Morality Lap 3 Study Guide

Details from Augustine’s life, especially those that relate to the development of his ideas: early life

• born 354 in Thagaste

• Christian mom, Monica

• Pagan dad, Patricius

• brilliant student of rhetoric and philosophy

• early exposure to Manichaeism

Details from Augustine’s life, especially those that relate to the development of his ideas: struggles and conversion

• restless search for truth, explored philosophy (Cicero and Neoplatonism) and different religions 

• problem of evil, time with Manichees sharpened questions about the origin of evil, leading to later doctrine 

• ambition and sin, lived in a worldly life, fathered a son, Adeodatus

• conversion, inspired by St. Ambrose’s preaching and reading of Scripture 

Details from Augustine’s life, especially those that relate to the development of his ideas: ministry 

• bishop of hippo: 395 AD, 30 years

• battles with heresies, the Donatists and Pelagians 

Augustine & Sin: Autobiography & The Confessions

• the confessions are a spiritual and intellectual autobiography of Augustine 

  • self-portrait of the soul

Augustine & Sin: Original Sin

• he said sin is turning away from God, and is committed to the gain of the goods of others, seeks lower goods and not the highest good, and sin is irrational

Augustine & Sin: Monica

• saint, his mother, Christian 

Augustine & Sin: Story of the Pear Tree 

• as a teenager, St. Augustine was with some friends, was peer pressured, and they stole some pears off a tree in a nearby orchard. St. Augustine said he didn’t steal for the pears, but because he had a desire to do wrong. He later said he deeply regretted his actions with the pears and repented, and he also said that friendship can be dangerous sometimes.

Augustine & Sin: Ambrose of Milan

• bishop of Milan 

  • saw evil as privation of the good 

  • symbolic reading of Scripture 

  • helped turn Augustine to Scripture 

Augustine & Sin: “Take and Read”

• the phrase that marked Augustine’s dramatic conversion to Christianity 

Augustine & Sin: Death of his childhood friend

• augustine had a dear friend who died, and he says his heart was darkened when it happened, and he saw death everywhere 

• he realized he needed God to get through this part of his life 

Augustine & Sin: Battles with the Donatists & Pelagius

• Donatists: he defeated the unity of the Church and the validity of the Sacraments, stressing that Christ makes the Church holy 

• Pelagius: he defended original sin and the absolute necessity of God’s grace for salvation, ensuring the Church rejected Pelagianism as heresy 

Augustine & Sin: Sin as…separation; privation; slavery

• as separation: humanity separates from itself, others, God, and the environment 

• as slavery: the condition of sin = slavery/death 

• as privation: is always a perversion of a good thing

  • sin turns a good thing bad 

Augustine & Sin: Genesis 3 

• the fall of humanity is the unraveling of creation 

Augustine & Sin: the wages of sin is death

• Pauline theology 

• Sin leads to both spiritual death (separation from God) and physical death 

Augustine & Sin: Types of Sin 

• Mortal

  • sin that completely destroys our relationship with God

  • Grave matter, full knowledge, and complete consent are required to commit mortal sin

• Venial 

  • Weaken our relationship, but do not turn away from God

• Social

  • a cycle of sin, violence, and injustice caused by individual sins

  • creates injustice

Aquinas & Law & Morality: How do you know if a law is good

• if it aligns with reason, promotes virtue, and serves the common good 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: eternal law 

• God’s plan

• divine reason’s conception of things ordained by God; It always has, and always will exist

Aquinas & Law & Morality: natural law

• comes from eternal law 

  • natural inclination to its proper end 

  • reasoned participation to humans 

• rational creatures participation in eternal law through reason (human acts) 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: human (civil) law

• principle people need to succeed: rules and measures relating to human conduct

• created to guide people towards the common good 

• applies natural law to society 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: divine law

• laws revealed through Scripture that provide a direct path toward salvation 

• old law

  • law of Moses in the old testament, includes the 10 commandments, ceremonial laws, and civil regulations

    • child 

• new law 

  • law of Christ, centered on love and grace, revealed in the new testament 

    • adult 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: Church law (cannon law)

• the system of law and regulation created by Church authorities (Magisterium) to govern the organization, discipline, and practices of the community 

• what civil law is to natural law, Church law is to divine law 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: grace

• a supernatural gift from God that perfects human nature, heals it from sin, and enables us to participate in divine law 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: telos/teleology vs. deontology

• teleology: the explanation of things by their purpose, end, or goal rather than by their cause 

• deontology: an ethical theory that judges actions by rules and duties, not consequences 

Aquinas & Law & Morality: intrinsic vs extrinsic morality

• intrinsic: actions are judged as right or wrong by their very nature, not by circumstances or outcomes

• extrinsic: judging actions based on external factors, like circumstances, consequences, or authority, rather than the act itself

Aquinas & Law & Morality: intellect and will

• intellect: the spiritual power of the soul that enables humans to know universal truths, abstracting knowledge from sensory experience

• will: the rational appetite of the soul, the power that desires and chooses the God as presented by the intellect

STOP Decision Making-Process: moral object

• what

• most important factor

• decides if an action is moral/immoral

• some objects are always bad (murder is always immoral)

STOP Decision Making-Process: intention

• why

• subjective

• decides if an action is moral/immoral

STOP Decision Making-Process: circumstances

• who, how, when, where

• can increase or decrease morality/immorality

STOP Decision Making-Process: moral vs immoral action

• to be moral, both object and intention must be good/moral 

• all others are immoral

• circumstances do not decide moral/immoral

• ENDS DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS 

STOP Decision Making-Process: objective vs subjective

• objective is what you do (object) 

• subjective is why you do it (intention) 

STOP Decision Making-Process: alternatives

• other options/actions

STOP Decision Making-Process: consequences

• effects of an action

STOP Decision Making-Process: common good

• the set of social conditions that allow all people in a community to flourish together

STOP Decision Making-Process: prudence

• the virtue of right reason applied to action: knowing the good and choosing the right means to achieve it 

STOP Decision Making-Process: 3 sources of the moral life

• object (the act itself) 

• intention (the end of purpose) 

• circumstances (context around the act) 

STOP Decision Making-Process: conscience 

• general ability to choose right and wrong 

• a law written on your heart by God 

• not a feeling, Jiminy Cricket, gut instinct, or majority opinion 

STOP Decision Making-Process: certain vs uncertain conscience

• certain: the judgement of the mind that firmly determines an action is morally right or wrong. without fear or error 

• uncertain: the state of moral judgement where a person is unsure whether an action is right or wrong 

STOP Decision Making-Process: following your conscience

• you must always follow your conscience because it is how God instructs you to make the right choice; it’s how you’re called to do good

STOP Decision Making-Process: forming your conscience

• educating it with truth, reason, and faith, so it can rightly judge moral choices 

STOP Decision Making-Process: erroneous conscience 

• when a person’s moral judgement is mistaken: believing an action is right when it is actually wrong, and vice versa

• can be caused by ignorance, poor moral formation, bad influence, and neglect of truth