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4 sources for Catholic Christian ethics (The Scriptures (The revealed word…
4 sources for Catholic Christian ethics
The Natural Law
The 10 Commandments are concrete and particular expressions of natural law that spell out the moral requirement to love God and to love our neighbour.
The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (1948) derived from natural law. These rights belong to every human by virtue of their humanity.
Natural Law is expressed in the conviction that ‘good should be done and promoted and evil avoided’
Innate knowledge of what is right and wrong that is part of being human. A capacity to reason well about what is right and wrong is described as ‘right reason’
The Scriptures
The revealed word of God in the Old and New Testament (Hebrew Bible and New Christian Bible) is the basis and foundation of Christian ethical teachings
The teachings of Jesus are also the basis of Christian ethics and centre on the Law of Love of God and neighbour.
After Vatican II, Catholicism has reaffirmed the centrality of the Bible (revealed law) and the role of conscience in moral decision making.
The Power of The Holy Spirit enables us to do the right and good thing.
Christians can grow closer to God through Jesus
Tradition of the Church
The Tradition is always in harmony with the Scriptures.
The lived experience of the people of God throughout the centuries, guided by The Holy Spirit through the ethical sources of Jesus, his apostles, popes and bishops.
It sees morality in context of God’s plan and recognises the importance of the In the Catholic tradition, certain actions, in and of themselves, irrespective of intentions and circumstances, are wrong
The Pope has a particular responsibility to ensure the fullness of Catholic faith is taught without fear or favour throughout the whole Church.
The principles of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) include the dignity of the human person. CST in papal encyclicals emphasises human rights, liberation of the oppressed and the development of all people.
Experience and Conscience
Baptised people share in the responsibility of ensuring they are faithfully taught and helped grow in ‘right reason’.
Deep within their consciences men and women discover a law they have not laid upon themselves and which they must obey. Its voice ever calling them to do what is good and avoid evil, tells them inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For they have in their hearts a law inscribed by God. Their dignity rests in observing this law, and by it they will be judged”. [Gaudium et Spes, VCII, paragraph 16]
Moral living is always seen in positive terms, as a life of ongoing conversion and growth towards God. The person is called to develop the habit of doing good, that is, to live virtuously, and to act with justice and compassion.
Emphasis on moral reasoning, Church tradition and authoritative teaching, more so than other variants.