Sin and Morality:

1
Chapter 6

• Sin and Morality
• Bringing Our Dark Side into the Light

2
In This Chapter

• Sin is the Harming or Breaking of Relationships
• Sin in Christian Tradition
• Accepting Our Sinfulness
• Has Sin Changed?
• A New Look at an Old Nemesis
• Conclusion
• The Mystery of Sin and Forgiveness

3
Breaking Relationships

• Sin
• When people act contrary to their conscience and
  purposely choose to do wrong
• Offense against reason and truth
• Failing to love God and others
• Offense against God
• Turns our hearts away from God
• Sin results in breaking relationships
• Causes alienation and separation

4
Scripture and Sin

• Scriptural images of sin
• Missing the mark
• Hardness of heart
• Missing the Mark
• Originally to sin meant to miss the mark
  similar to an arrow missing a target
• Failing to love is missing the mark (God) in our
  lives
• Proverbs 834-36
• Acting out of motives other than love
• Hardness of Heart
• Image describing how we close ourselves off to
  others with our sins
• Ezekiel 3625-26
• Sin has as much to do with our attitude as it has
  to do with our actions

5
Christ Conquers Sin

• Sin is an important concept for us as Christians,
  but it is not the most important
• Christs victory over sin
• Resurrection, celebrated everyday through the
  Eucharist
• Resurrection conquering sin and death
• Continues through our choosing goodness over evil
• We participate and have a responsibility to
  increase goodness in our world

6
Original Sin Inclination

• Original Sin
• traces back humanitys ability and desire to sin
  (choose not God) back to Adam and Eve
• the lack in humans of the original holiness and
  justice that the first humans had, resulting in
  concupiscence
• inherited tendency within all humans to be
  attracted to evil and to choose sin over virtuous
  living
• We are inclined to choose sins in our lives
• Temptations, etc.

7
Types of Sin

• Key Terms
• Venial sin
• An action that turns us away from God in small
  degrees
• Mortal sin
• An action so destructive that it mortally wounds
  our relationship with God complete rejection of
  God
• Sin of Omission
• Not doing an action that is called for
• Sin of Commission
• Purposely doing an action that is harmful to
  oneself or another
• Occasions of Sin
• Situations in which a person is likely to sin

8
Mortal Sin

• Complete rejection of God
• Three Conditions
• Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter
  and which also committed with full knowledge and
  deliberate consent
• Grave Matter
• Serious damage
• Full Knowledge
• Knowing that the act is wrong
• Deliberate Consent
• Freely choosing the action
• Forgiven through the Sacrament of Reconciliation

9
Venial Sin

• Weakens our relationship with God
• Lesser sins
• Not as serious as Mortal Sins
• Everyday sins
• Various actions done throughout the day that we
  know are wrong, but do not result in the same
  level of seriousness as Mortal Sins
• Forgiven through the Eucharist

10
A New Look

• Recent teaching regarding sin
• Not just about concrete actions
• Gospel-based perspective
• Sin is understood in the context of relationships
• Do we foster/develop positive, life-giving
  relationships?
• Sin turns us away from God, by means of our
  treatment of others
• Sin has a social dimension
• Does not just impact the individuals life

11
5 Dimensions

• 5 Dimensions of the Gospel based perspective
• Sin and relationships
• Impact of decisions on our relationships with God
  and others
• Sin and apathy
• An attitude of not getting involved, not caring,
  not acting when action is called for
• Sin and life patterns
• Hardness of heart repeated actions closing us
  off from God and others
• Sin and our view of God
• Last Judgment God is in our midst in our
  brothers and sisters
• Sin and our society
• Various isms part of our society
• Sexism, racism, etc

12
Social Sin

• Social Sin
• Recognition of the social dimension of sin, both
  in its causes and its effects
• Sinful Social Structures
• Ways societies are structured resulting in unjust
  distribution of power, benefits, and privileges
• Church as counter cultural
• At times, Church teaching opposes what society
  says is acceptable
• must individually follow our well-formed
  consciences

