The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
We live in a time of great moral
confusion.
False moral systems are being
promoted in every imaginable
way.
This confusion has allowed evils
like contraception, abortion,
euthanasia, test-tube babies,
surrogate motherhood, and
embryonic research to become
increasingly acceptable.
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
The Foundations of Moral Reasoning
How do we now the moral law?
Genesis 1:26-27
Only man is made in the image and
likeness of the eternal God who
created the universe.
We have spiritual souls, intellects and
wills.
Like God we can know and love.
We can receive god’s Spirit into our
souls.
We are capable of one day living in
unimaginable glory in the Kingdom of
Heaven
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
Unlike all other creatures in the
visible world that are moved by
instinct we are truly free.
Because we are free we are moral
beings:
We can choose to do good or evil.
Through our intellect we can
discover the goodness (morality) of
an action
This judgment of the intellect is
called conscience
Through our free will we can choose
good or do evil
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
With this gift comes
accountability
If we do good and avoid evil we
will attain glory in heaven.
Romans 2:6-10
In heaven,
we will possess the all-good God
Himself;
we will no longer be able to
choose evil.
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
How do we know what is good
and evil?
We consult the moral law, which
is based on the eternal law of
God
We conform to God’s nature
He is the God of truth, justice,
and love.
Therefore all actions taken must
be done in truth, justice, and
love.
This is the unchanging essence
of the moral law
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
How do we know the
demands of the moral
law?
The Ten
Commandments,
God’s gift through
public revelation, sum
up the requirements of
the moral law.
The two great
commandments are a
summary of the Ten
Commandments
Matthew 22:37-40
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
We can also know the requirements
of the moral law through human
reason
Romans 1:19-20
Our reason allows us to see
the order God has put in the
universe
Our free will allows us to live
according to that order.
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
Virtually all men agree that
certain actions
(honesty and faithfulness)
are worthy of our rational
nature;
Other actions
(cheating and adultery)
are unworthy.
This is known as the natural
moral law.
Reason discerns that man is
accountable to a higher law
than merely natural law, a
“law of human nature.”
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
We do not hold animals or inanimate
objects responsible for hurting us
because they don’t know any other way
to act.
We do blame and hold responsible
humans for deliberately hurting us.
Humans are rational and capable of
acting differently and because they are
capable they should act in accordance
with their rational nature.
Because of original sin, our reason is
wounded.
This wound adversely effects our
understanding of moral law and makes
our reason susceptible to error
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
The Catholic Church,
which teaches with the
authority of her
founder Jesus Christ
is the final and
infallible interpreter
of both the natural
moral law
and public revelation.
Thus, she is a reliable
teacher when it comes
to life issues.
Intrinsically Evil Acts
These are acts like rape, murder, and
adultery that are always evil, no matter
what the circumstances or intentions.
These acts remain evil, with no
exceptions.
They can never become good acts.
A person can commit an intrinsically
evil act and not be personally guilty but
this does not alter the evil of the act.
Objective Morality
Examines the rightness and wrongness
of humans acts as they are in
themselves
Subjective Morality
Examines the personal guilt or merit an
individual has for their moral acts.
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
How do we evaluate moral acts?
Morality considers the rightness and
wrongness of human actions.
Only human actions done freely and
knowingly can be evaluated.
Three elements determine the morality
of human acts:
1. The object of the act
( what the act is objectively)
2. The intention or purpose of the act
(why the act is chosen subjectively)
3. The circumstances surrounding the
act
For an act to be morally good,
all three of these elements must be
good.
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
How do we evaluate moral acts?
The ends (good intentions) don’t
justify the means
(objectively bad acts).
Evil intentions corrupt otherwise
good actions.
Circumstances cannot change
intrinsically evil acts into good
ones.
• Circumstances can increase or decrease
the moral quality of an act
• Circumstances can make a normally
good act bad
• Circumstances can change some
normally bad actions into good ones
The Splendor of Truth
(Veritatis Splendor, John Paul II)
Moral Principles
Approved by the Catholic Church
Catechism of the Catholic Faith
Part III
“Life In Christ”
(1691-2557)
Moral Principles
•
Do good; Avoid evil (Ps
37:27)
This is the basic precept of
the natural law and the
foundation of morality
•
We can never do evil to
bring about good (Rm 3:8)
The ends never justify the
means
•
We must follow our
conscience
We are obligated to follow the
certain judgment of our
formed conscience.
Conscience must never be set
in opposition to the moral law
or the Magisterium of the
Catholic Church.
Moral Principles
•
The principle of the
double effect
An act that is good, but
that has an evil side
effect, may only be done
under the following
conditions:
1. The act itself must be
good or at least
morally neutral
2. The evil effect must
not be directly willed,
but only foreseen and
tolerated
3. The good effect must
not be the result of the
evil effect
4. The good desired must
equal or outweigh the
evil permitted
Moral Principles
Material cooperation with evil
•
•
Formal Cooperation is
assisting another’s
wrong-doing while
approving it. This is
always wrong.
Material Cooperation
is assisting another’s
wrong-doing without
approving of it. This is
allowed following the
same principles as
double effect.
•
•
•
Moral Principles
The principle of totality
The Vatican document, Charter for
Health Care Workers, section 66: For the
sake of our overall health, we can
mutilate, modify or remove an organ or
body part. Therapeutic sterilization is
covered under this principle whereas
contraceptive sterilization is not.
Choosing the lesser of two evils
If we are unintentionally faced with two
or more unavoidable evils, we must
choose the lesser one.
Minimizing a greater evil
We must work to limit the harm caused
by an unavoidable evil. We may if
unavoidable support a lesser evil to
minimize a greater one.
False Moral Ideas
• Freedom of Conscience
Gaudium et Spes says, “Conscience is
God’s voice speaking within us, not just
our opinion.” We have a prior obligation to
form our conscience according to Church
teaching before we follow it.
• Fundamental Option Theory
This theory claims that once we choose to
follow God, then we cannot break our
relationship with God except by a direct,
specific rejection of Him. We may
knowingly and with free consent commit a
serious and grave act but not explicitly
reject God and thus avoid mortal sin. John
Paul II in The Splendor of Truth points out
that if we willfully and knowingly engage
in a seriously sinful act, then in our
disobedience we have indirectly rejected
God which results in the loss of sanctifying
grace.
False Moral Ideas
• Situation Ethics
This theory claims
there are no such
things as universal
moral norms (Ten
Commandments)
that hold for all
times and places.
We simply make
up our own
morality as we go
along depending
on the
circumstances.
The Church
condemned this
theory in 1956.
False Moral Ideas
• Values Clarification
This morality teaching
method presents students
with various predicaments
that call for moral choices.
It then presents several
moral systems including
Christian morality as if all
the systems were equally
acceptable. Each student is
asked to reflect on the
situation and choose
whichever system they
believe is best. This sets
the student up as the
ultimate authority on what
is right and wrong
False Moral Ideas
• The Ends Justifies the
Means
This false moral system insists that we
can do an evil act in order to attain a
desired good.
• Cultural Cliches
“Look out for number one”
“You only live once.”
“Follow your heart”
“But I love him/her”
“If it feels good it”
“We can’t impose our morality.”
“We must be tolerant.”
“God wouldn’t want me to be
unhappy.”
Any system which promotes man,
not God, as the decision maker
between right and wrong is in
error.