Virtue & Morality
As disciples, we are constantly confronted with decisions -- big and small. Most of them cannot be easily answered by looking up the Ten Commandments or the Catechism. Our lives are filled with ambiguity, and often choosing between two "bad" values or two "good" ones. But lessons from the field of moral theology that focus on character, virtue, and Gospel values can provide much-needed tools for the lay person witnessing in the world.
A substantial part of Christian witness is living a moral life that values right relationships with God and other persons. Cultivating our personal character-- by developing a Christian worldview, participation in community, and practice—is the best way to ensure we will do the right thing in a given situation. A Christian worldview incorporates Christian images, stories, and values into the way we perceive the world around us and helps us imagine possibilities for how the world could be. Christian community can provide common values, role models, and accountability. Character is also strengthened through the ongoing practice of moral discernment— deciding how God is leading us to act in particular circumstances. The more we develop our character, the more we can trust our habits, disposition, and emotions when they direct us to a certain choice.
A substantial part of Christian witness is living a moral life that values right relationships with God and other persons. Cultivating our personal character-- by developing a Christian worldview, participation in community, and practice—is the best way to ensure we will do the right thing in a given situation. A Christian worldview incorporates Christian images, stories, and values into the way we perceive the world around us and helps us imagine possibilities for how the world could be. Christian community can provide common values, role models, and accountability. Character is also strengthened through the ongoing practice of moral discernment— deciding how God is leading us to act in particular circumstances. The more we develop our character, the more we can trust our habits, disposition, and emotions when they direct us to a certain choice.
Key Insights
Character
Morality is concerned not only with the actions that a person takes, but also a person’s character. People make differing moral decisions based on “who they are,” which includes their values, spirituality, and habits. We can craft our character utilizing Gospel values and practice. Habits
One’s moral decisions are also influenced by habits; the way we have chosen to live in the past—including the development of virtues—trains us to act a certain way in the future. Sin
We understand sin as “missing the mark” by violating our covenantal relationship with God, often as the result of hurting our relationships with others. God graces us with life and love, and sin is our failure to respond fully and faithfully to this gift. Sin may be alienation from God, neighbors and all creation, and/or ourselves. While sin is a powerful force, God’s grace counters it by offering individuals and communities opportunities for conversion: turning away from sin and reorienting our hearts and lives toward God. |
Values
Values are rooted in a “heart knowledge” of what is good for people and how best to respond to God. Morality is social, so it is greatly influenced by the responsibility one associates with relationships (with other people and with God). Discernment
Morals involve deciding what action to take by weighing different values one holds, and considering the situation, one’s duties and obligations, and relevant norms. The actions we ultimately take will in turn further shape our character. Community
Participating in Christian community strengthens our Christian worldview, helps us internalize religious symbols, and can hold us to greater moral accountability. Christian community also gives us an opportunity to learn from others, since we learn to be moral people by example. An active prayer life strengthens our relationship to God and can make it easier for us to recognize God in our lives. Through worship, we love God and remind ourselves of the covenant we are living out. |
Spirituality
Spirituality encompasses life meaning that influences the choices people make in living their lives. A Christian spirituality considers the way we live our lives as a response to the love God has given us first. Image of God
Our image of God has a large influence on our understanding of what is good and what actions are moral. God is good, so our understanding of who God is helps us understand goodness. But God also empowers and admonishes us to take actions in response to him, and this expectation helps define what a moral life is for Christians. Virtues and Vices
Virtues are aspects of our character that incline us toward moral behavior, while vices incline us toward sin. Developing virtues helps us be better prepared when we face our next moral decision. |
Quotations
[M]orality is concerned with answering three questions: "Who ought we be?" "What ought we do?" and "What sort of community ought we construct?" As a result, much of this conversation in morality is about: Russell B. Conners, Patrick T. McCormick
Character, Choices, & Community |
Most of the "work" in the moral life happens before we get to the moments of decision. The quality of our lives between decisions will determine what we see, how we are affected, how truthfully we examine our options, and consequently what we decide. The quality of our lives will determine our ability to discern. William Spohn
Go and Do Likewise |
In addition to its interpretive function, the imagination also plays a creative function by helping us move into the future to create our world. So much of moral instruction is aimed at getting others to behave differently by trying to convert their wills. We try to reason with them, preach to them, badger them, or shame themselves into selflessness. But what is really at stake is not that they are stupid, selfish, closed, or uncaring. They simply lack imagination. They assume that what they are doing now is the only way to respond to the situation. They can't act differently because they can't imagine what it would be like to be someone else. If a possible way of acting is not perceived as being real, then we will never achieve it. Only if we can imagine a new way of life can we ever make it real for us. The bumper sticker that says "Imagine Peace" challenges us to imagine a world without war. If we can't, then we won't ever achieve it. There are many reasons that we might give to excuse ourselves from acting justly, but the primary one is that we can't imagine what it would be like to do so. Richard M. Gula
