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Living Life to the Full An Introduction to Christian Morality by David Albert Jones
All booklets are published thanks to the generous support of the members of the Catholic Truth Society
CATHOLIC TRUTH SOCIETY PUBLISHERS TO THE HOLY SEE
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Contents About this booklet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 I. What’s the Point? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Being happy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Objective right and wrong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Not just following rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Friendship with God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
II. How to Decide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 If it feels right, do it?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Tough decisions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Teaching with authority. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
III. The Human Person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Playing God?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Innocent pleasures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35 Loving the truth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
IV. Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Honest relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 The power of the sword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 The cry of the poor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 The kingdom of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Suggested Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 All rights reserved. Third edition first published 2013 by The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society, 40-46 Harleyford Road London SE11 5AY Tel: 020 7640 0042 Fax: 020 7640 This edition Š The Incorporated Catholic Truth Society 2013. First published May 2001. Second edition July 2001. ISBN 978 1 86082 853 9 Scripture quotations are taken from the RSV Catholic edition.
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About this booklet This booklet was first produced in 2001 by the Oxford University Catholic Societies, in association with Family Publications, and was distributed free to the students of Oxford University thanks to the generosity of benefactors. It is intended to promote a wider understanding of Catholic teaching on personal and social morality. This is the second in a series of booklets explaining the Catholic faith. The first, Christianity: An Introduction to the Catholic Faith, by the same author and currently published by CTS, was similarly given out to the students of Oxford University, and has also been distributed widely both nationally and internationally. It has been acclaimed as an accurate yet concise and accessible summary of the Catholic Faith, and is already in its fifth edition.
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Preface I have written this booklet as a brief introduction to the moral and social teaching of the Catholic Church, which shows us how to live the way of the Gospel. In writing it I have been strongly influenced by the wisdom of St Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest Christian thinkers. The booklet has four parts: the first two are about the Christian moral life in general, and introduce ideas such as ‘natural law’, ‘virtue’ and ‘conscience’, while parts three and four are about particular issues, such as ‘medical ethics’, ‘the just war’ and ‘Catholic social teaching’. This is not a book of answers to be memorised; rather, it hopes to introduce a fruitful way of thinking. It is not possible to deal with every topic explicitly and in detail in a small book such as this. The most important thing is to grasp the basic principles at work, and then think through particular questions for yourself.
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I. What’s the Point? Being happy Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. (Matthew 5:3-6) We did not choose to exist; we find ourselves already existing amid a network of relationships and in the middle of a world we did not make. As we grow up, we ‘come to ourselves’ and find that we must live our own lives and make many decisions for ourselves. We have to decide what to do. Sometimes we just act out of habit, or do what everyone else is doing. At other times we are faced with conscious choices: little choices, such as what to cook for supper, or what to buy for someone as a present; big choices, such as whether to abandon a job in the hope of something better, or whether a certain person is the right one to marry. The ability to decide things for ourselves is one of the things that mark human beings out from other animals. The Bible puts it in this way: “It was the Lord
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who made human beings in the beginning, and he has left them in the hands of their own counsel.” (Sir 15:14) But before we make a choice about something, we first have to be clear about why we are doing it: what is it that we are trying to achieve? What is the aim or purpose of our action? - I get the bus to go shopping. I go shopping to buy food. I buy food to eat. And why do I eat? I eat to stay alive: but eating is also a pleasure, a relaxation, and (normally) a social occasion. It is an important part of human life. But this brings us back further. What is it that makes sense of our whole life? What is it that we are seeking in and through all our various activities? What is it ultimately all about? The answer to this question is happiness - or, perhaps better - blessedness or human flourishing. ‘Happiness’ in this sense means the true end of human life taken as a whole. Different people may organise their lives around different things. There are some people who organise their lives around food, those “whose God is their belly” as St Paul puts it. Some people may not find any one thing that makes sense of their lives: but everyone realises that - wherever it is to be found - it is a good thing to find true happiness, and to find meaning in one’s life. The ultimate source of this meaning to human life is whatever principle or being it is that directs the whole universe, and gives life and shape to the natural world and to human history. If there is a meaning to life, then this
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meaning has to come from the Source of all life - and this is what Christians call the mystery of God. Those who believe in God can have confidence that human life does make sense, and that it can find fulfilment. The danger for those who do not explicitly believe in God is not so much that they will believe in nothing (for this requires a remarkable, if not perverse, kind of strength), but rather that they will believe in anything. A decline in traditional religion leads most people not into atheism, but into esoteric or ‘alternative’ cults and superstitions - which might give some degree of meaning to life. Otherwise they will be led into diversions, such as entertainment or recreational drugs - which might distract them from the lack of meaning in their lives. The true happiness that we are all searching for will sometimes involve suffering or the willingness to suffer. The happiness we seek will not always be immediate, and it will not always be obvious. For instance, friendship, which is a part of happiness - and an image of our ultimate happiness in God - can sometimes be a cause of pain, even though of itself it gives pleasure. It is only through doing the right thing that we will become truly ‘happy’, in the sense of being all that we can be: flourishing and finding fulfilment as human beings - being blessed. If, on the road to happiness, we sometimes have to suffer something bad instead of doing something bad, this is never because we love suffering for its own sake. We
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may, for example, have to make an act of self-sacrifice; but this is always for our own good or the good of others. Suffering is sometimes a means, but it can never be an end, for our final hope is to find happiness, with others and for others, in God who is the source of all meaning and all life. We are moved to happiness by a desiring-love, but we find happiness in a friendship-love, a love that comes from God. As a general principle, then, doing the right thing in our lives involves seeking happiness through loving most strongly that which is most loveable. It is because of this love that, despite their many sufferings, the saints are the happiest of people, for they live blessed, full and meaningful lives. Objective right and wrong And Jesus said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honour your father and mother; and, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 19:17-19)
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In matters of science, beliefs can be true or false, and theories can be more or less adequate. People may argue about matters of fact, but they are often able to find some way of testing who is right and who is wrong. Moral issues seem different. Arguments about abortion or animal experimentation, euthanasia or homosexuality, rarely convince anyone who was not previously convinced. As a result, many people think that value judgments are not about ‘objective’ reality - that is to say, they cannot be either ‘true’ or ‘false’. Rather, they are thought of merely as expressions of emotion, or matters of taste (what someone happens to like or dislike). Furthermore, we know more nowadays about cultures that have very different customs from our own. Why should we be in a better position to judge than people in these cultures? How can we say that others are wrong? Of course, it is easy to misunderstand another culture, and to assume that we have something to teach it but nothing to learn from it. It can be hard work to become familiar with the language, lifestyle and customs of others. Nevertheless, it can be done - and there are many books, articles and novels that give an accurate sense of other cultures. Indeed, we are able to come to understand other cultures precisely because of the many things that we all share as human beings - the importance of friendship and family, ideas of loyalty and betrayal, the experience of sickness and death, of joy and feasting. For example,
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