Law is based on reason and promulgated by a competent authority for the common good. There are different kinds of moral law including eternal law, natural law, revealed law in the Old and New Testaments, and human law. Eternal law is God's plan for governing the universe according to wisdom and love. Natural law is discerned through human reason and includes precepts like doing good and avoiding evil. Revealed law comes from God through scripture and perfects the Old Law through Jesus' teachings in the New Testament. Human law regulates society but must conform with higher divine and natural laws for the common good.
2. LAW is … an ordinance of reason promulgated by competent authority for the sake of the common good St. Thomas Aquinas
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4. Law must be based on the insights of reason into what is truly good.ORDINANCE or Decree Obligatory force & not merely as recommendation or suggestion.
5. Promulgated Law is communicated w/ sufficient notice to its subjects while respecting their rights and duties The official publication of a LAW so that it can come to the knowledge of the subjects is known as promulgation This is necessary in order that a law becomes obligatory.
6. Competent authority Means those who have the legitimate power to do so For the common good Law is for the social betterment of its subjects Laws can only be enacted for the common good & not for the private good of a few citizens.
7. For the common good Law is for the social betterment of its subjects Laws can only be enacted for the common good & not for the private good of a few citizens.
8. Functions of Moral Law: (CFC, 805) They provide criteria for judging who we are and how we should act. By explicating the moral memory and value-experience of the community, moral norms give us a broader basis for judging than our limited experience. 2. They help our moral development, especially in the formation of our conscience, by expressing typical patterns of moral behavior and human values.
9. 3. They provide stability and consistency in our lives by acting as a constant and reliable point of reference 4. They challenge us by stretching us in view of an ideal, or correcting us by illuminating our faults.
10. KINDS OF MORAL LAW: ETERNAL LAW NATURAL LAW REVEALED LAW Old Law New Law or Law of the Gospel HUMAN LAW
11. ETERNAL LAW God is the author of the laws governing the universe. He designed all the laws of the universe in His own infinite mind. Eternal law is the plan of God in creating the universe & in assigning to each creature their specific nature. It is the universal law whereby God directs and governs the universe and the ways of human community according to his plan of wisdom & love.
12. “Eternal law is the plan flowing from God’s wisdom which directs all actions and movements.” St. Thomas Aquinas “Eternal law is the divine reason and/or the will of God Himself commanding the preservation of natural law and forbidding its disturbance.” St. Augustine
13. Eternal Law…. A type of DIVINE WISDOM The Creator, therefore, has in Himself the “type” of what creatures are to do to attain their END & PURPOSE. Each being tends towards a particular end that reveals the will of God which contains the divine blue prints that bring order into the universe by directing all of creation, living or nonliving, to their respective end-goals
17. natural law which is the participation of the eternal law in rational creatureAll laws that govern the universe are independent of humanity.
18. Why learn these? By learning these laws we gain freedom But freedom is always tied up with obedience to the law of God, and there is no such thing as “freedom from these laws.” Instead there is freedom within these laws. Each new law learned increases our freedom. Ex. the laws of gravity the laws of our body
19. NATURAL LAW It is the law written and engraved in the soul of each and every man because it is human reason ordaining him to do good and forbidding him to sin (CCC 1954) Pertains to the moral insights people are capable of knowing by means of their reason, and independently of the verbal revelation of God The medium of cognition is reason alone
20. Natural law is a participation in God’s wisdom and goodness by man formed in the image of his Creator (CCC, 1978) The basic precept: “DO GOOD, AVOID EVIL.”
21. Natural Law (moral law of nature, natural moral law, natural ethics and natural morality) Three essential characteristics 1. Natural law is universal (Universality). 2. Natural law is one and the same for all (Unity and Invariability). 3. Natural law is immutable (Immutability)
22. Man knows naturally, by the light of his understanding, that there are some things evil in themselves, & some things which are necessarily good.
23. The inclinations of human nature & the Natural Law: The inclination to the good The inclination to self-preservation The inclination to sexual union & rearing of offspring The inclination to knowledge of the truth The inclination to live in society
24. The Old Law is the first stage of revealed law. Its moral prescriptions are summed in the Ten Commandments. (CCC 1980) The Old Law is a preparation for the Gospel. (CCC, 1981) It is overflowing with wisdom REVEALED LAW of the Old Testament and the New Testament
25. The Law of the Lord The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The decree of the Lord is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The command of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes. . The ordinances of the Lord are true, and all of them just. (Ps 19;8-10)
26. The Ten commandments I am the Lord, your God. You shall have no strange gods before me. You shall not use the name of the of the Lord in vain. Remember to keep holy the Lord’s day. Honor your father and mother. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbors. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
27. The New Law is the grace of the Holy Spirit received by faith in Christ, operatingthrough charity. It finds expression above all in the Lord's Sermon on the Mount. (CCC, 1983) The Law of the Gospel fulfills and surpasses the Old Law and brings it to perfection: its promises, through the Beatitudes of the Kingdom of heaven; its commandments, by reforming the heart, the root of human acts. (CCC, 1984) Revealed Law of the Old Testament and the New Testament
28. The Greatest Commandments “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbors as yourself. The whole of the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Mt 22:37
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30. a law of grace, because it confers the strength of grace to act, by means of faith and the sacraments
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33. Human Laws must: Conform with Divine Laws Promote the common good Just & not discriminatory Dynamic Practicable
