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other creatures. Natural laws are rules

derived from the nature that guides the
LESSON 8: NORMS OF MORALITY
human life.

Definition of Norms of Morality

Two norms of Morality: ❖ Are the standards that indicate the
➢ The eternal law of God rightfulness or wrongfulness, the goodness
➢ The human reason in the context of or evilness, the value or disvalue of a thing
conscience. (R. Agapay)
❖ The criteria of judgment about the kind of
The Eternal Law is the ultimate norm of morality person we ought to be and the kind of
while conscience (is) the proximate norm of morality. actions we ought to perform (R.M. Gula,
In strict analysis, we can say there are not two 1981
norms but one: for conscience is the judgment of Contribution of Moral Laws
human reason recognizing and applying the eternal
law in individual human acts. ❖ They provide the objective criteria for our
own conscience to judge what is morally
Definition of Law good or evil.
❖ Law is an ordinance of something put into ❖ They help our moral development,
order by reason, for the sake of the especially in the formation of our
common good. conscience.
❖ Made by someone who has the authority to ❖ They offer the needed moral stability in our
govern that community and promulgated. lives 
❖ Is a rule of conduct or action established by ❖ They challenge us to stretch for an ideal
custom or laid down and forced by the beyond our limited experience, and correct
governing authority our moral misconceptions in the process.
CFC 849
Law orders and directs human acts towards their
end. Law flows from reasonable will: From the Classification of laws
illumined understanding of the will of an end, ➢ According to immediate author (Divine laws
promulgated for the common good. Law is made ; Human laws)
known to those who are bound by it. Law is not ➢ According to duration (Temporal laws:
meant to impose hardships or needless restriction. Eternal laws)
True law tends to make men good, liberates men ➢ According to manner of promulgation
from perverse and mistaken judgements leads them (Natural law ; Positive law)
to their ultimate end. ➢ According as they prescribe or forbid an act
(Affirmative laws: Negative laws) 
➢ According to effect of violation (Moral ;
Norms of Morality Penal; Mixed)
❖ Natural Law Is recognized by all men
regardless of creed, race, culture, or Classes of Law
historical circumstance (Agapay, 1991).
❖ It is a moral obligation that arises from
human nature, compelling an individual to Eternal law
be true to his/her nature as tao.
❖ Is necessary because it indicates the ✓ God’s eternal plan and providence for
difference between human beings and creation
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✓ Eternal law applies to all creatures and ❖ Fundamental Expression of Natural Law
directs them in harmony with their nature (Do good, avoid evil).
❖ The plan of divine wisdom as directing ❖ It refers to the human participation in God’s
all acts and movements. (st. Thomas Eternal Law. Man knows naturally, by the
Aquinas) light of his understanding, that there are
❖ The universal law whereby God directs some things evil in themselves, and some
and governs the universe and the ways things which are necessarily good.
of the human community according to ❖ Natural Law involves a recognition of the
His plan of wisdom and love. objective nature of the moral order,
grounded in God’s providence, and which is
Properties of Eternal Law
accessible to human understanding and
✓ Eternal and unchangeable obedience through the use of reason.
✓ Absolutely universal
Properties of Natural Law
Examples: Physical laws such as the laws of
a. It is universal. Natural law is constitutive
cohesion, gravity, inertia, etc.; growth of plants,
element of human nature. Therefore, it is
animals follow the guidance of instinct; earth
true wherever human nature manifests
turns upon its axis.
itself. All humans are equal because of
a. Eternal and unchangeable: existed from shared human nature. It binds every man at
all eternity all times and in all places
b. Absolutely universal: rules all things and b. It is immutable or unchangeable. Natural
actions. There is no limit to the breadth law is human nature. It is immutable
of its application to corporeal and because human’s essential nature can
spiritual, to rational and irrational never be lost as long as human is human.
creatures There is a constant in human nature which
remains throughout all historical and
As a bodily being cultural change.
Man acts in accordance with physical laws c. It is Obligatory and Indispensable. Natural
law is human nature, calling for itself to be
In matters that lie under man’s free control actualized, to “live” according to its basic
Man may refuse the direction of eternal law and essential demands. Natural law is
identical to God’s will. No human authority
Natural law may give a dispensation from
d. It is Recognizable. It is imprinted in the
That moral order (a directive, ordering man towards
human nature and human has the light of
ultimate end)
reason to know it. It is knowable by all
Which arises from the nature of man and creation persons using their critical reason.
and which can be recognized by man’s reason.
Positive Law
It is also divine natural law because its origin is
Laws created by human beings which can enjoin
ultimately traced back to the will of God.
specific obligations upon individuals.
❖ The rational creature’s participation in the
Divine Positive Law | Ecclesiastical Positive Law |
eternal law. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Civil Positive Law
❖ It is the Eternal Law as known to man by his
reason. ✓ Divine positive law – laws legislated by God
❖ There is a way human life should be lived found in the Bible
and this “should-ness” is grasped by
reason.
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✓ Ecclesiastical Positive law – laws Christ – or even to the status of son and heir
emanating from the legislative power of the (CCC 1972).
Church. They are principally found in the
Code of Canon law
B. Conscience
✓ Civil Positive law – laws legislated by a
legitimate government. Deep within his conscience human discovers a
law which he has not laid upon himself but which he
Human law
must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to
➢ Laws enacted by church or state do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart
➢ Ecclesiastical law at the right moment. For human has in his heart a law
➢ Civil law inscribed by God. His conscience is human’s most
secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with
A human law derives its binding force from natural
God whose voice echoes in his depths. (Gaudium et
law and ultimately from eternal law A concrete and
Spes, 16)
determinate application of natural law
Conscience is derived from the Latin phrase
Properties of Human Law
cum alia scientia which means the individual man’s
➢ Enforceable application of knowledge or “acting with knowledge.”
▪ Has the coercive power of the law The connecting link between law and individual acts.
➢ Concerned with external conduct only An act of the practical judgment of reason deciding
▪ External compliance with the law upon an individual’s actions as good and to be
suffices to secure the social order performed or as evil and to be avoided.
and the common good.
is present at the heart of the person, enjoins
➢ Limited to particular groups
him at the appropriate moment to do good
▪ Human laws oblige only those who
and to avoid evil
are members of the community for
is a judgment of reason whereby the person
which the laws are enacted.
recognizes the moral quality of a concrete
➢ Historically conditioned
act that:
▪ Human laws change as societies
• he is going to perform
and civilizations change
• is in the process of performing
➢ Has presumptive obligatory force
• has already completed
▪ Presumption favors the duty to
obey the law Practical judgment of reason upon an individual act
As good to be performed or evil to be avoided
Evangelical or New Law
Various Notions about Conscience
The Law of the Spirit

