Divine Revelation and Faith
How do Divine Revelation (Word of God) and Faith contribute to an understanding of the moral life?
While reading through the Old Testament, one key theme in the Book of Judges that daunted me was the “inversion of norms”, where there was no central authority and everyone just served at their own moral standard, i.e. Micha just built a shrine at his home and installed one of his sons as the priest (Jud 17:5); the Benjaminites just grabbed wives from the daughters of Shiloh (Jud 21:21-23) etc. Not only did the sons of Israel disobey the laws set by the LORD, who “is the norm of all truth” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2151), such events also created serious moral confusion and social chaos. On reflection, this is also the same case in today’s world, where activities that are morally wrong in the eyes of the LORD are now being promoted actively as being right, i.e. abortion, euthanasia, same sex marriage etc.
The Question in Every Man’s Heart
So, what is good and evil? What ought to be done or what ought not to be done? How do we know this? “No one can escape from the fundamental questions: What must I do? How do I distinguish good from evil” (Veritatis Splendor 2)? As Pope St John Paul II said in Veritatis Splendor, in the depths of every man’s heart, “there always remains a yearning for absolute truth and a thirst to attain full knowledge of it” (VS 1). “The desire for God is written in the human heart” (CCC 27) and it is only in God that man can find the truth and happiness that they are searching for. The Fathers of the Church considered the moral life as the answer to “the primordial question of happiness posed by every human heart” (Servais Pinckaers, Morality The Catholic View, p.19).
Freedom & Morality
To begin with, we must understand the meaning of the word “moral” to Catholics. When thinking about moral, we should always think about freedom because there is no morality when there is no freedom. “Freedom is a power” (CCC 1731). Man is given this power so we can exercise freedom, that is “rooted in reason and will” (CCC 1731), to act through choices. With this freedom, we have the responsibilities of choosing between good and evil (CCC 1732), to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility (CCC 1731), which leads to the consequences of growing in perfection or failing and sinning (CCC 1732). Therefore, we need to focus on our choices and make sure we are focusing on them in the right way. The moral value of choices is how they are in exercise of our freedom. The morally good choice is the one that fulfils the purpose and meaning of freedom.
Truth & Faith
“Truth enlightens man’s intelligence and shapes his freedom, leading him to know and love the Lord” (VS Blessing). It is God’s will that all man may have salvation through the knowledge of the Truth (1 Tim 2:4) – that is Jesus Christ, who is the Truth Himself (Jn 14:6), for He is the “Word of God” (General Directory for Catechesis 98) and “the Incarnate Word and Son of God” (Catechesi Tradendae 6). So, how do we receive the truth from the Word of God?
The sacred deposit of Word of God is made up of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture (CCC 97), which both of these are ways in which God speaks to us. We have the same relationship to them and that is Faith. When we are studying God and all things in relation to God, we take the Word of God and Faith in that Word of God as the basis of all that we do. This is moral theology, to study God with reason, enlightened by Faith. Faith and Truth go hand-in-hand because, without these, we cannot stand firm or move forward as “Faith without Truth does not save, it does not provide a sure footing” (Lumen Fidei 24). With the grace of God and helps of the Holy Spirit, men are able to exercise this Faith, which is a “free gift of God, a supernatural virtue infused by Him” (CCC 153). With this supernatural gift of Faith from God, it becomes “a light for our way, guiding our journey through time” (LF 4). Faith is a light that must come from God because this light of Faith is unique and is capable of illuminating every aspect of human existence (LF 4). Hence, we are all called to salvation through Faith in Jesus Christ, the Word of God, who is “the true light that enlightens everyone” (Jn 1:9). It is Jesus Himself that illuminates our reason. “Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord” (Ps 4:6).
The Measurement
Christ is our moral rule of conduct. Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). Moral truths exist in order to help us to make good moral choices that will help us to be more Christ-like (William May, Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 26). In Faith, we do not simply believe in Christ, we also have to unite with Him in order to believe, for “Faith does not merely gaze at Jesus, but sees things as Jesus himself sees them, with his own eyes” (LF 18). He is the primary measurement in how we measure our choices and to measure our own morality. He can teach us things that we ourselves would not arrive at on our own that is beyond the grasp of human reason. With the element of infallibility in the divine revelation, it prevents us from making errors that could be hindered by our sinful desires through rationalization. This is why man stands in need of being enlightened by God’s revelation, as it is with firm certainty and with no admixture of error (CCC 38).
Morality Law
“As the source of morality, law reigns over the entire domain of morality” (Servais Pinckaers, Morality The Catholic View, p. 34). The new covenant in Jesus Christ makes anew the natural law and conscience that makes the people aware of their moral responsibilities, it also gives them the power to fulfil them (William May, Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 35). The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom (CCC 1950) and it finds its fullness and its unity in Christ (CCC 1953). “For Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified” (Rom 10:4). It is only by obeying the law of God, who is the “source of all truth” and “His Law is truth” (CCC 2465), that man may live and have eternal salvation.
Christ is the Answer
So, going back to the questions of every man’s heart – Christ is the answer! Christ is the decisive answer to all questions from man, particularly religious and moral questions (VS 2). Through the obedience of Faith (Rom 1:5) and obedience to the Truth (1 Pet 1:22), we are able to know the “reasons enlighten by Faith and the Truths that will enable us to make true moral judgments and good moral choices” (William May, Introduction to Moral Theology, p. 26) under the free will of man. Moral theology directs us back to being that God has intended for us and we are able to “taste in advance” the goal of our journey which is the eternal life (CCC 163). As said by St Thomas Aquinas, “believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace” (CCC 155). Therefore, we must have perseverance in obtaining this salvation by believing in Christ and in the One who sent him (CCC 161) and “looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our Faith” (Heb 12:1-2).
This article was written by Joni Cheng.
Published on Regnum Christi, October 5, 2017