David Bohr, author of Catholic Moral Tradition, gives the reader an outline and foundation as to what this Catholic moral tradition is and the function it has within the Catholic Church. Bohr defines the moral tradition as one being challenged “to put into the practice the intimate communion of life and love we share with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through faith and baptism.” In simpler terms, it allows one to apply the teachings of the Triune God to their life on Earth. Throughout history, theologians have developed various arguments and doctrines that are now implemented in to the Catholic moral tradition. One that we can call to mind is Augustine of Hippo. Augustine explores the whole notion of what happiness is and how one can live a happy life. We can see that Augustine’s teachings are the cornerstone of the Catholic moral tradition; more specifically seen in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops document on morality.
Bohr goes into
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For a moral act to be considered plausible, there are three foundations that are considered. The first being the objective act, which involves what the person is doing and their purpose. Objective acts are a key component for one to be able to receive love, which is seen in the arguments made by Augustine. The next credential is the subjective goal, which poses the question, why one is performing the act. The Catholic moral tradition says that love is not entirely based off the subjective aspect of the moral, but is still needed. The third and final element that a moral act consists of is the situation within the act. Some acts on the other hand do not require all three fundamentals because evil by default (i.e. murder). We can see that these teachings in the Catholic moral tradition are also present in Augustine’s, hence making his teachings a point of
St. Augustine’s Confessions is written through the Christian perspective of religion. Christianity is founded on the idea that there is one God who oversees all actions. Though all actions are observed by a higher power, God instills in us a free will. As Christians we are free to make our own decisions whether right or wrong. In his Biography St Augustine expresses that he feels like a sinner. He struggles with the fact that he is a thrill seeker. He loves to watch blood sports. He watches gladiators fight to the death and commit murder. Not only does he watch, but he enjoys observing these acts. He is also expressing his sins in his biography when he writes about stealing, which is another sin. He steals pears for fun. St Augustine doesn’t even eat the pears he steals, but throws them to the pigs to eat. Through the story St Augustine struggles interna...
Next, Augustine details what sin and iniquity is noting that those who sin is also does immoral behavior and that sin is also
Christian faith adamantly states that the belief in one God will set you on the path to inner peace and true happiness. Christians, Ancius Boethius and Susan C. Stark, agree that the acceptance of God and his teachings is the only way to achieve peace and happiness. Boethius writes about his own wavering path to happiness in The Consolations of Philosophy. Lady philosophy, like Jesus, teaches Boethius what the true “goods” of the world are, that God has complete control and knowledge, evil has no real substance and ultimately, that through God, he can attain true happiness. Susan C. stark parallels these teachings in her article, Where peace comes from. The many interrelating ideas of Boethius and Stark’s works shed light on the Christian values, teaching and essentially, the path to happiness.
Morality is based on the categorical imperative, or the act of carrying out principles that can be universally rightly applied. Moral philosophy, according to Kant, is finding the base principle of a moral metaphysics. Ultimately, Kant’s foundational moral rests on moral agreement or
This is ultimately what is so shockingly egalitarian about Augustine’s Christianity in contrast to the thought of the ancients. The Supreme Good—eternal life—is accessible to both the simple and the sophisticated. One may either contemplate the duality of the universe and figure out where each aspect of creation fits into the scheme, or one may bypass the attempt to understand the temporal world in relation to heaven, but so long as one finally accepts faith and, through it, becomes obedient to God while discarding self-will, the extent to which one used reason in his life is irrelevant. Reason, except insofar as it is necessary in a basic sense for man to use it to accept faith to and differentiate himself from beasts, is not necessary for eternal life. What is necessary is the choice to stop exercising the self-will—to stop making choices.
Happiness plays an important and necessary role in the lives of people around the world. In America, happiness has been engrained in our national consciousness since Thomas Jefferson penned these famous words in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson). Since then, Americans have been engaged in that act: pursuing happiness. The problem however, as Ray Bradbury demonstrates in his novel Fahrenheit 451, is that those things which make us happy initially may eventually lead to our downfall. By examining Guy Montag, the protagonist in Fahrenheit 451, and the world he lives in we can gain valuable insights to direct us in our own pursuit of happiness. From Montag and other characters we will learn how physical, emotional, and spiritual happiness can drastically affect our lives. We must ask ourselves what our lives, words, and actions are worth. We should hope that our words are not meaningless, “as wind in dried grass” (Eliot).