❖ The New law is called a law of love because • Feeling of guilt, worry, dissatisfaction,
it makes us act out of love infused by the restlessness or a feeling of “hiya” when they
Holy Spirit, rather than from fear; a law of do something wrong.
grace, because it confers the strength of • Sincerity: to be “true to one’s self”: “I can do
grace to act, by means of faith and the anything as long as it does not hurt
sacraments; a law of freedom, because it anybody”
sets us free from the ritual and juridical • What “authorities” tell them to do: the laws
observances of the Old Law, inclines us to of the government, the Church, the parents,
act spontaneously by the prompting of the “barkada.”
charity, and finally, lets us pass from the
condition of a servant to that of a friend of
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Synderesis status, relations, family background,
educational attainment, health and socio-
➢ Acquired equipment of moral principles
economic situation of the person involved in
➢ Intuitive knowledge of right and wrong
the act.
(dictate of one’s conscience)
b. What refers to the act itself, to the quality
➢ The starting point of the reasoning process
and quantity of the results of such act. c.
which ends in the judgment of conscience
Where refers to the circumstances of place
➢ When we are confronted with possible
where the act is committed.
course of action, we compare it mentally
c. With whom refers to the companion or
with moral principles and arrive at a
accomplices in an act performed. These
conclusion whether the act is good or bad
include the status and number of the
Basic concept of conscience persons involved.
d. Why refers to the motive of the doer.
1. Moral judgment that discerns what is right e. How refers to the manner in which the act
and wrong. is made possible.
2. Moral obligation or command to do good f. When refers to the time when the act was
and avoid evil performed.
Determinants of Morality

