Our Moral Life in Christ: A Complete Course
Vocabulary
Chapter One: Preliminary Notions
actual grace
The supernatural help from God to do good and void evil to enable us to save our souls.
Christian morality
The part of theology that specifies the moral norms derived from the new being that the Christian--because of his incorporation into christ at Baptism--needs to follow, with the hope of imitating Jesus’ life to the point of identifying with him.
Christian vocation
God’s call to the human being by which he is incorporated into Christ through grace and becomes a member of the Mystical Body of Christ. As one of God’s people, he partakes in the life of the Church.
Christianity
The way of life lived as Jesus Christ the Son of God lived in word and action.
free will
A gift from God to make possible the fee choice to love God.
freedom
The power rooted in reason and the will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform actions on one’s own responsibility.
holiness
The free dedication of oneself to the will of God, and the participation in the life of grace offered to the Christian. This dedication to God affects a moral transformation in the life of the individual.
humanism
A moral system that denies belief in God and views humanity as the highest form of existence.
Law of Christ
An interior law that stems from grace --in connection with the life of Jesus -- and becomes a norm or impulse for imitating Christ and acting like him.
love (charity)
The theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves.
moral law
The objective standards authored by God and taught by Church authority.
morality
The standards by which we judge our actions to be good or evil. Morality looks to those human acts that impact the totality of our “personness” and which affect our final end.
New Being in Christ
The supernatural condition of the baptized by which they participate in the life of Jesus.
Original Sin
The sin committed by Adam and Eve.
positive morality
A moral code that prescribes what ought to be done.
sanctifying grace
The share in the divine life of God infused into us at Baptism.
sins of omission
Failure to what is know to be right, good or required.
virtue
A habitual and firm disposition ot do the good.
Chapter Two Moral Theology
Amorality
An attitude that lacks any moral orientation, dispensing from all moral norms.
Catholic moral theology
A science that enables the human mind to make correct choices guided by the principles set forth by the Magisterium
fundamental morality
The part of moral theology that studies the nature of the moral act and the conditions that make a concrete act moral.
grace
The free gift of God’s own life that God makes to each person in Baptism: it is infused into the soul by the Holy Spirit to heal it of sin and to sanctify it.
immorality
Behavior that goes against moral norms.
Magisterium
The name given tot he ordinary and universal teaching authority of the pope and the bishops in communion with him, who guide the members of the Church without error in matters of faith and morals.
materialism
The belief that matter is the only reality and that everything can be explained only in terms of matter, and that comfort, pleasure, and/or wealth are the only or highest goods.
moral theology
A science which accepts and examines divine revelation while at the same time responding tot he demands of human reason.
natural law
The participation of human beings in the plan of God in relation to human life and action insofar as the human mind can grasp that plan. The objective order establishes by God that determines the requirements for humans to thrive for and reach fulfillment.
Original Sin
Adam and Eve's abuse of their freedom in disobeying God's command. This sin separated mankind from God, darkened the human intellect, weakened the human will, and introduced into human nature an inclination toward sin.
philosophical anthropology
The part of philosophy that studies the specific nature of people.
pluralism
The existence of opinions or ideas within human society, some of which may contradict or oppose one another. A pluralism in the application of moral principles and social customs is valid insofar as it does not contradict God’s revelation and sound reason.
revelation
The truths about God and his will which he has communicated freely to humanity by means of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Sacred Tradition
The Word of God entrusted to the apostles and their successors by Christ and the Holy Spirit, and transmitted by their teaching to each generation of Christians.
secularism
A system of doctrines and practices that rejects any form of religious faith and worship.
sociobiology
The study of mankind as genetically determined.
theological anthropology
The part of theology that studies the nature of mankind according to revelation.
theological virtues
Virtues infused in the soul at Baptism that enable each person to share in the divine nature of God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In Catholic theology, there are three: faith, hope and charity.
Tradition
Those truths passed from generation to generation in oral or written form.
