Discovering God's Voice Flashcards
(102 cards)
1
Q
Wrong Notion of Freedom
A
Absolute self-directed
Doing what I want
Being responsible for the self
2
Q
Correct Notion of Freedom
A
✓ Limited or with boundaries (Should be exercised
in relation to one’s dignity and in relation to other
human beings)
✓ Doing what is good for me and for others
✓ Being accountable for others
3
Q
- “the inner power which discerns and calls
us to do what is good and avoid evil, according to the law
that God has written in our hearts.
A
moral conscience by The Catechism for Filipino Catholics
4
Q
therefore leads us to search the
divine truth and do what is good.
A
Our moral conscience
5
Q
This is because it is
believed that “within our conscience is the law of God
and our happiness and dignity depends on following that
law”
A
moral conscience
6
Q
In the depths of his conscience, the human person
detects a law which he does not impose on himself, but
which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to
love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience can,
when necessary, speak to his heart more specifically: do
this shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by
God. To obey it is the very dignity of the person according
to it he will be judged
A
Vatican II on Moral Law in the Heart of the Human Person:
7
Q
is the most secret core and sanctuary of a
person. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in
his depths”.
A
Conscience
8
Q
“Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a
person. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in
his depths”.
A
Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World
9
Q
“a metaphor for the basic urge we all
feel to achieve inner peace, harmony, psychological
balance”.
A
law
10
Q
- Calls such law as “a metaphor for the basic urge we all
feel to achieve inner peace, harmony, psychological
balance”.
A
Ian Knox,
11
Q
is more internal than external, spiritual rather
than physical.
A
The law
12
Q
- This natural inclination in the heart of every person to
live in perfect peace and harmony with God, with the self,
with others and with the rest of creation is believed to be
designed by God and inherent in each person. It is the
______
A
natural drive to be complete and to be whole.
13
Q
Doing something contrary to this natural inclination leads to
A
destruction, fragmentation, unhappiness, and loss of
direction.
14
Q
the Greek word for conscience, occurs only
once in the Old Testament text.
A
- ‘Syneidesis’,
15
Q
- ‘Syneidesis’, the Greek word for conscience, occurs only
once in the ____ text.
A
Old Testament
16
Q
“For wickedness, of its nature cowardly, testifies in its own
condemnation, and because of a distressed conscience,
always magnifies misfortunes”.
A
Wisdom 17:11:
17
Q
– the closest word to conscience that has various
biblical perspectives
A
HEART
18
Q
another close definition to conscience
reflected on Israelites fidelity to the law and to the
Covenant.
A
FIDELITY
19
Q
often became YHWH’s spokespersons for
Israel to faithfully keep its promises to the covenant
A
- The prophets
20
Q
served the concrete guideline for Israel in
nurturing her fidelity to YHWH.
A
- The Decalogue
21
Q
it became the scaffolds of a healthy covenantal
relationship,
A
Listening to the prophets
and following the law as specified in the Decalogue,
22
Q
- The word ‘conscience’ cannot be found in the
A
gospels.
23
Q
But in the writings of ____, conscience
occurs several times:
A
St. Paul and other Apostles
24
Q
The following themes run through these New Testament references on conscience:
A
A. It is the fundamental awareness of the difference
between good and evil (2 Cor. 1:12).
B. It is a principle of freedom founded on our obligations
on our neighbor (1 Cor. 10:23,29).
C. Love proceeds from a pure heart and a good
conscience and genuine faith (1 Tim. 1:5).
D. Christ purifies the conscience and not the sacrificial
ritual of the law (Heb. 9:9, 10:2, 10:22).
25
“True to all peoples regardless of culture, race, belief, and
citizenship”
Conscience as a Universal Concept
26
➢ He used the term synderesis for the core of conscience
as a “habitus of reason”, as the innate remnant awareness of the absolute good.
❑ St. Thomas Aquinas
27
He regarded conscience
as God-given reason attempting to make right decisions.
St. Thomas Aquinas
28
He used “conscience” in relation to the virtue of
prudence to explain why some people appear to be less
morally enlightened than others, their weak will being
incapable of adequately balancing their own needs with
those of others.
St. Thomas Aquinas
29
➢ His view on conscience is quite spiritual rather than
intellectual, more divine than human.
❑St. Augustine’s View of Conscience:
30
He said that conscience is the place of the innermost
encounter between God and man, therefore, the voice of
God. It is the divine center of the human person, where
he is addressed by God. In it, he is aware of God and the
soul.
❑St. Augustine’s View of Conscience:
31
It is the divine center of the human person, where
he is addressed by God. In it, he is aware of God and the
soul.
conscience by st augustine
32
is the place of the innermost
encounter between God and man, therefore, the voice of
God.
conscience by augustine
33
He believes that conscience is not to be equated with
feelings. Feelings, for him, are not conscience.
ian knox
34
“Feelings of contentment and peace, or feelings of guilt,
may accompany the judgement our conscience makes,
but feelings do not determine the morality of the action.