1. The Object of Human Act is the natural

purpose accomplished by the act. Human LESSON 9: SIN
reason can see that some acts are good
because their natural purpose is good, what
they accomplish is good and that other acts Definition of Sin Sin
are evil because their natural purpose is
is an offense against reason, truth, and
evil, what they accomplish is evil. For
right conscience. It is an utterance, a deed, or a
example, giving alms to the poor is always
desire contrary to the eternal law. It is an offense
a good object of human act, to steal is
against God; saying NO to God, to love, to
always a bad object for a human act.
personal growth, and to others. It is evil
2. The Motive of Human Act. The motive of an
intentionally committed. It is a bad free human
act is the purpose which the doer wishes to
decision.
achieve by such action. It is what gives
direction and motivation to an act. It comes Concept of Sin in the Old Testament
first in the mind as intention, occurs last in
Sin is a transgression of God’s law and will
the action as its culmination or fulfillment.
and rejection of His [Link] is “missing the mark”
Without a motive, an act is meaningless
(failure to keep the covenant). Sin is a
and considered an accident.
disobedience against the Decalogue of God (Dt.
3. Circumstances of Human Act can help
28:15-68). Sin is considered as forgetfulness of
determine its moral character. An act is an
God, a turning away from Him, and as
event. It happens in a definite time and
ingratitude (Num 1-3, Ex. 16:5a, Is1:2-4)
place. It is accompanied by certain
elements that contribute to the nature and 3 Main Conceptions of Sin
accountability of such act. Morality takes
into account the circumstances surrounding ➢ Sin is a defilement or stain, the sense
an act. These circumstances are: of being unclean before the face of
a. Who refers primarily to the doer of an act. God.
At times, it also refers to the receiver of the
act. This circumstance includes the age,
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➢ Sin is a crime, an internal violation of CLASSIFICATIONS OF SIN
Yahweh’s covenant relationship (Is
Sins are classified into three:
59:2-8).
➢ Sin is a personal rejection of a love 1. Personal Sin – is a sin committed by the
relationship individual person, but always in relation to
others and the community (e.g. lying,
Concept of Sin in the New Testament cheating, backbiting, stealing, etc.).
Sin is an ungrateful desertion of the Lord 2. Social Sin – is a sin which affects other
(Lk. 15:11-32). Sin is an antithesis of charity, an people and the whole community. They are
offense against love (Luke 7:47). Sin is a desecration negative attitude and acts or failures to act
of a person’s own body because his/her body which that are common to a community.
is the temple of the Holy Spirit is destroyed by 3. Structural sin - refers to social groups,
immorality. Sin is an utterance, a deed (commission institutions, organizations or economic
or omission) or a desire contrary to the eternal law. systems that produce injustice, harm and
Sin is to love oneself inordinately, not open to God ultimately suffering (e.g. graft and
and to one’s fellowmen. Sin is lawlessness and corruption, jobless, homeless, crimes etc.)
unrighteousness. Besides the personal sin of individuals (such as
Lack of belief is the most radical sin: “Every thoughts and desires of lust and jealousy), and
sin will be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the interpersonal sins corrupting relationships (e.g.,
Spirit will not be forgiven (Mt. 12:31) gossip, adultery), there are societal sins located in
the social structures, situations and groups which
We are still responsible for sins committed by oppress persons, violate their human dignity, stifle
others: freedom and foster inequality
1. when we cooperate in them by participating GRAVITY/DEGREE OF SIN
directly and voluntarily with them;
2. ordering, advising, praising, or approving 1. Mortal sin (sin unto death) - is a grievous
them; offense against the law of God by which we
3. not disclosing or not hindering them when seriously fail in our duties towards God,
we have an obligation to do so; towards our neighbor, or towards
4. protecting evildoers ourselves. It kills our basic love relationship
with God and others. It is the greatest of all
Sins give rise to social situations and institutions evil.
that are contrary to the divine goodness. “Structures
of sin” are the expression and effect of personal sins. For a sin to be "MORTAL”, it must be a grave
Personal sins constitute a “social sin” By committing matter; there must be sufficient knowledge
“personal or private sins” we dirty & stain the society and full consent.
which should be clean 2. Venial sin - is a lesser transgression of the
INTERNAL SINS divine Law, by which we slightly fail in some
duty towards God, towards our neighbor, or
Internal sins are: Mental Complacency, Evil towards ourselves. It does not involve our
Desire, Sinful Joy and Sinful Regret delectatio fundamental core freedom but undermines
morosa, i.e. the pleasure taken in a sinful thought or and weakens our love relationship with God
imagination even without desiring it; and with others
gaudium, i.e. dwelling with complacency on sins EFFECTS OF SIN
already committed; and
It has disastrous effects in human life, but the
desiderium, i.e. the desire for what is sinful. world often makes sinful deeds seem very attractive.
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1. Sin alienates us from God, from other • Respect for the dignity of man,
people and from ourselves.
• Love of truth,
2. Sin brings with it shame and
shamelessness (Rm.6:21; Prov.21:29). • Justice,
3. Sin robs the body and soul of strength
(Ps.38:4). 4. Sin destroys reputation, honor • Peace,
and fame (Prov.10:7; Sir.10:28-29). • Respect for property,
4. Sin is a kind of sickness that damages the
personality of the sinner. Sin is addictive. • Family solidarity,

