Morality Chapter 1

Soul

the name for the innermost spiritual principle of human beings. The soul and body together form one unique human nature. The soul is created immediately by God. It is immortal

Solidarity

The Christian virtue of social charity and friendship

Sin

An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. The basic cause of sin is love for self over love for God. Sin wounds both human nature and the solidarity of the human race.

Angel

Spiritual creatures, created by God with intelligence and will, who surpass humans in perfection. They are personal and immortal creatures.

Theology of the Body

Pope John Paul II's integrated vision of the human person—body, soul, and spirit—which he expressed in a series of 129 Wednesday audiences from 1979 to 1984. Drawing mostly from Scripture, Pope John Paul II taught that the body is a true gift from God. The talks highlight how sexuality is a beautiful gift from God intended to be a means for self-giving love.

Nihilism

A philosophy that denies there is any meaning in existence or religious beliefs. A nihilist maintains that the only thing that comes after life is nothingness, annihilation.

Original holiness

The original state of human beings in their relationship with God before sin entered the world. It was the state of Adam and Eve in which they shared in the divine life.

Original justice

Adam and Eve's state of inner harmony, harmony between man and woman, and harmony between the first couple and all creation.

Original Sin

The personal sin of Adam and Eve, the first human beings, by which they disobeyed God's commandment and chose their own will over God's will. As a result, they lost the grace of original holiness and original justice; they became subject to death; and sin entered the world. It also describes the fallen state of human nature, which affects every person and from which Christ came to redeem the world.

Concupiscence

Disordered human desires resulting from Original Sin that produce an inclination to sin, also expressed as "the rebellion of the 'flesh' against the 'spirit'" (CCC, 2515). Concupiscence remains after baptism.

Free will

"The power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility" (CCC, 1731).

Theological virtues

Three important virtues bestowed on a person at Baptism that help the person relate to God; they are faith (belief in and personal knowledge of God), hope (trust in God's salvation and in His gift of the graces needed to attain it), and charity (love of God and love of neighbor).

Common good

The "sum total of social conditions that allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily" (Gaudium et Spes, 26; CCC 1906).

Subsidiarity

The principle that larger societies should support, not interfere with, the participation and responsibilities of smaller or local groups; in short, larger societies should help individuals and smaller communities fulfill their duties and rights without taking over what they can do for themselves.

Paschal mystery

The life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ, through which He accomplished our redemption.

Please give the account presented in class, as well as in the textbook for how Catholic morality can be understood.

Catholic morality can be understood as the ability to respond to God. In particular, to who God is, to what God has said and done, and to what God has promised to do.

Name the 4 Godlike qualities presented in the text and discussed in class.

1) to think

2) to choose

3) to love

4) to relate to others in community

Please explain why John Paul II describes the body of a human person as a sacrament?

John Paul II describes the body of a human person as a sacrament because just as a sacrament points to the invisible reality of grace, so does the body point to the invisible reality of the soul.

Name 6 consequences of original sin.

1) suffering

2) concupiscence

3) loss of original holiness

4) loss of original justice

5) death

6) ignorance

With the exception of original holiness, please explain the relationship between Baptism and original sin and its consequences.

Baptism removes the stain of Original Sin. However, the consequences remain.

What 4 qualities/characteristics do angels have in common with every human soul?

1) spiritual

2) created by God

3) immortal

4) personal

What three qualities characterize the absolutely precious dignity of every human person without exception?

1) inviolable

2) inherent

3) inalienable

What is the source of every human person's precious dignity?

God created every human person in his image and likeness

What are the three essential features of the human person that manifest his/her dignity and what is their relationship to the first three Godlike qualities?

The three essential features of the human person that manifest his/her dignity are intellect, the ability to love, and freedom of the will. Their relationship to the first three Godlike qualities are to think, to love, and to choose.

Name the three theological virtues.

1) faith

2) hope

3) charity

Please explain why the theological virtues are called "theological".

They are all given to us by God at Baptism and all three have primarily God as their subject.

What principles of Catholic social teaching can be seen reflected in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution?

Both solidarity and the Common Good can be seen in the Preamble.

Please explain why schools (Catholic, public, and private) are an instance of the principle of subsidiarity at work.

Parents are the primary educators of their children and schools exist to support parents.