Moral Decision Making
As men and women, we have a strong inner
drive to want to do what is right and good in our lives. On the same hand we also
wish to avoid doing the wrong things and the evil things.
Psycho-babble
What do people do when they search out what is right and good for their lives? People
spend a lot of time (and money) seeking rightness and goodness from
psychologists, psychiatrists, and so-called, self-proclaimed
"spiritual" gurus. Pop-theologians and pop-psychologists are just
happy that they can deter searching minds from where truth really lies. It
usually translates into the sale of their books. Or perhaps their intent is to
distract people from where truth and answers have resided for centuries? Maybe
these authors believe that people do not want the truth of great minds or think
that people cannot handle what is already known about right and good actions.
Perhaps they think that knowing and truth are really relative--that there is
nothing really to be known and still true for all people in all times. Look at
those self-help sections in any bookstore; listen to what some pastors preach
on--hardly the gospel message--a lot of psycho-babble. Many times unfortunately
this is a choice people make because it affirms what they selfishly want in
life (not necessarily what they need). Like astrology, psycho- and theo-babble
flatter us by accommodating our personal and selfish desires or affects us to
self-fulfill the things we want (instead of satisfying what we truly need). All
too often they make choices that affirm their own motives and drives not always
what is good for them.
Knowledge and Truth
Great Christian philosophers and theologians (e.g., Augustine, Aquinas,
etc.) affirm that we are essentially intellect and will; the former seeking
truth, the later seeking the good. Hence, knowing truth and being good are the
truly deep seated needs and drives in our lives. They alone will satisfy us.
What we are truly searching for in our behavior choices are those choices that
fulfill us, that make us really and authentically human. There are two ways in
which we discover what those norms are and to live our lives accordingly:
looking at God's creation (principally natural law) and by listening to God's
revelation to us (the Word of God). To be fully human is probably that which
will satisfy all our longings and our drives to do what is right and good and
avoid what is wrong and evil. What are the primary stages in becoming fully
human?
God’s Revelation
What authority do we have to help us define what it means to be fully human and
meet the full potential of our existence?
As Christians, there is probably no other authoritative source than the revealed
Word of God and His teaching authority. Truths
that follow from revelation and authority are
(1) embodiment--we are enfleshed men and women, at once material (human body)
and immaterial (spiritual soul);
James
2:26
For just as a body without a spirit is
dead, so also faith without works is dead.
1Thessalonians
5:23
May
the God of peace himself make you perfectly
holy
and may you entirely, spirit, soul, and body, be preserved
blameless
for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2) spiritual--we are principally material
beings with an immortal and immaterial soul, entirely spiritual;
1
Corinthians 7:34
An
unmarried woman or a virgin is anxious about the
things of the Lord, so that she
may be holy in both body and spirit.
Romans
8:13
For
if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit
you put to death the deeds of
the body, you will live.
Romans
8:10
But
if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the
spirit is alive because of
righteousness.
Matthew
10:28
And
do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul; rather, be afraid of the
one who can destroy both soul and
body in Gehenna.
Wisdom
9:15
For
the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter
weighs down the mind that has
many concerns.
Psalms
71:23
My
lips will shout for joy as I sing your praise; my soul, too, which
you have redeemed.
1
Peter 2:11
Beloved,
I urge you as aliens and sojourners to keep away from
worldly desires that wage war
against the soul.
Hebrews
4:12
Indeed,
the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any
two-edged sword, penetrating
even between soul and spirit, joints
and marrow, and able to discern
reflections and thoughts of the
heart.
Matthew
10:28
And
do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the
soul; rather, be afraid of the
one who can destroy both soul and
body in Gehenna.
(3) social--we are essentially social
beings, with our very origin in the community of persons in marriage (the
smallest fully-committed community of persons), in family, in fellowship
community (church), and in society;
Romans
15:2
Let
each of us please our neighbor for the good, for building up.
Acts
2:45
They
would sell their property and possessions and divide them
among all according to each
one's need.
Ephesians
5:30
We
are members of his body.
Ephesians
3:6
.
. . the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and
copartners in the promise in
Christ Jesus through the gospel.
Ephesians
2:19
So
then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are
fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of
God,
1Thessalonians
5:11
Therefore,
encourage one another and build one another up, as
indeed you do.
