Moral Theology Exam 1

Moral Theology Exam 1 (1) Christian Anthropology: What are some important elements of an authentically Christian anthropology? How are these elements relevant to giving a proper account of the moral life? In your answer please discuss 5 distinct elements of Christian anthropology we covered in class and explain how they each relate to the moral life (we covered 11 elements in class) - Christian anthropology is the study of man from the Christian perspective. The study of this is important so that man may know himself and how he ought or ought not act in accordance with his nature. 1) God Created Man: God is man's designer and therefore knows what is good and bad for him. When we sin, we are attempting to tell God that we know better than him. 2) Man's Special Relationship to the rest of Creation: Man was placed by God at the summit of creation as the only creature who can know God and the steward of creation. We must therefore not abuse creation but rather man's vocation is to develop creation and present it back to God. 3) Man was made in the image of God: All creatures have a certain likeness to God. However, only man was made in God's image, or reproduction. This is understood in two ways: Firstly by our will and intellect as pointed out by Aquinas and Augustine; secondly as pointed out by JPII in Theology of the Body by our capacity for union as a representation of the Trinity. Since we are created Imago Dei, man is meant to live in such a way that honors his creation and improves his image, which was damaged by original sin, in order to be like God. 4) Man is in a fallen condition: We have inherited original sin because of what our first parents did. Consequences of this include 1) Loss of original holiness, 2) Loss of original justice, 3) Disordered passions, 4) Weakened will, 5) Concupiscence, 6) Darkened intellect, 7) subjection to the dominion of the devil, 8) Ultimately, suffering and death. Our understanding of these consequences is that man was still created good but is injured. Unlike Luther and Calvin, we do not believe that human nature is destroyed. Neither do we believe that man is unaffected by the fall as the pelagianists do. 5) Jesus Christ is the perfect image of God and therefore our model and redeemer: We are meant to follow Christ's teachings and conform ourselves to them since Jesus shows us how to restore our image. Christ, the final Adam, by his revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his most high calling clear. (2) Present and Explain the main points of Thomas Aquinas' morality of happiness ( explain briefly his answers to the four articles from the Summa theologiae I-II: q. 1, a. 7 ("Whether all men have the same last end"), q. 1, a. 8 ("Whether other creatures concur in the last end?"), q. 2, a. 8 ("Whether any created good constitutes man's happiness?"), and q. 3, a. 8 ("Whether man's happiness consists in the vision of the divine essence?"). - In Q1A7, Aquinas says that all men desire happiness. However, not all men agree on what will bring them happiness. Thus, happiness is objective, but the means to happiness are subjective. In answering Q1A8, Aquinas says that there are two ways that we can answer this question either by considering the end as an end in itself or as the end in the acquisition of the end. When speaking of the end as a thing, all things have their end in God and therefore all things concur in God. When speaking of the end as the acquisition of the end, only man can know and love God so therefore only man can acquire happiness in God as his last end. In answering Q2A8, Aquinas says that it is impossible for any created good can make man happy for even when things are acquired, there still remains something for man to desire and happiness does not exist when there still remains something to be desired. Complete happiness satisfies the will, this is in God. In answering Q3A8, Aquinas points out that man cannot be happy while there still remains something to seek with his intellect. Therefore, happiness can only be in the vision of the Divine Essence where God is known by man. In perfect happiness, the intellect is satisfied. (2) Present and explain the main points of Kant's morality of obligation (explain in a coherent and cohesive manner the 5 distinct points covered in class: anti-teleological, categorical imperative, act for sake of duty alone, autonomous freedom, and postulates of freedom, God, and immortality). - Immanuel Kant says that the moral life is anti-teleological, that is, acting morally in life cannot benefit man, nor should man act morally in order to be happy because this is selfish and immoral. His categorical imperative for living the moral life said: "Always act in such a way that the maxim describing your action can be applied everywhere to all people, without exception." His third point is that man should always act for the sake of duty along, meaning that one can never act selfishly or to make himself happy, for this is immoral. Fourthly, he believed that freedom is an efficient cause, that is, the rules that man follows in order to live a moral life come from freedom. This is a concept of autonomy. Fifthly, all of these principles hold, as Kant says, as long as God, freedom, and immortality exist. (2) Compare/contrast the two accounts of Aquinas and Kant's moralities - The fundamental difference between the two thinkers resides in how the reward or punishment is related to the person. For Aquinas, in living the moral life, man is perfected and achieves his happiness. Thus the reward in intrinsic. Likewise, if man does not live the moral lie his punishment is intrinsic. Kant however, believed that the reward or punishment is extrinsic to you. For example, if one lives a virtuous life, he is not happy in life for he does not work for his self. Then, an extrinsic reward is tacked on. It is not a part of him. (3) JPII's Encyclical Veritatis Splendor and the Story of the Rich Young Man: In Chapter 1 of the encyclical Veritatis Splendor, St. John Paul II draws upon the encounter between Jesus and the rich young man recounted in Matthew 19:16-22 to develop 7 basic principles about the moral life from a Christian perspective. Please discuss each of these points we discussed in class (a) by giving the particular line (or part of a line) quoted