THE SEVEN CAPITAL SINS • Respect for life,

They are called capital because they are the sources • Freedom,
from which all other sins take their rise or beginning: • Work
1. Pride - excessive love for oneself. • are the truths which unite men as rational
2. Avarice - inordinate love of worldly goods. creatures who are capable of seeking
3. Lust - inordinate sexual desires proximate and ultimate purposes in life,
4. Anger - destructive aggressiveness, angry which not in isolation from but in harmony
feelings towards others with others.
5. Envy – sorrow over another’s good fortune
or success These are the values which bind man to
6. Gluttony - unregulated love for food his creator as well as to his fellowman.
7. Sloth – laziness in keeping the faith,
neglecting to do one’s duty

Here are some ways that we can avoid falling into

it and to overcome sin:

1. Put God above everything else.

2. Love others the way we love ourselves.
3. Keep away from occasions of sin.
4. Take part in the Eucharist on Sundays and
other holy days.
5. Receive the sacraments frequently. 6. Pray
often.

LESSON 10: The Decalogue:

The Law of God’s Love

TEN COMMANDMENTS

Universality of the Commandments

• The fundamental moral law explicitly

revealed by God in the ten commandments “Ten Words” or “The Ten Commandments”
is universal to all peoples, regardless of an
individual’s profession of faith. • The gift of God Himself and His holy will.
In making His will known, God reveals
• Love, Himself to His people.
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• Prescribed love towards God and taught 2. You shall not take the name of the Lord your
justice towards neighbor. God in vain.