13
Chapter 7

• Law and Principles
• Guidance for the Journey

14
In This Chapter

• Characteristics of Law
• Natural Law
• A Philosophical Foundation for Moral Principles
• The Biblical Foundation for Moral Laws and
  Principles
• Jesus and Law
• Conclusion
• Law, Principles, and Christian Morality

15
Necessity of Law

• Chaos
• A term describing disorder leading to destruction
• Society without laws causes chaos
• No protection of personal rights or freedom
• Lack of a direction or purpose
• Laws are needed to ensure order
• Standards of conduct

16
Common Good

• Laws are designed to help citizens live together
  in positive ways
• Common Good
• the sum total of social conditions which allow
  people to reach their fulfillment more fully
  and more easily
• Three Characteristics of the Common Good
• Respect for the person
• Social well-being and development of the group
  itself
• Peace
• Christian Context
• Building the City of God
• St. Augustines image

17
Characteristics of Laws

• 5 Characteristics of Law
• Provide the basis for good order
• Protect the welfare and rights of individuals
• Identify minimum requirements
• Typically stated in negative terms
• Reveal what is considered important

18
Laws and Morality

• Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent
  authority for the sake of the common good CCC
  1951
• Living in society necessitates that we follow the
  laws of the land to ensure peace and order
• Moral Principles
• Fundamental statements about right and wrong
• Used by Christians in following civil laws
• Two Sources of Christian Morality
• Sacred Scripture
• Natural Moral Law

19
Natural Law

• Natural Law
• Moral principles arrived at through rational
  investigation of human nature
• Internal, fundamental law that identifies what it
  means to be human
• Written on our hearts
• Created imago Dei means that God has infused us
  with his law in our hearts
• Three steps to following Natural Law
• Examine nature
• Use reasoning to arrive at general principles
• Apply these principles to specific situations

20
Natural Law (cont)

• Three Elements of Natural Law
• Be yourself
• The best possible person that you can be
• Act naturally
• The way God intended you to be
• Be true to human nature
• Sharing in Gods life with the rest of creation
• How should I act?
• Question necessary for attempting to follow
  Natural Law in ones life

21
Reason Morality

• Fides et Ratio
• Faith and Reason
• Pope John Paul IIs encyclical about the
  connection between faith and reason
• Reason is necessary to understand and grow in
  faith
• Cannot be afraid to question must remain open
  and positive concerning faith
• Faith is necessary as a support to reason
• Without faith, reason would be useless

22
Rational Approach to Morality

• From its early days, the Church has been
  influenced by Greek philosophy
• Importance of reason
• Human Reason
• How people search for the truth in their lives
• Common universal truths
• Using Natural Law involves a top-down approach
  to problem-solving
• Reasoning from general to specific from abstract
  to concrete

23
Cautions and Clarifications

• Natural Law must be used thoughtfully in our
  lives
• Nature as concrete
• Nature as dynamic
• Nature is constantly changing
• In making decisions, we rely on accepted concepts
  and beliefs and apply them to current situations
• Human beings are complex
• Feelings and emotions are part of our decision
  making
• Specificity breeds exceptions
• As principles become more specific, there are
  more exceptions to them

24
Biblical Foundation

• Bible as a foundation for moral laws and
  principles
• Reinforces natural law
• God as the author of Natural Law and the
  Scriptures

25
Old Testament

• Old Testament focus on the Law
• Allowing the people to follow God in their lives
• Written not just on stone tablets but on peoples
  hearts
• Covenant
• In the ancient Middle East, an agreement between
  two parties. Israelites applied the concept to
  their relationship as a people with their God.
• Ten Commandments
• Cornerstone of the covenant
• Ways to help us live in keeping with our nature
• Prophetic Message
• Conversion of heart more important than strict
  observance

26
Jesus and Law

• Jesus did not come to replace the law
• Matthew 5 17-18
• Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and the
  prophets
• Shows us how we can live out the Law in our lives
• Focus on spirit not letter