key terms

conscience

Human reason making moral decisions. The knowledge we have of what is right and wrong and the God-given compulsion within all human beings to do what is right and to avoid what is evil.

evil

The absence of good and the impulse to seek our own desires at the expense of the good of others which
often results in suffering.

free-will

The decision-making part of a person’s mind is called the will. A will is free if a person is able to choose right from wrong without being controlled by other forces.

goodness

The quality of being like God: seeking the well-being of others selflessly.

incarnation

“Made flesh” The Christian belief that God became man in the person of Jesus, fully human and fully
divine.

natural law

The moral laws of right and wrong which are universal and not dependent on human laws. The belief in natural law is the belief that the moral law is discoverable by every human being and is the same for all human beings in all places at all times.

privation

The loss or absence of a quality or something that is normally present. Evil is a privation of good.

suffering

Pain or loss which harms human beings. Some suffering is caused by other human beings (often called moral evil); some is not (often called natural evil).