• The way of life in which to enter into Ex. 20:7 | Deut. 5:11
friendship with God.
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day.
• Thus through the Decalogue, God
Ex. 20:8 | Deut. 5:12
prepared human to become his friend and
to live in harmony with his neighbor. 4. Honor your father and mother.
CFC, 925 The Basic Function of the Ten Ex. 20:12 | Deut. 5:16
Commandments
5. You shall not kill.
• The Ten Commandments set out
systematically what the love of God and Ex. 20:13 | Deut. 5:17
love of neighbor demand of us. 6. You shall not commit adultery.
• The first three Commandments concern Ex. 20:14 | Deut. 5:18
our duties towards God, the last seven our
duties toward our neighbor. 7. You shall not steal.

• CFC, 927 The Preamble of the Ten Ex. 20:15 | Deut. 5:19
Commandments 8. You shall not bear false witness against your
• “I am the Lord your God who brought neighbor.
you out of the land of Egypt, that place Ex. 20:16 | Deut. 5:20
of slavery.”
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
• This sounds the proper note for all the
Commandments: they are truly liberating! Ex. 20:17 | Deut. 5:21

TEN COMMANDMENTS 10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not Ex. 20:17| Deut. 5:21
have other gods besides me.
The 10 commandments are needed to provide:
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord
your God in vain. 1. credible and durable moral norms for
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day. everyday life;
4. Honor your father and mother.
2. a pattern and structure for living according
5. You shall not kill.
to Christ’s commandment to love God and
6. You shall not commit adultery.
neighbor; and
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against 3. a universally accessible source for relating
your neighbor. to non-Christians in moral matters.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

1. I am the Lord your God: you shall not

have other gods besides me.

Ex. 20:2-3 | Deut. 5:6-7

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T E MORAL LAW NIVERSAL OSSI LE SOME VIRT ES

TEN TR T VAL ES VIOLATIONS OF T E OO MORAL
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T E MORAL LAW NIVERSAL OSSI LE SOME VIRT ES

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T E MORAL LAW NIVERSAL OSSI LE SOME VIRT ES

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T E MORAL LAW NIVERSAL OSSI LE SOME VIRT ES

Who is God?
TEN TR T VAL ES VIOLATIONS OF T E OO MORAL
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search for him. Had we not somehow experienced
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SI S - Gaudium et Spes, 41
I S
I NS
S - S “God is the ultimate goal of human. Only God
meets the deepest longings of the human heart,
which is never fully satisfied by what this world has
to offer.”
T E MORAL LAW NIVERSAL OSSI LE SOME VIRT ES Only human person has the dignity and is created
TEN TR T VAL ES VIOLATIONS OF T E OO MORAL
COMMAN MENTS CONTAINE IN T E MORAL LAW AT A ITS TO E for relationship – COMMITMENT,
COMMN MENT OME AN EVELO E
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.YS S S ING S I • Despite the:
N N S Y Y N IS S - N
SI Y ING N N SS
N IG S S I S I S S – rapid human progress
G S
– enormous knowledge that persons have
– vast advances in practically all areas of
human endeavor
– developments of science

“Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

THE DIGNITY OF MAN
It means nothing can meet the deepest longing of
• Man is capable of seeking and upholding the human heart except God, the goal and meaning
the truths and values contained in them. of human existence.
• It is precisely because man’s last end is • God = is the highest, most perfect,
God and because he bears likeness to most comprehensive, absolute good.
God as a spiritual being, and because he
is able to know and love God, that man • John 15: 10-14
derives his dignity. “If you keep my commandments you will live in my
love . . .

You are my friends if you do what I command you.”

Attributes of God:

• Almighty = THE UNCREATED REALITY;

all-powerful

• All-knowing = knows everything

• All-loving =He is Love Himself

• Eternal = He lives eternally, source of

Life, the Master of life
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• Immanent and transcendent = most
present with His creation yet totally
beyond us

Foundation of moral life

• To freely accept the sovereignty of God

• To live the demands of God’s love

INTEGRATION:

The real desecration of the true worship of God is

the desecration of his image in human beings. God
is worshipped when the human person is respected
and loved.