Term Paper on "Catholic Ethics"

Term Paper 4 pages (1253 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Catholic Ethics

The Catholic religion has a long and well-documented history; scholars and priests since the faith's inception have recorded not only the happenings of important figures, but their perceptions and theories about the implications of these events for the faith. Today, Catholic scholars still immerse themselves in the meaning of the Holy Scripture. In Principles of Christian Morality, three preeminent Catholic scholars examine interpretations of moral theology, focusing on ethical matters facing the Church. While none of these men is "a specialist in moral theology," they do present compelling arguments regarding Christian ethics (8). Here, each man's contribution to the volume will be briefly summarized, then all three will be related to one another and evaluated in terms of each other, and finally, a more thorough treatment of Schurmann's essay will be included.

The first contribution, by Heinz Schurmann, was written as a submission for the International Theological Commission's December 1974 session. Schurmann discusses the New Testament's influence on morality, via both its statements and interpretations. Schurmann begins by noting that the Second Vatican Council, which had recently taken place at the time of his writing, gave more emphasis to action in a Christian lifestyle. Schurmann questions how this balance between Holy Scripture and practice could be achieved-"we must face the question of how far Holy Scripture and how far experience-that is, ethical reason-are competent to discover what is right action" (13).

Schurmann examines the questions of whether the words and deeds of Jesus Christ and the apostles are considered ethical norms which bind disciples to them. In examining the words and deeds of Christ himself, the instruction as to how His followers are to behave is implicit at the least. The words and deeds of Jesus are to be seen as "the ultimate ethical norm," that is to say, the model after which disciples are to follow in their own words and deeds (23). The deeds and teachings of the apostles, to be understood as having been significantly influenced by and patterned after Christ, are also to be understood as models, although not ultimate ethical norms, for disciples to follow. The apostles can disseminate the works of God and Jesus Christ through the spiritual gifts of wisdom, gnosis, receiving revelation, and the ability to instruct one another (29).

The next author in this compilation, Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), discusses the distinction between practice (orthopraxis) and established beliefs (orthodoxy) and the need of having a fixed point of moral reference (48). Ratzinger, in an effort to establish a practice for Catholics in a modern context, explored the possibility of the shifting meaning of religious law and commandments (50). The opposite of praxis, Ratzinger states, is the belief "that affirms that there is no such thing as a specifically Christian morality and that Christianity must take its norms of conduct from the anthropological insights of its time" (49). Ratzinger concludes that praxis is indistinguishable from a genuinely believed truth in Christ-that to imitate Jesus Christ is "inseparable from faith" and that "faith's praxis depends on faith's truth" (62, 70). In other words, if one genuinely holds a belief in Christ, that faith will influence one's practices and in turn, will relate the truth with the praxis.

The final author in Principles is Hans Urs von Balthasar, who treats the subject of "the fundamental[s] of Christian morality and...its inner logic" (7). Balthasar sets forth nine precepts of Christian morality in summary form, exploring Christ as the universal, concrete norm for Christian morality, with the golden rule as a summation of God's law and Christ on the cross as the only salvation from sin (85, 87). Balthasar relates the covenant with Abraham and the bestowing of the commandments, the law, on Moses at Sinai with the… READ MORE

How to Reference "Catholic Ethics" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Catholic Child Sex Abuse Handling Term Paper

Mental Health Ethics

The author of this report is asked to pick from several example scenarios and discuss the mental health and other ethics surrounding how to react to that… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2831 words) Sources: 8 Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Stem Cell Research L. Jones Ethical Term Paper

Stem Cell Research

L. Jones

Ethical and Moral Issues

Today one of the most hotly debated issues is unquestionably stem cell research. Specifically, it involves harvesting and using a specific… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1303 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Ethics / Morality

---

Catholic Church and the Death Penalty Thesis

Catholic Church and the Death Penalty

The objective of this work is to provide a historical account of the Catholic Church in regards to its position on the death penalty… read more

Thesis 6 pages (1546 words) Sources: 3 Style: MLA Topic: Crime / Police / Criminal Justice

---

Ethics of Eating by Rich Heffern Term Paper

Ethics of Eating" by Rich Heffern

In "The Ethics of Eating," Rich Heffern describes how the shift away from local food sources has contributed to a variety of problems in… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (535 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Agriculture / Food / Culinary

---

Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism Term Paper

Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism

The German economist and sociologist Max Weber developed a series of theories based on the idea that religion, particularly the Protestantism, is the source of… read more

Term Paper 2 pages (720 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Religion / God / Theology

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>