortunes of so many people, both
near and far.
 Our hearts hunger for love. The covenant  It is a firm and persevering determination to
responds to this cry of the heart longing for commit oneself to the common good, that is to
worth with a firm "yes". The covenant insists say to the good of all and of each individual,
the necessity of grace. because we are all really responsible for all.
 Solidarity helps to see the other - whether a
 Our worth springs from God's offer of divine person, people or nation not just as some kind
love as a free gift and is not conditioned by our of instrument, with a work capacity and
own achievements. physical strength to be exploited at low cost
and then discarded when no longer useful, but
a. ls 43:1: 41:8-16 - God loving the people of the as our "neighbour," a "helper" (Gen 2:18-20),
covenant for their own sakes and not for the to be made a sharer, on a par with ourselves, in
sake of being useful or powerful the banquet of life to which all are equally
invited by God.
b. Hos 11:1-9 - We read of God's love for a  Covenantal solidarity means that our lives
rebellious people being articulated through the extend beyond a private engagement with God
tended image of the parent for the child. and our neighbour to embrace the entire social
order - social structures, institutional order,
c. Mt 18:1-5 - children: Greatest in God's reign economic systems. Our lives are unavoidably
kingdom. marked by the structural linkage, which can act
in conformity or in contradiction to the
fundamental worth and well-being of all.
 The fruit of covenantal solidarity is shalom -  Gula presented the narratives of the Garden of
that peace which is not just the absence of Eden and the garden of Getshemane to inform
violence, but the peace, which is the justice of us that we are pursued by the relentless fidelity
communal integration where in competing of God. Sin is the power play of infidelity.
claims gain equilibrium.
 Sin is refusing to believe that God can be
Sin from the standpoint of the covenant and trusted and that others are worth trusting. In a
solidarity, weakened all concatenated engagement covenant, we entrust to one another something
to which we are called. The foundation is radical of value to ourselves
independence. Sin is a transgression of the divine
command. It is an idolatry leading to sins of  Sin cannot let go of the fear and suspicion
injustice and failure to respect the diversity within a which wages war in the inner self and incapable
collaborative community domination and of seeing the other as a gift. In sin we are
disintegration. Sin is a personal by fostering unable to live in the freedom of being entrusted
deliberate action even as it is communal: in by God with personal worth and with the gifts
opposition to one's neighbour and God. Sin springs of one another.
from the heart of a human person for which he is
ultimately accountable not in a sphere of congruous  Sin abuses the power we give to one another
relationship with God, but in the sphere of failing to when we entrust another with something of
respect what God loves. Personal sin amplified its value to ourselves a personal secret, our health,
consequences in society in its entirety. It is our property, and our bodies. Sin is a power
incommensurably a violation of the covenant by swaying over all mankind.
introducing disorder and strife into the
independence of covenantal connections.  It deceives the person by not entrusting as
creatures empowered with gifts to set one
Our obligations inherent in being social are another free. We live in suspicion of another's
inseparable from the bond that links us to God. gifts and abuse our power by controlling,
Human solidarity is one piece with our relationship dominating or manipulating these gifts to serve
to God. To betray a social commitment demanded our own self interests. This is sin as infidelity,
by justice is to betray God and to perpetuate social an arrogant use of power. This power is beyond
sin. freedom and responsibility. It is a power
against life.
4. Fidelity
5. Heart
 The solidarity of covenantal partners
accountable to and for one another needs  The heart is what the divine love of the
fidelity to gain its fullest expression. covenant seeks. Divine love is either embraced
or rejected in the heart. According to biblical
 Fidelity, trustworthiness and loyalty are modes anthropology, the heart is the seat of vital
of articulating the core virtue of the covenant. discretions, for it is the fulcrum of feeling and
What sort of person should I be? The answer: reason, discretion and action, intention and
be faithful, be trustworthy. When there is no consciousness.
harmony, openness, fidelity to the covenantal
commitment, the relationship is on the dead  This establishes the heart the ultimate locale of
end. It breaks down. It is a loss of joy, peace virtue or sin. We sin first in our hearts. From a
and energy. It diminishes one's to capability person's heart come the evil ideas which lead
appreciate to be grateful, faithful, and share in one to do immoral thing (Mk 7:2). Whereas a
others joy, love, and peace. It cannot radiate good person engenders good from the
anything. He is incapable of respecting the goodness in the heart (Lk 6:45):
conscience and dignity of others and thereby,
discloses the loss of his worth and dignity.  The very essence of conversion, or metanoia, is
to live with a new heart in a new spirit, the
spirit of Christ living in us. The biblical vision of
 the heart focuses on that dimension of us which persons. Our sin is our way of rebelling not only
is most sensitive and open to others. against God but also against the living images of
God.
 The essential characteristic of the heart is its
openness to God -its capacity to receive divine The immanent dimension of sin is construed as
love. seeing the relevance of the human community as
the place in and through which we receive love and
 For Augustine, our hearts are by nature gave love. Sin in its immanent dimension is the
oriented to God. Jesus said: "Where your heart "no" we answer in our dealings with our neighbours
is there will be your treasure as well" (Mt 6:21). to be loved and to love. We sin when we choose to
Our heart is restless until it rests on God. When turn inward and cut off the dynamics of receiving
our hearts treasure Ciod, all other treasures will and giving love. Sin is always a type of self-
be treasured rightly. absorption. Whenever loving. Life-giving
relationships are weakened or destroyed, sin is
 The heart properly ordered to God as our single present in some form. Whether that form be lying,
center of value will have a certain instinct for gossip, stealing, abusing, ignoring, or whatever. A
what is good relative to God. life-giving relationship is weakened or broken.