Some people may do the most horrible things and feel no
guilt or remorse while others feel guilt over matters that
have no moral significance at all”.
ian knox on conscience
35
is more than mere reason, more than mere
will, more than mere feeling it is the depth of human
existence, the innermost core of the person in his
directedness towards God and in his ultimate sustenance
by him
- Conscience
36
“It is a faculty situated in the very depth and center of the
human person, which accords to man an understanding of
his meaning and destiny, an awareness of the divine
purpose behind the world, a perception of his personal
calling within God’s plan, and an experience of the
imperative character of his calling. Implied in this is the
spiritual and emotional urge to comply with the demands
resulting from the call”.
Karl Peschke believes that conscience is a faculty distinct from
reason, will, and feeling:
37
is inviolable.
Conscience
38
_______ is considered as the final arbiter of
what is right and what is wrong, the church believes that
“conscience is ______”.
conscience, primary
39
declares
that we are bound to follow our conscience faithfully and
“no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his
conscience. Nor, on the other hand, is he to be restrained
from acting in accordance with his conscience, especially
in religious matters.
- Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom
40
To act against our conscience would mean _______ In short, it means to
commit sin.
not being
true to ourselves and to the person that God wants us to
become. It means being unfaithful to the calling that God
intended us to follow and live.
41
– corresponds to the objective
moral values and precepts
✓ Correct conscience
42
– one which mistakenly judges
something as morally good which is objectively evil
Erroneous conscience
43
Erroneous conscience, due to ignorance, can be
vincibly or invincibly.
44
According to the conformity to the objective moral order:
correct or erroneous.
45
is culpable, because
with some good will its error could be corrected. In other
words, the ignorance could still be overcome by a
person’s reasonable effort. In this case, the person is
morally accountable for his actions.
The vincibly erroneous conscience
46
is inculpable, since the person has no awareness of
the possibility of error. In other words, the ignorance
could not be overcome even by a person’s sincere effort
which, therefore, the person is not morally accountable
for his or her actions.
invincibly erroneous conscience,
47
According to the action considered there are three types of conscience:
antecedent, concomitant, and consequent conscience.
48
– is one which the judgement
on the morality of an action and the obligation to perform
or omit it is passed before the action is translated into
reality.
Antecedent conscience
49
This is the conscience that commands, exhorts,
permits, or forbids the act.
Antecedent conscience
50
It is in this stage that there is
prior deliberation or discernment of values.
Antecedent conscience
51
refers to the actual
awareness on the moral responsibility of the act.
Concomitant conscience
52
Here,
the person really knows that what he or she is
performing, in the here and now, is good or bad.
Concomitant conscience
53
is one which evaluates a
deed already done or omitted.
Consequent conscience
54
This type of conscience
approves, excuses, reproves, or accuses one on the action
that had been performed. However, regardless of the
result, it would not change the meaning and nature of the
act previously performed.
Consequent conscience
55
According to the degree of person’s subjective certitude
that judges and acts there are 2 types of conscience:
certain or doubtful.
56
is one which makes a judgement
without fear of error because the moral certainty of an
act is present.
Certain conscience
57
is one which could not make
immediate judgement to pursue an act due to scarcity of
certainty.
Doubtful conscience
58
Here, a person should not make an act,
otherwise such person committing an act is sinful.
Doubtful conscience
59
is a
type of erroneous conscience which, in a conflict of
duties, fears sin in whatever choice it makes.
Perplex Conscience-
60
In this type
of conscience, the actor is situated in a conflict of interest
between telling the truth and the other obligation
Perplex Conscience-
61
The person cannot make
personal decision of his own because of emotional
disturbance that creates confusion in making a moral
judgement.
Perplex Conscience-
62
is inclined, on insufficient grounds, to judge a
thing to be lawful which is sinful, or something to be light
sin which is actually a grave one.
Lax Conscience or Dulled Conscience.
63
are examples of this of lax conscience.
Cheating in business, like over-pricing, inferior quality
goods, or substandard materials used in construction
projects,
64
There is an exaggerated minimalism of the moral
demands.
Lax Conscience or Dulled Conscience.
65
usually justifies the
errors or mistakes by simply saying that we are just
human beings, therefore, weak, limited, and sinners.
The person with lax conscience
66
conscience is very
strict on small things but blind on large matters.
Pharisaical Conscience.
67
In its
legalistic sense, this kind of conscience gives more
importance to the letter or the text of the law rather than
going into the true meaning and intention of the law.
Pharisaical Conscience.
68
must be
facilitated to judge important areas of moral
responsibility with their corresponding weight or gravity,
and so not in a minimal way.
The person with pharisaical conscience
69
is one in
which apprehension and fear are present which hinders
the person to have the sense of security on the
admissibility of an action already performed or still to be
performed.
Scrupulous Conscience.
70
is often tortured by doubts that
he may be living in mortal sin, or he may be constantly
beset with an unfounded fear of having committed sin.
