Nicole Bornales

“Moral Theology as a teaching towards God”. I’ve learned that the term moral theology contains two notions. It is theology but as modified by the adjective moral. Wherein the word “Theology'' is the science or knowledge of God. This knowledge is not, properly speaking, of God as He is in Himself, but rather of God as He has revealed Himself to man, as opposed to the knowledge of Him that can be derived by natural reason from the visible works of His creation. For this reason it is sometimes called sacred or supernatural theology. It is not simple theological faith, but rather knowledge derived from faith and scientifically elaborated by reason, which theology has at its service and positively directs in the exercise of its functions. It is faith seeking understanding. I learned Moral Theology as the science of God and Divine things. It can also be considered as the study of the ‘beginning and the end of a man’s moral life’ and essentially the analysis of how one should act. As a Roman Catholic life is marked by interior devotion to God and following the Ten Commandments. Theology is understood to mean supernatural theology that is the science of God and Divine things, in as far as it is based on supernatural Revelation. The focusing theme contains not only God in his essence, but also his actions, and his works of salvation and the guidance, which are led to God who will be our supernatural end. Through our knowledge of all these truths is necessary for every man to understand the broadest outlines, and is acquired by Christian faith. Theology demands the knowledge won through faith, and as it deepens it expands and strengthens so that our faith can be better understood and defined by the reasons. Indeed, A theology class remains a great equalizer in Catholic education. Everyone, regardless of personal beliefs and upbringing, needs to wrestle with the big-picture questions of life. Does God exist or not? If so, who or what is God? What is a just world? What counts as a life well lived? No one can afford to live the “unexamined life.” –Because the subject matter is usually beyond all of us (God), everyone needs to reach beyond themselves and question their assumptions about reality. Yet it is also deeply personal — who am I? What does it mean to be me? What is my relation to God, neighbor, society? How will I know that I have lived well? Some of the highest achieving students struggle tremendously with that kind of introspection, while some of the lowest achievers soar. At the end of the day, theology is an excellent subject to help develop humility because we face an unconquerable task. Calculus and grammar can be mastered, but not theology. Its subject is a transcendent God who is infinitely more complex than the human mind can understand. We can learn many truths about God and come to a deep understanding of and relationship with God, but we cannot tame God. No matter how brilliant, good, insightful, original or articulate we are, we remain equal as short-lived creatures before the one who simply is. Among the topics about Sin, God’s Response to sin, and Discussions in Current Moral Issues, I cannot choose one. It is because I believe that all three topics contributed to my understanding of moral theology, wherein the whole of sacred theology has the same principles, which are the articles of faith, and the same medium of knowledge, which is the light of divine revelation. It is an imprint of God's own knowledge. In relation to that, the sacred sciences are like the branches of the same divine tree, which is theology in its most profound and authentic sense. Its integral parts correspond to the distinct material objects contained within itself, and in regard to the various functions it, as true wisdom derived from God, exercises with respect to them. It thus treats of God, of man, of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and of all that He did and taught; of the ultimate end of human life and of the means of attaining it; of good and evil, both eternal and temporal; in a word, of all that relates to God and to man as made to His image and likeness. I’ve realized that the function of theology, as true and supreme wisdom, is to grasp all divinely revealed truths to the full extent of their meaning and to direct life in genuine accord with them. For divinely revealed truth is at the same time the light of understanding and the bread of life. In regard to it wisdom exercises two functions –One of these is cognitive, for wisdom is an intellectual virtue; the other is directive of human life to the supernatural end of eternal life, since it is an affective and loving wisdom that considers the Supreme Cause of all things, God, as the ultimate end of every rational and angelic being. I believe that we, humans, are the subject of the moral theology because it is the “man” insofar as he is the adopted son of God and brother of Christ, or insofar as he is the super-natural image of God, bearing as a participant of the divine nature through sanctifying grace, a likeness to the consubstantial image of the Word made man, Jesus Christ, to whose image the Christian should be conformed. It is the nature of the image to resemble its exemplar and imitate it as perfectly as possible, just as the son resembles the father and imitates his conduct or manner of acting. Sanctifying grace not only heals and regenerates man wounded by sin, original and personal, but raises him up and makes him into a son of God, giving him in a sense a divine existence. And although this deification originally affects the soul as spiritual, it consequently also affects it as the animating and vivifying principle of the body; and hence the deification flows over into the body, which it makes the living temple of the Holy Spirit, the bearer of God, and an instrument of justice and sanctification. Rooted and enfolded in man as the principle, or formal cause, of his justification, this participation in the divine nature, which is grace, produces a corresponding divine operation. It obliges us to flee all corruption of concupiscence and sin and to cultivate all the virtues, especially faith, hope (including patience), and charity, laboring ceaselessly to work out our sanctification and thus guarantee our entrance into the eternal kingdom of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ wherein we were able to live a life full of Happiness and morals. Which made me think that by knowing what “sins” are and reflecting on it, while having critical understanding on the topic God’s response to sin and having awareness And knowledge on current moral issues helps me a lot as an individual on assessing How i’m doing with myself, as an individual who has relation and connected to everything arounds me, and to at some points has effects to the others around me. (Which leads me to my reflections on christian Conscience). We cannot speak about life in Christ or the moral life without acknowledging the reality of sin, our own sinfulness, and our need for God's mercy. When the existence of sin is denied it can result in spiritual and psychological damage because it is ultimately a denial of the truth about ourselves. Admitting the reality of sin helps us to be truthful and opens us to the healing that comes from Christ's redemptive act. My reflections written primarily to this