The philosopher Aristotle once wrote, “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.” This famous quote compels people to question the significance of their joy, and whether it truly represents purposeful lives they want to live. Ray Bradbury, a contemporary author, also tackles this question in his book, Fahrenheit 451, which deals heavily with society's view of happiness in the future. Through several main characters, Bradbury portrays the two branches of happiness: one as a lifeless path, heading nowhere, seeking no worry, while the other embraces pure human experience intertwined together to reveal truth and knowledge.
In Augustine's Confessions, the early church father puts forth a complex theodicy in which he declares evil to be nonexistent. Such a leap may seem to be illogical, but this idea stems from the understanding of what is substance and what is not. According to Augustine, the duality of good and evil is false, because anything that is good is substance and what humans think of as evil is simply the absence of the good (Confessions, 126). Vices for example, are just the display of the absence of the good. Pride is the absence of humility, unrighteous anger the absence of temperance, and so on. This idea is evident as he writes that the ability to be corrupted is what makes something good, not i...
In this paper I will look at Thomas Aquinas’ discussion from the Summa Contra Gentiles Book III Chapters 27 to 37 examining the pursuit of happiness and the ultimate source of happiness. I will first discuss the various kinds of happiness which Aquinas describes in the Contra Gentiles and how they may appear at first sight to satisfy the definition of happiness. I will then look at why he refutes these pursuits as the true source of happiness. Secondly, I will look at how the knowledge of God, to Aquinas is the ultimate source of happiness for man even though a full understanding is unattainable in this life. I will then defend this argument which I feel supports that happiness is linked to God and why I believe it is a valid argument.
It therefore appears evident that God must be the root of all evil, as He created all things. However, Augustine delves deeper in search for a true answer. This paper will follow ...
...unconditional love for God. Once Augustine converts, he attains the purest form of love and it is solely reserved for God.
Bowman, James. "The Pursuit of Happiness." The American Spectator. N.p., Sept. 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2014.
..., the closer he was really moving toward God. He began to realize that God is all good, so nothing he creates will be of evil. “God does not create evil but it is of the world” (Augustine 230-31). Once he took responsibility for his personal life and spiritual walk, Augustine began to uncover the truths to his life. He reveals one must take responsibility for their actions and confess to develop a stronger connection with God. He then comprehends; God allows bad things to happen in your life to show you that you need him. Evil is not a lesser good, but it is a reflection of ones moral well-being. In order for one’s well being to be saved one must confess their sins to Christ.
Moral Theology is a branch of theology, the science of God and Devine things. It is also considered as the study of the ‘beginning and the end of a man’s moral life’ and essentially the analysis of how one should act. As a Roman Catholic life is marked by interior devotion to God and following the Ten Commandments. Theology, is understood to mean supernatural theology that is the science of God and Devine things, in as far as it based on supernatural Revelation. The focusing theme contains not only God in his essence, but also his actions, and his works of salvation and the guidance, which are led to God whom will be our supernatural end. Through our knowledge of all these truths is necessary for every man to understand the broadest outlines, and is acquired by Christian faith. Theology demands the knowledge won through faith, and as it deepens it expands and strengthens so that our faith can be better understood and defined by the reasons. An example of this a house is built to live in, a clock made to keep time. But what of the “end” to which we as human beings aspire? Thinking of this “end” not as an end point, but as completion as fullness.
When considering morality, worthy to note first is that similar to Christian ethics, morality also embodies a specifically Christian distinction. Studying a master theologian such as St. Thomas Aquinas and gathering modern perspectives from James Keenan, S. J. and David Cloutier serve to build a foundation of the high goal of Christian morality. Morality is a primary goal of the faith community, because it is the vehicle for reaching human fulfillment and happiness. Therefore, great value can be placed on foundations of Christian morality such as the breakdown of law from Aquinas, the cultivation of virtues, the role of conscience in achieving morality, and the subject of sin described by Keenan.