Chapter Three Freedom and the Moral Act
acts of a human
Acts accomplished without knowledge or deliberation.
ascesis
Religious self-discipline
Freedom
The power a person has over his own acts.
full knowledge
The clear and deliberate knowledge of the merit or sinfulness of an action. It is required as a conditon before a person can be guilty of a sin.
human act
An act that is performed with both knowledge and free will. Human acts, depending upon the degree of knowledge and freedom involved in their commission, are either morally good or morally evil.
ignorance
The lack of required knowledge.
Indifferent acts
Actions which have no moral value in themselves., but depend on the intention of the agent and the circumstances that surround them for their moral value.
indirect responsibility
The attribution of the effect that secondarily follows a free act.
partial knowledge
Knowledge that is obscured byt he presence of some obstacle interfering with moral judgment.
prudence
The ability to make and carry out moral decisions
responsibility
The demand for an account of one's acts before oneself and before a superior authority; it includes accepting the consequences of one's actions.
violence (external)
The coercion of an external force against a person' will.
Chapter Four: The Moral Conscience
antecedent judgment of conscience
A judgment that precedes an action.
autonomous morality
The belief that conscience is the only moral authority.
certain conscience
Conscience that issues a judgment in certainty that may or may or may not be correct.
concomitant Judgment of conscience
Judgment that accompanies an action as it taking place.
conscience
Conscience is a judgmetn of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed.
consequent judgment of conscience
Moral judgment made after the act.
doubtful conscience
Judgment of conscience that occurs when there is doubt about the good or evil of an act done or omitted. Unless one is required to act immediately, man is required to determine the moral rectitude of an act before acting on a doubtful conscience.
erroneous conscience
A judgment of conscience that does not correspond with what the law or norm requires. The ignorance may be vincible or invincible when the content of the law is unknown. He who acts with invincible ignorance does not sin if he has taken the necessary steps to learn what is permitted.
heteronomous morality
Absolute dependence of conscience on laws.
invincible ignorance
Ignorance that cannot be overcome by ordinary diligence.
lax conscience
A conscience that formulates moral judgments on insufficient grounds. It judges mortal sins as venial and venial sins as no sins at all.
moral rectitude
Correctness of method of judgment.
scrupulous conscience
A conscience that judges an action to be morally evil when in fact it is not.
true conscience
Objectively coincides with application of moral law.
vincible ignorance
Ignorance that can be overcome by ordinatry diligence.
Chapter Five: Ethical Norms and Law
civil law
The law promulgated by civil society.
ecclesiastical law
The law that directs the life and worship of the Church.
eternal law
God's wisdom as manifested in all acts and movements.
human law
Law promulgated by human authority, either civli or eccleiastical. In order to be legitimate, human law must be consistent with the laws of God, conform to the natural law and promote the good of society.
immutability
Not changing.
law (just law)
An ordinance of reason for the common good, corresponding to the divine law and promulgated by one who has care for the community.
moral law
The ethcial norm revealed by God, that imposes obligation on the conscience of each person.
natural law
The part of eternal law that applies to the rational creature.
positive law
Laws created by the proper authority that enjoin specific obligations upon individuals (i.e. the ecclesiastical law requiring abstinence from meat on Fridays in Lent, or a civil law mandating the payment of taxes) and bind in conscience insofar as they conform tot he dictates of the divine and natural laws.
universality
The ability to be applied to everyone.
unjust law
Human law that contradict or fail to conform to divine or natural law. Such laws are never binding on a person's conscience, and must be prudentlly opposed by conscientious objection.
Chapter Six: Morality and Action
acts of humans
Acts that do not involve the intellect and will (e.g. breathing, sneezing).
consequentialism
An ethical system that dtermines good and evil from the consequences that follow an act.
circumstances
The moral conditions that are added to and modify the moral nature of an action. Circumstances can increase or lesson the seriousness of morally evil actions, but they cannot make them morally good.
end (of an action)
The first goal of the intention and the purpose pursued n the action.
findamental option
The free and responsible choice a person makes to orient, in a radical manner, his whole existence in a moral direction toward good or evil.
human acts
Actions that are performed with deliberate and free choice. Actions that are performed nknowingly or unwillingly are not imputable tot he subject who is doing the act. Only properly human actions can be morally good or evil.
intention (of an action)
A movement of the will toward the end, the goal of the activity.
moral relativism
The belief that there are no absolute truths, and that morality changes with each new situation.
object (of an action)
A good toward which the will directs itself. This should not to be confused with the intention that a person has when performing the act.
proportionalism
An ethical system that deduces the moral value of an act from the proportion of good and evil effects.
rationalism
The doctrine that rejects supernatural revelation and makes reason the sole source of knowledge.
situation ethics
An ethical theory that derives good and evil from the circumstances that accompany the acting agent.