Galatians
6:2
Bear
one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Romans
15:7
Welcome
one another, then, as Christ welcomed you, for the glory
of God.
Romans
12:5
.
. . we, though many, are one body in
Christ and individually parts
of one another.
John
15:17
This
I command you: love one another.
2
Corinthians 6:1
Working
together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace
of God in vain.
Philippians
2:4
.
. . each looking out not for his own interests, but (also) everyone
for those of others.
Ephesians
4:16
.
. . the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting
ligament, with the proper
functioning of each part, brings about the
body's growth and builds itself
up in love.
(4) individual--we are each a person in time, in place, in history, unique and
distinct;
1
Corinthians 3:8
The
one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each
will receive wages in proportion
to his labor.
1
Corinthians 7:7
Indeed,
I wish everyone to be as I am, but each has a particular gift
from God, one of one
kind and one of another.
1
Corinthians 12:7
To
each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some
benefit.
2
Corinthians 5:10
For
we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that
each one may receive
recompense, according to what he did in the
body, whether good or
evil.
1
Corinthians 15:38
.
. . but God gives it a body as he chooses, and to each of the
seeds its own body.
1
Corinthians 12:11
But
one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them
individually to each
person as he wishes.
Galatians
6:5
.
. . for each will bear his own load.
Ephesians
4:7
But
grace was given to each of us according to the measure of
Christ's gift.
Galatians
6:4
Each
one must examine his own work, and then he will have
reason to boast with
regard to himself alone, and not with regard to
someone else;
Revelation
22:12
Behold,
I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will
give to each according
to his deeds.
Revelation
2:23
I
will also put her children to death. Thus shall all the churches
come to know that I am
the searcher of hearts and minds and
that I will give each
of you what your works deserve.
1
Peter 4:10
As
each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as
good stewards of God's
varied grace.
1
Peter 1:17
Now
if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according
to each one's works,
conduct yourselves with reverence during
the time of your
sojourning,
James
1:14
Rather,
each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed
by his own desire.
1Thessalonians
5:15
See
that no one returns evil for evil; rather, always seek what is
good (both) for each
other and for all.
(5) free--we are persons free to make choices among alternatives, affirmed in
the challenges in Scripture to make choices and right choices;
1
Chronicles 21:10
Go,
tell David: Thus says the LORD: I offer you three alternatives;
choose
one of them, and I will inflict it on you."
1
Chronicles 21:12
.
. . will it be three years of famine; or three months of fleeing your
enemies, with the
sword of your foes ever at your back; or three
days of the LORD'S own
sword, a pestilence in the land, with the
LORD'S destroying
angel in every part of
What answer am I to give him who sent me?
Job
34:33
Would
you then say that God must punish, since you reject what he
is doing? It is you
who must choose, not I; speak, therefore, what
you know.
Proverbs
3:31
Envy
not the lawless man and choose none of his ways:
Sirach
15:15
If
you choose you can keep the commandments; it is loyalty to do
his will.
Sirach
15:17
Before
man are life and death, whichever he chooses shall be
given him.
Isaiah
7:16
For
before the child learns to reject the bad and choose the good,
the land of those two
kings whom you dread shall be deserted.
John
7:17
Whoever
chooses to do his will shall know whether my teaching is
from
God or whether I speak on my own.
Deuteronomy
30:19
I
call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set
before you life and
death, the blessing and the curse. Choose
life, then, that you
and your descendants may live,
Jeremiah
21:8
And
to this people you shall say: Thus says the LORD: See, I am
giving you a choice
between life and death.
1
Peter 2:16
Be
free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as
slaves of God.
Galatians
5:1
For
freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit
again to the yoke of
slavery.
2
Corinthians 3:17
Now
the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there
is freedom.
Galatians
5:13
For
you were called for freedom, brothers. But do not use this
freedom as an
opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another
through love.
Romans
8:21
.
. . that creation itself would be set free from slavery to
corruption and share
in the glorious freedom of the children of God.
John
8:32
.
. . and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
(6) capable of relationship with God--we are called repeatedly through the
written Word of God and God’s living Word in His Church to live a life fully
human--eternal life.
Leviticus
26:12
Ever
present in your midst, I will be your God, and you will be my
people.
Jeremiah
7:23
This
rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I
will be your God and
you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways
that I command you, so
that you may prosper.