The Call to Holiness |
Books
The Good Life
Richard M. Gula, SS Morality and spirituality-at first blush they don't seem to be intimate partners. But spirituality is surely not relegated to the world of devotions, while the moral life should not be reduced to sins or individual acts of virtue. Based on the conviction that morality and spirituality converge when we explore the sort of persons we ought to become and the sort of lives we ought to lead, noted ethicist Richard Gula has written a simple, direct introduction to the Christian moral life.This work draws on four of the great biblical themes of Christian morality and spirituality to light up a vision of life and those virtues that constitute the biblical life. These biblical themes are being created in the image of God, (ch. 1); being a people of the covenant (chs. 2, 3, 4); being called to discipleship (ch. 5); and being a community of friends under the reign of God (ch. 6). The last chapter summarizes the vision of the good life. Each chapter ends with a variety of spiritual exercises which can enhance the connection between the moral life and the spiritual life. Lucid, concise, and without jargon, this book will make wonderful reflective reading for persons without a background in moral theology, for adult education groups, and high school and college classes. It is a powerful antidote to the strain of living in a consumer society. (Amazon) The Call to Holiness
Richard M. Gula, SS Acclaimed author Richard Gula shows the way to become a complete Christian and live a full Christian life. Gula shows that at the heart of Christian living lies an embrace of a balance between spirituality and morality, between, for example, the experience and application of God's love. To achieve and maintain this tension is to be able to answer life's fundamental questions. In the light of God's love, how should we behave, and what kind of persons should we be? (Amazon) |
Character, Choices & Community: The Three Faces of Christian Ethics
Russell B. Conners, Patrick T. McCormick In their first and highly praised book together, Character, Choices and Community (Paulist Press, 1998), Pat McCormick and Russ Connors identified and discussed character, choices and community as the three essential and interrelated "ingredients" of moral experience. This second book is a companion volume. Here the authors provide a consistent and systematic method for making connections between those three elements of moral experience and concrete ethical issues. In the first chapter they describe the method they will use to "face the issues," and then, in five substantive chapters, they display their method as they address complex and controversial issues related to the economy, to war and violence, to medicine, sexuality, and the environment. This is a work of Christian ethics, written by two Catholic theologians, but will be useful across many denominations,. It may be used in conjunction with their first book, but it also stands alone very well. Written again for non-experts, this will be useful for both undergraduate and graduate students, and for all others interested in making connections between important convictions of Christian faith and critical moral issues of the day. (Amazon) Making Disciples: A Handbook of Christian Moral Formation
Timothy E. O'Connell This book looks to theology, psychology, and sociology to answer the question: how do people actually come to embody Christian values, and what do these learnings mean for church and ministry? (Amazon) |
Go and Do Likewise: Jesus and Ethics
William Spohn What does Jesus have to do with ethics? There are two brief answers given by believers: "everything" and "not much." While evangelical or fundamentalist Christians would find authoritative guidance in the words and commands of Jesus as recorded in the New Testament, many mainstream Christian ethicists would say that Jesus is too concrete or narrowly particular to have any direct import for ethics.In this book, Williams Spohn takes a middle way, showing how Jesus is the "concrete universal" of Christian ethics. By forming a bridge from the lives of contemporary Christians to the words and deeds of Jesus, Jesus' story as a whole exemplifies moral perception, motivation and Christian identity.In addition, Spohn shows how the practices of Christian spirituality--specifically prayer, service, and community--train the imagination and reorient emotions to produce a character and a way of life consonant with Christian New Testament moral teaching. (Amazon) Reason Informed By Faith
Richard M. Gula, SS Excellent textbook introduction to the basic issues of fundamental moral theology that considers all of today's moral issues. (Amazon) |
Articles / Websites
- Virtue and Vice Lists in the Bible (Felix Just, SJ)
- The Benefits of Character Education: What I Learned From Teaching as a "Core Ethics" School (The Atlantic)
- The Shifting Landscape of Moral Theology (Richard M. Gula, SS, Church Magazine)
- Understanding Sin Today (Richard M. Gula SS, Catholic Update)
- Being Virtuous: Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues For Life (The Art of Manliness)
- An Introduction to Virtue Ethics (Fr. Bernhard Blankenhorn OP, Blessed Sacrament Parish, Seattle)
- Ethic and Virtue (Santa Clara University)
- VirtuesForLife.com
- Some Examples of Virtues (Boring Things blog)
Parish Ideas
Introducing Morality
Our parishes need to determine how best to bring the lessons of moral theology and virtue ethics to the people in the pews: through preaching, adult education, and other means. They are extremely helpful to living out our discipleship. |
Related To
Morality is intertwined with a health discernment process, and can give us helpful insights for the discernment process.
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Header photo by ljphillips34 (Creative Commons License).