Chapter Seven: Sin and Conversion
actual sin
Sins against God committed by the deliberate will of the individual.
attrition
Imperfect contrition resulting from being sorry for sins due to fear of God's punishment.
complete consent
Consent sufficiently deliberate to e a personal choice.
contrition
Sincere sorrow for having offended God and hatred for the sins we have committed, with a firm purpose of sinning no more.
external sin
Sin committed by word or deed.
formal sin
A sin that is freely and deliberately committed. This kind of sin always involves knowledge of the evil of the action that is being committed and freedom to do or to avoid the action.
full knowledge
The knowledge fo the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God's law.
grave matter
A serious violation of the natural law.
habitual sin
The permanent state of culpability, caused by the frequent commission of venial sins.
internal sin
Sin committed by thought or desire.
material sin
An action that is sinful but does not admit culpability because of ignorance.
mortal sin
A grave offense against God that destroys our relationship with him by severing us from his divine love.
numerical distinction
The concrete number of acts that are committed contrary to a virtue or precept.
occasion of sin
A person, place or thing that can lead to temptation.
original sin
The act of disobedienc committed by the first parents at the beginning of human hisotry. Every person is born with its effects on his soul that inclines us toward sin.
secularism (secular humanism)
A philosophy that rejects any reference to God or religion and seeks the improvement of human society through purely human means, i.e. scinece, social organization, and human reason.
sin
An offense against God.
(NB from the Catechism of the Catholic Church
1849 Sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods. It wounds the nature of man and injures human solidarity. It has been defined as "an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law.
sin of commission
A choice to do an evil at-i.e. stealing.
sin of omission
A failure to perform some act required by a positive precept--i.e. missing Mass on Sunday.
specific distinction
The categorization of sins according to the specific virtues they violate.
venial sin
A less serious offense against the love of God that does not deprive the soul of sanctifying grace, but which weakens a person's love for God and neighbor.
Chapter Eight: The Ten Commandments and the Eight Beatitudes
Beatitude
Happiness or blessedness, especially the eternal of heaven, which is described as the vision of God, or entering into God's rest by those whom he make "partakers of the divine nature."
Beatitudes
The teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount on the meaning and the way to true happiness (cf. Mt 5:1-12; Lk 6:20-23)
Commandment
A norm of moral and/or religious action: above all the Ten Commandments given by God to Mose.)
Covenant
A solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being involving mutual commitments and guarantees.
Decalogue
The Ten Commandments given by God to Moses.
Israel
The Jewish people, chosen by God to be his people and named after Israel (Jacob) from whose twelve sons the tribe of Israel descend.
New Covenant
The new "dispensation" or order, established by God in Jesus Christ, to succeed and perfect the Old Covenant.
Chapter Nine: The Social Teachings of the Church
catechist
One who teaches about Jesus Christ -- especially the Incarnation, Passion and glorious Resurrection and Ascension.
common good
The total of social conditions that will allow both tindividuals and groups to reach their human and spiritual fulfillment more easily.
interdependence
Mutual reliance for support or existence.
piety
The virtue that gives one a sense of duty toward one's family,, church, and country.
principle of subsidiarity
The principle that states that a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in the case of need and help to coordinate its activity with the activities fo the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.
poverty
The condition of want experienced by those whoa re poor - whom Christ called blessed, and for whom he had a special love. Poverty of spirit signifies detachment fros worldly things and voluntary humility.
racism
Unjust discrimination on the basis of a person's race. It is a violation of human dignity, and a sin against justice.
social justice
The virtue that requires from each person all that is necessary for the common good.
solidarity
The virtue that requires active concern and love for the common good.