 Such a properly directed heart yields a life of Personal sin-is a spirit of selfishness grounded in
virtue. The misdirected heart generates sin. The our hearts and wills wages war against God's plan
sinner, shackled by selfishness may accord in for our fulfillment. It is rejection, either partial; or
disengaging between moral knowledge and his total, of one's role, as a child of God and a member
will. of his people, a rejection of the spirit of sonship,
love and life.
 A mechanism of the stubborn sinfulness can
activate another sort of integration. Dark Rollo may provide a helpful schema for
energies of selfishness and arrogance may understanding sin as the arrogance of power. All of
dominate the person's actions into energy of us have power. But not all of it is demonic. We
dark goals. need power to love in the first place. Power is the
capacity to influence change in others and
C. Sin: The Arrogance of Power situations for good or evil.

There are three common analogous uses of sin: There are five kinds of Power

Original sin - the human condition of living in a 1. exploitative

world where we are influenced by more evil than
that which we do ourselves). 2. Manipulative. Such powers are destructive.
These are forms of power over another and
Material sin - transgressions of a law or acts often can be used with force or violence.
wrongdoing such as killing.
3. Competitive power acts against another. It
Social sin - the consequences of individual can act destructively when it puts another
choices, which form oppressive social structures down, or it can act constructively to bring
such as sexism. out dormant capacities in another and to
bring vitality to a relationship.
Pertaining to the quality of our relationship in the
covenant suggests both a transcendent and an 4. Nutrient power acts for the sake of another
immanent dimension to sin. The transcendent by giving care. This kind of power is vital in
dimension articulates a break in our relationship to relationships between friends and loved
God. This is the "no" we answer other invitation to ones.
live with God in love. But we do not experience or
express this relationship to God apart from our 5. Integrative power acts with another to draw
relationship with all things, especially other out the best in him or her. The arrogance of
 power in the misdirected heart seeks a reason for this is that the power of original sin
greater proportion of exploitative, is in tension with the power of God's redeeming
manipulative, and competitive power over love, or grace, which enables us to grow toward
nutrient and integrative power. wholeness and in communion with our selves,
others, and God. While the energy of original
Sin as the arrogant use of power disengages us sin pulls us in the direction of radical selfishness
from life-giving and loving affections. As covenantal and independence, the energy of grace moves
partners, caring and serving through nurturing and us toward inter-dependence and communion.
integrative power is an obligation. Sin is We need to open ourselves to the presence of
encountering the power of evil casting us to strive redemptive love.
to safeguard the self we have made in order to  This gift of divine love is mediated to us in and
guarantee that we are loveable and loved through the human community our families, our
neighbourhoods, and the wider community
When we set out to safeguard the self we have which witnesses to justice, truth, peace and
made, we set ourselves against God, against other virtues. Because of original sin, struggle
nature, and against one another. Self-serving and tragedy will always be part of our moral
interests destroy bonds of peace and justice, and striving. But because of grace, redemption and
spread conditions of fear, hatred, and violence, the resurrection - destiny will always have the
which use her in the disharmony of the world which last word.
we know as social, in the collaboration in the  Original sin makes actual sin and social sin
continued maintenance of oppressive structures in possible and even probable. Redemption is not
society. Some are vultures in the more active just some kind of liberation from guilt. It is
sphere and they engender additional piles of receiving God's own holiness.
corpses by their own actions engendering these
structures of sin. Actual sin - there are two distinctions:

