Moral Theology (MT)

• 1. A) Nature (Theology? Philosophy?),

B) Interests, C) Divisions,
D) Structures
• 2. Some Definitions: A) F Bockle,
B) A Sertillanges, C) B Haring
 A) The Nature of MT

Species of Ethics:
- shares structures & formal interests

- MT is sufficiently different from

philosophical morality or ethics (MP)
 Nature cont…
• Is a particular expression of systematic
theology (ST) which focuses on the
implications of faith for the way we live
(Christian or theological ethics).
• ST: is an overarching discipline of theology
which tries to work out a coherent view of the
world by integrating truths of faith with other
truths we can know.
 Moral Philosophy (MP)
• Can reflect adequately on the nature of moral
life
• What constitute right or wrong (bad or good)
behavior without reference to Christian Faith
(CF)
• Resources: Human Reason and Human
Experience
• MT: shares with MP’s resources plus CF
 B) Interests
• MT wants to know what difference could a
Christian believer makes in the way he/she
lives his/her life…
• interested in the implications of Christian Faith for the
kind of persons we ought to be (“Ethics of Being”):
interiority of the person or character / virtues

• Interested in the kinds of action Christian do (“Ethics of

Doing”): making decisions to resolve moral dilemmas
(e.g. conflict of values) so might do proper action
 Interests cont.
• Ethics (theoretical interests): the nature of the
good, the nature of the person as a moral
agent, criteria of judgment

• Morals (practical interests): fundamental

beliefs, character of the moral agent, use of
norms, situational analysis
 C) Divisions
• foundational concerns (norms: deontology,
teleology, virtues)

• special concerns (concrete issues where &

when norms applied)
 D) Structures
• Two-fold enterprise of ethics & morals
• Ethics: it is concerned with clarifying the foundations of
moral life on the basis of Christian religious convictions
» Theoretical foundations of MT

• Morals: it is also concerned with interpreting how to

judge and act in the light of those convictions
» Practical Level of MT (directs / orients behavior)
 2. Some Definitions
• A) Franz Bockle: That “part of theology that
searches for the norms of free human conduct
in the light of the revelation.”

• Concerned with norms of free human conduct

(humans are the real moral agents insofar as they are
free)

• Guided by Divine Revelation (differs from MP): Judaeo-

Christian Faith and Tradition
• B) Antonin Sertillanges: “It is the science of
what man ought to be by reason of what he
is”
• “Science”: open-ended, analyzes situations, adds new
data… facts, (“the is dimension”)
• “What ought to be”: how things ought to be, people
should be… future directed (“the ought dimension”)
• “What humanity is”: nature of the moral agent (what
they meant to be; anthropological constants)
• C) Bernard Haring: describes MT as
Responsibility (Response – Ability)
• Response – it is a response to God’s invitation
(“vocation”), saying YES to God’s call in the “here and
now “ and the “not-yet” (fundamental option)

• Ability (“the virtues”)– the “power” given (infused, i.e.

theological: Faith, Hope, Love) to us by the Holy Spirit
and those we learned through habituation (i.e.
cardinal: Courage, Temperance, Prudence, Justice)
• Constitutive elements of an adequate
definition of MT:
• It is a science; concerned about what ought to be
(norms, ethics); judging right from wrong in the light of
who we are (anthropological constants); dealing with
human conduct, behavior in the light faith (morals,
Divine Revelation); summed up by responsibility;
responding to God’s call towards human flourishing (or,
Kingdom of God).

• References: R. Gula, Reason Informed by Faith (NY: Paulist,

1989), 6-12; M. Pennock, Moral Problems: What Does a Christian
Do? (Notre Dame, Ind: Ave Maria Press, 1979), 15-23; B. Hoose,
ed., Christian Ethics: An Introduction (NY/London: Continuum,
1998), 3-162 (Cc 1-10 on “Basic Christian Ethics”).
 Evaluation
(1/2 of yellow paper)

Explain the following:

1.I am free when ______________________...
2.What I have done is right or moral
because_______________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
________________________________...
DETERMINANTS OF MORALITY
• Human behavior refers to the array of every
physical action and observable emotion
associated with individuals, as well as
the human race as a whole.
• Anthropological Constants are the values that
must be, for life to exist on Earth.