A scrupulous person
71
is a religious-moral-psychological state of
anxiety, fear and indecision.
Scrupulosity
72
It consists of a more or less
constant, unreasonable, and morbid fear of sin, error and
guilt. Hence, the person is emotionally disturbed.
Scrupulosity
73
Ex. “A lady wiped her lips after Holy Communion with her
handkerchief. She thought that some particle might have
remained on the handkerchief. So she burnt it afterwards.
But now she had a fear that the ashes would be scattered
all over and so she buried them. Once more she is
assailed by the fear that even the ground where the ashes
were buried would be stamped on by the passers-by and
so she put a fence all around”.
Scrupulous Conscience.
74
He believed that the root of sin was ignorance. For him,
actions contrary to the law and its teaching, even though
done out of ignorance are bad. Thus, if we told lie,
regardless of our motivation, we sinned.
Bernard of Clairvaux on erroneous conscience
75
For him, the will or consent determines the actions as
good or bad. If we are in error, but we do not consent
into it, there is no sin, example is telling a lie in order to
protect the life of a person.
Peter Abelard (1079-1142) on erroneous conscience
76
- For him, the determining factor is knowledge.
- Thus, if the person never heard that all lies were wrong
then lied to protect some, the person is excused.
St. Thomas Aquinas on erroneous conscience
77
Adopting Thomas’ argument, said that one who
exercises the conscience responsibly, even if it is
erroneous, receives merit.
William of Ockham (+1350) on erroneous conscience
78
recognized that ignorance is sometimes
blameworthy and also the goodness of an erroneous
conscience acting in good faith.
William of Ockham
79
He said that if a person acted out of love or charity when
committing error, then not only is the person excused,
but the person is good.
Alfonso Liguori on erroneous conscience
80
patron saint of moral theologians
Alfonso Liguori
81
wrote that if a person acts out of an
erroneous conscience, though the action is certainly not
per se willed by God, “God will reward him for sincerely
following his conscience”.
Francis Connell
82
the Dean of Catholic University
in Washington, D.C.,
Francis Connell,
83
Teaches that “the gravity of a lie is measured against the
nature of the truth it deforms, the circumstances, the
intentions of the one who lies and the harm suffered by
its victims. If a lie in itself only constitutes a venial sin, it
becomes mortal when it does injury to the virtues of
justice and charity”
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
84
Our conscience is not something
“automatic”.
85
It issomething shaped through all the many and complex
factors that enter into our growth to Christian maturity
Our conscience
86
are formed gradually through the
natural educational agents of our family upbringing, our
school training, parish catechesis, and the influence of
friends and social contracts
CONSCIENCE
87
is formed gradually in faith and
through personal and ecclesial prayer-life:
“Christian conscience”
88
A “Christian conscience” is formed gradually in faith and
through personal and ecclesial prayer-life:
1. By attending to the Word of God and the teachings of
the church;
2. By responsiveness to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit;
and
3. By critical reflection on our concrete moral choices and
experiences of daily life (CFC 726).
89
Includes reading and prayerful
reflection on Jesus’ teaching and actions, and our own
prayer and sacramental life, always asking ourselves,
“What is Jesus/God/Allah saying to me?
HEART FACTORS.
90
It is the deepening in understanding
of Sacred Scripture and Church teaching on moral
principles (CFC #707). Thus, a question can be asked,
“How can I apply this teaching or guidance in my life
today?”
MIND FACTORS.
91
Christians must be aware of the following sources of
errors of judgement in moral conduct:
1. Ignorance of Christ and His Gospel
2. Bad example given by others
3. Enslavement to one’s passions
4. Assertion to a mistaken notion of autonomy of
conscience
5. Rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching
6. Lack of conversion and of charity
92
is not the same with education
of conscience.
Formation of conscience
93
Formation of conscience is not the same with education
of conscience. One should be distinguished from the
other, as follows:
1.Knowing the moral law is called the education of
conscience, but the training of mind and will to become
submissive to the moral law is called formation of
conscience.
2. Moral conscience is sufficient and safe guide only when
it is well educated and well formed.
3. Moral conscience must be constantly educated and
formed in order to serve the truth and in order to commit
always to what is good.
94
Knowing the moral law is called
education of conscience,
95
the training of mind and will to become
submissive to the moral law
formation of
conscience.
96
is sufficient and safe guide only when
it is well educated and well formed.
Moral conscience
97
must be constantly educated and
formed in order to serve the truth and in order to commit
always to what is good.
Moral conscience
98
discloses the objective and
universal demands of the moral good,
natural law
99
is the
application of the law to a particular case,
conscience
100
formulates moral
obligation in the light of the natural law.
conscience
101
- “Knowing what is good and what is evil” is not enough
for a Christian moral life but rather
“doing good and
avoiding evil”.
102
This is the reason why an intimate
relationship with the Crucified and Glorified Jesus should
be developed, nourished, and sustained through the
constant prayer and reception of the sacraments because
only through him that
one can be freed from the slavery
of sin.