We break the dynamic of power of sin in our lives 1. The mortal sin
when we realize that we are in fact profoundly 2. The venial sin.
loved apart from our achievements and our virtue.
Only God's love is so permanent and profound or to The greatest sin is the direct rejection of God. This
liberate us from our sin. Christian life is dialectic of is idolatry.
sin and grace, of guilt and of forgiveness. Hence, it
is breaking the spiral cycle of evil, sin, and guilt. Paul: sins which can exclude one from the reign of
God, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be
Kinds of Sin forgiven because the person is closed to the power
of the Spirit to save. For example, mortal sin:
Original sin idolatry, blasphemy, murder, adultery, fornication,
false witnessing, fraud, and lying.
 is the theological code word for the human
condition of living in a world where we are There are three conditions.
influenced by more evil than what we do
ourselves. 1. sufficient reflection;
 Our whole being and environment is infected by 2. full consent of the will;
this condition of evil and brokenness willy-nilly. 3. Serious matter.
We feel the effect of its presence and it's in our
lack of freedom and in our vitality to love, as Unintentional ignorance can diminish or even
we would want. remove the imputability of a grave offense. But no
 In Rom 7. Paul said: I do not do the good I one is deemed to be ignorant of the principles of
the moral law, which are written in the conscience
want to do; instead, I do the evil I do not want
of every man. The promptings of feelings and
to do.
passions can also diminish the voluntary and free
 The full doctrine of original sin tells that though
character of the offense, as can external pressures
we may be broken, we are not disasters. We
or pathological disorders. Sin committed trough
can still become who we are made to be. The
malice, by deliberate choice of evil, is the gravest.
Formal sin  A human act, which does not stem from the
core of the human person and does not
 is sin in the true sense. constitute a fundamental option. It does not
engage the transcendental freedom of our
 It is precisely the action for which we are deepest sphere.
morally culpable because is proceeds from  It does not spring from the deepest level of our
knowledge and freedom and so carries a knowledge and freedom so as to change our
significant degree of personal involvement. fundamental commitment to be open to God,
others, and the world.
Material Sin  In venial sin, there is an interior contradiction.
The more clearly we become aware of God's
 is sin only in an analogous way. love for us, and the more greatly grateful for
that love we become and can clearly know our
 It is an act of objective wrongdoing, an act that venial sins and the more seriously we will take
may cause great harm. But the objective them.
wrongdoing itself does not automatically make  Our venial sins are what weaken the rootedness
one morally culpable or make the actions of our fundamental commitment to God and to
subjectively sinful. being a loving person.
 If we take more seriously our venial sins, the
 To say an action is a moral sin presumes that more attuned we will become to the call to
the action is done with evaluative knowledge conversion in our lives. The ongoing need for
and basic freedom. Through moral sin, the moral flourishing, the ongoing conversion,
sinner closes the self-off from a commitment to which ought to mark our moral lives, is the
life and love. transition bringing us back in line with our
fundamental orientation of being committed to
 Moral sin radically disrupts the person’s life and love.
relationship with God and turns the person  The distinction between mortal and venial sin is
away from openness to life and love. Mortal sin in the degree of personal penetration or
demands degree of self-awareness, self- personal involvement in the action.
possession, and self-determination.  In mortal sin, there is a deeper core
involvement. Venial sin does not deprive the
 For a sin to be mortal ("mortalia" or deadly sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God,
sins), the object is grave matter and which is charity, and consequently eternal happiness
also committed with full knowledge and (CCC 1863].
deliberate consent. Grave matter is specified by
Social sin
the Ten Commandments. The gravity of sins is
more or less great: murder is graver than theft.  Sins gives rise to social situations and
One must also take into account who is institutions that are contrary to the divine
wronged: violence against parents is in itself goodness. Structures of sin are the expression
graver than violence against a stranger (CCC and effect of personal sins. They lead the
1857-1858). Mortal sin results in the loss of victims to do the evil in their turn. In an
charity and privation of sanctifying grace, that analogous sense, they constitute a social sin.
is, of the state of grace. It is not redeemed by
 The notion of social sin articulates how social
repentance and God's forgiveness. It causes
structures can shape our existence for the
exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal
worse.
death of hell, for our freedom has the power to
 It describes the consequences of individual
make choices for ever with no turning back.
choices, which form structures wherein people
Although we can judge that an act is in itself a
suffer various forms of oppression and
grave offense, we must entrust judgment of
exploitation.
persons to the justice and mercy of God (CCC
 For example, patterns of racial discrimination,
1861).
economic system that exploit migrant workers,
structures which make it necessary that persons
Venial Sin be illegal aliens and sanctuaries harbor them,
 and the exclusion of women from certain
positions in the church.

The Proliferation of Sin

Sin engenders vice by repetition of the same acts.

This results in perverse inclinations, which cloud
conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of
good and evil. Sin tends to reproduce itself and
reinforce itself but cannot destroy the moral sense
at its root. Vices are linked to the capital sins. They
are called capital because they engender other
sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy,
wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia [CCC
1865-1866). Sin is a personal act. We have a
responsibility for the sins committed by others
when we cooperate in them: by participating
directly and voluntarily in them; by ordering,
advising, praising, or approving them; by not
disclosing or not hindering them when we have the
obligation to do so and by protecting evil-doers.