paragraph and the article on Christian Conscience of Msgr. William Shannon has given me a lot of lectures with an account of about a dozen moral issues i had confronted in my own life in the past weeks, including everything from reflecting on issues about euthanasia, care for elderly parents, etc. So many issues! So many feelings, decisions and responsibilities! So many different areas of my life;– family, relationships, work, church, faith, money, character, words, leisure, sexuality, marriage, promises, habits, clothing, possessions, animals, food, emotions, thoughts, values, priorities—it never ends! From the most personal to the most public aspects of existence, my life and choices are put to question. It seems all too much! And yet, all of it is important. What am I to do? What am I responsible for? How do I even make all these decisions? Should I even try? Or just kick back and lose myself in front of our television and watch Netflix? And with all the nerves working around my body, I ended up having a realization that To be human is to be confronted with ethics. Which i believe has to do with right and wrong, good and evil, better and best, beauty and value. What makes a beautiful life, a good life, a life that is characterised by truth. I am aware that Ethics is concerned with issues and decisions, proper conduct and good character. And it is my new learning that by being a Christian, I am asked the same question and is concerned with the same issues, but from a distinctively Christian point of view. Now that I am a Christian, I learned that it is important to know and understand critically on how I should think about all these things, since it taught me that being a Christian makes a difference. Yes, actually. Right from the start, being a Christian meant living differently to those around us. Given the utter complexity of modern life and the plurality of issues with which we are faced, It is very significant to live ethically and discover what resources we have. God has given us the Scriptures. Yes, absolutely! The Bible is the supreme, unique and irreplaceable guide for Christian life, including Christian ethics. Yet, Scripture is not clear on many issues and silent on many more. Even those topics addressed by Scripture to some degree are open to different interpretations and different applications by godly, sincere believers.Wherein it is being emphasized that Reflection is thought about something; when we reflect, we ask, ‘What is the truth?’ Deliberation is thought toward action; when we deliberate, we ask ‘What are we to do?’, this i think is where conscience (christian conscience is being emphasized too). The formation of a good conscience is another fundamental element of Christian moral teaching. “Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act”. Man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. His conscience is man’s most secret core, and his sanctuary. Conscience represents both the more general ability we have as human beings to know what is good and right and the concrete judgments we make in particular situations concerning what we should do or about what we have already done. Moral choices confront us with the decision to follow or depart from reason and the divine law. A good conscience makes judgments that conform to reason and the good that is willed by the Wisdom of God. A good conscience requires lifelong formation. Each baptized follower of Christ is obliged to form his or her conscience according to objective moral standards. The Word of God is a principal tool in the formation of conscience when it is assimilated by study, prayer, and practice. The prudent advice and good example of others support and enlighten our conscience. The authoritative teaching of the Church is an essential element in our conscience formation. Finally, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, combined with regular examination of our conscience, will help us develop a morally sensitive conscience.To reflect is to think about things in general. I learned that We,Christians, reflect on the revelation of God given in Christ, digging deeply into the words of God, seeking to understand his ways and his will. The words of Scripture—the laws, the songs, the narratives and stories, the proverbs and parables, the teachings, the letters, the promises, commands and warnings, the visions, the prophets and even all the weird bits– all these help us grasp a little of God’s will for our lives. They begin to shape a Christian imagination that can envision the kingdom, that can imagine a way of being Christian in the world. Through that we ponder the ways of God in his interaction with the world, and what it means to be the people of God in the midst of the world. As a result, We explore the world itself, God’s creation and the ways of the world, its patterns and purposes, all in the light of revelation. We contemplate the experience of life in the world in the light of revelation to gain further insight into God’s purposes for human life. All the stuff of life is food for thought. Anything and everything becomes an object of reflection. We talk about this stuff in our churches and home groups, thinking about the whole of life in the light of God’s revelation in Scripture and in Christ. All I can say is that this kind of theological and practical reflection provides the context for deliberation, which is thought towards action. We, Christians, deliberate when we must consider how we will respond and act in specific cases and situations. What does it mean to deliberate? Judges, doctors and politicians all deliberate. It means to assemble all the facts of the case at hand and consider them carefully in light of the relevant frameworks we have developed in our reflections. To deliberate is to propose and examine various options and approaches to the issue at hand, to give and hear reasons for each approach, and to weigh them up. Deliberation as ‘thought toward action’ considers how one is to respond and act in specific cases and situations. There must be a corresponding form of deliberation, so that we think how to shape the way we live, not only how to shape the next thing we do. We can frame policies for the conduct of our lives. We deliberate on our attitudes to specific areas of practical concern. To form that attitude rightly is part of the obedience we each owe God. We must form a policy about the right and wrong of sexual self-disposal, for example, quite apart from any particular occasion of sexual opportunity; we must have attitudes to the possession and use of wealth before we inherit an estate. We need to approach concrete decisions with moral policies already formed. With the help of this subject course, Moral Theology, I've been introduced to questions about what it means to be a moral person in our contemporary world. In particular, I have been given chances and guides to examine what it means to be a Christian moral person—that is, what Christian faith and tradition contribute to our understanding of a moral universe. Which began with an examination of moral formation in community And then discuss ethical principles as they have emerged throughout the Christian tradition. Through readings on "modernity" and "post-modernity," I was able to explore how such resources can be used to assist in discerning Christian moral life today.