Jeremiah
30:22
You
shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Ezekiel
36:28
You
shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my
people, and I will be
your God.
John
14:20
On
that day you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in
me and I in you.
John
17:21
.
. . so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in
you, that they also
may be in us, that the world may believe that
you sent me.
John
10:10
A
thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came
so that they might
have life and have it more abundantly.
John
6:57
Just
as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the
Father, so also the
one who feeds on me will have life because of
me.
1
John 4:9
In
this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only
Son into the world so
that we might have life through him.
1
John 5:12
Whoever
possesses the Son has life; whoever does not possess
the Son of God does
not have life
Givens
and Assumptions
Following the
acknowledged truths from the Word of God, moral decision-making requires a
number of givens/assumptions about life in general and our behavior as the
result of the free choices we make in particular.
A first assumption we need to make,
building from the truths of the Word of God, is the composition of these human natures of ours. We need to see and
understand that there are two qualities of which we are capable. The easiest
quality of what I am to grasp is our physical nature, our bodies. That
realization is the most obvious. I know and understand the material composition
of my body, the need for meeting physical needs to sustain my body such as
food, water and shelter, as well as others, assuming principally the two
persons (parents, both natural and adopting) who gave me life through sexual
intercourse, as well as meaningful others to whom I am attracted (e.g., spouse)
or to whom I am responsible (e.g., children) and those which whom I freely
choose to walk through life (e.g., friends). I am acutely aware that this
physical body will die one day and disintegrate and be no more. I am also aware
of those qualities that are associated with my physical body: physical feelings
and sensual responses--emotions, passions--that are associated with my body.
A second assumption to be made is
that I also am aware of certain qualities of myself that I understand do not
come from a physical source. The physical or material things cannot generate
immaterial qualities. My thoughts that I create, my choices I make, the true
love I have (that is not sexually directed--parent for child, child for parent,
one person for all person-kind, friend to friend, etc.) is not physical and
goes beyond the physical qualities of my body. It is that quality that I understand
will live after my body is dead (and to which my body will be resurrected one
day). It is immaterial. It is the
source of my thoughts (my intellect) and my choices (my will). It is soul or spirit (two differing words that
St. Paul uses for the same immaterial quality of our human nature). In simpler words, I can accept that I, as all
others of my species, possess both a material body and a spiritual or
immaterial soul. One is finite (this body will die); the other is not finite
and will live forever (my soul is eternal). Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel addresses
this duality I sense in my being perfectly: "And do not be afraid of those
who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who
can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28).
Now we have established a basic and
foundational distinction in our natures. We are both material and immaterial;
we are body and soul. The higher functions of our nature, intellect and will,
are anchored in our immaterial part; the functions of our material side, our
body and its emotions, sentient life, physical life, procreative life, are
anchored in our natural body. We also are aware that there is a
mutuality/relationship of function in this life: our soul affects our body, our
body affects our soul. Our emotions and physical needs have ramifications in
both the body and the soul--note how hunger, for example, can drive us to steal
food, how our satisfaction with our relationship to God can give us, for
example, a physical comfortability with life and an acceptance beyond our
bodily strengths.
For a moment now, consider the strengths of
both qualities of our natures and their mutuality. Of the two qualities of our
nature, the material and the immaterial, what would be the correct or right
relationship between the two? The question to ask is which of the two qualities
is meant to be dominant, which should govern the other? Can we expect the
material portion of our natures to govern the immaterial or spiritual, or
should the spiritual and its values govern the material? Given that one quality
is finite and one is infinite, it is an easy step in realization to suggest
that the immaterial to the material is the correct and right relationship to be
had and fostered. One needs only to read the relationship Adam and Eve (in the
book of Genesis) had in their lives before their sin and the revelation of
Jesus' resurrected bodily qualities after His Resurrection to gain some insight
of the balanced and proper relation between the mortal body and immortal soul. It
can be asked, to further make this distinction: what goes before God at the
moment of our human death?
A third
and final assumption, the individuality of the person--living at a specific
time in history, in a particular place geographically, and a unique point in
history, circumstances surrounding our human behavior--affects our moral
decision making. The moral decision-maker
needs to consider those elements that surround one’s behavior as impinging on
how each of us responds to the choices that face us.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture texts are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
© 2011 Robert J. Schihl
Email comments to rjschihl@catholicapologetics.org