1.

Th151 focuses on commitment, which entails choice. How we choose depends

on our ethical frameworkethical egoism, utilitarianism, deontological ethics,
relativism, emotivism, or virtue theory. A specifically Christian perspective,
however, takes into account Christian Principles (Scripture, Revelation, Church
Teachings, Tradition), Christian Virtue, and Discernment, grounded in a proper
understanding of the Sensus Fidei, our vocation, faith and commitment, as well
as our context through enculturation.

COMMITMENT ENTAILS CHOICE

Choice in making decisions, and forming conscience to know what to choose
Commitment entails sacrifice and making decisions. When we are
committed, we make choices geared toward that commitment.
Consequently, commitment entails knowing how to make decisions even
when values conflict. It is ultimately a way for us to form our conscience.
As students, we have learned the value of commitment from our various
theology classes. The question is how to apply it. The answer depends on
our ethical framework. In the Introduction to Ethical Reasoning, Rae and
Wong discusses these different types of ethical frameworks: a. Ethical
Egoism, b. Utilitarianism, c. Deontological Systems, d. Emotivism, and e.
Virtue Theory.
For the Ethical Egoist, the morality of an act is determined by ones self-
interest while for the Utilitarian, what is moral is the decision that will
satisfy the greatest good for the greatest number. The deontologist
strictly believes that morality is based on principle irrespective of
whoever benefits or suffers from it while the emotivists claim that
personal feelings determine what is right and wrong. On the other end of
the spectrum, the the relativist believes that there is no such thing as an
objective standard of morality and that right and wrong are matters of
opinion depending on factors such as culture while the virtue theorist
claims that it is the character of a person that determines what is moral
or immoral.
Ethics comes from a certain perspective, which is molded by our
backgrounds and shaped by sociocultural context. Each one of us will
have different culture and have different ways of seeing the world. We
grew up listening to different stories and narratives that helped us shape
who we become and teach us to live well. How ethics is applied varies
from culture to culture, or society to society. (However, that does not
mean the notion of ethics is useless altogether. Having the right ethical
reasoning is integral to living as a human being. Despite the subjectivity
of ethics, there is still that objectivity that all human beings must abide by
to continue living as a community. Simply put, just because person A
believes that the world is round and person B believes that the world is a
square does not give the world a round or a square shape. The fact of the
matter is that there is still that fundamental truth that each person must

hold on to continue living as human beings in a community. And we can

be enlightened by that fundamental truth by having a solid foundation of
our ethical framework and our discernment)
As Christians, this means having the right Christian perspective, most
especially in the case of understanding scripture. As Christians, we still
have the responsibility to form our conscience the best way we can and
to incorporate the Christian perspective in our ethical reasoning. This
entails having the right Christian principles, having concrete statements
of beliefs, and, most of all, understanding scripture. For Catholic
Christians, this is normally done through undergoing catechesisthat is,
by learning what Christ teaches through the Sacred Scriptures

It is our duty as Christians to learn the truth by reading scriptural

passages intelligently. On a fundamental level, this means knowing its
context and literary form. But we have to go beyond this and know its
connection to Jesus Christ, the rest of the scriptures, , tradition, and our
present lives. This is the first step to having the right ethical reasoning and
having commitment and faith.

It is not only through scripture that we learn our ethics, but tradition
also has its place. Tradition affects how we perceive reality and and what
we do about it. It hands things down to us so that we know whats been
done before. Its not simply following whats been done for so many years,
but sometimes its about

In addition, having an ethical framework points to the Christian way of thinking

and acting, therefore there must be virtues to guide us to do the good to enable us to
be fully human. There must also be discernment seeing God in all things we do,
especially in making decisions. We can use this process of discernment in deciding what
we want to do in our and finding our place in the world our vocation. Our vocation
isour own calling, where our skills make the world a better place when we respond to
the call to love. This discernment process requires CONSISTENCY, FAITH, and of course,
COMMITMENT.
Just like what I wrote in my first paper, I expressed how confused I was about going
to law school and working. But All I know is that whatever I end up doing, I want it to be
a genuine generosity for something more something greater to serve for the Greater
Glory of God.
These must be grounded in Sensus Fidei, sense of the faith/faithful possessed by all;
gaydar for Christian practice; instinct that tells you if its authentic Christianity, and
project what is false. Its personal and ecclesial. Its something we have but it still needs a
certain dispositions or attitudes to help us identify it, and it is continually developing.

This is where faith and commitment comes in, we need to develop these
dispositions and it requires a lot of practice. Its not just overnight, its an ongoing process
that needs consistency. we also need to participate in the life of the Church.

Enculturation Christianity + certain cultures which can be changed/developed;
applying Christian principles in local context

ETHICAL FRAMEWORK Christian perspective
Scripture narrative form of tradition and culture OT & NT
Revelation commitment as being persecuted; Jesus was persecuted while
doing the right thing follow because its the right path
Church teachings
Tradition - affects how we perceive reality and what we do about it; what was
done before and now same God, same mission
Christian virtue holiness, humility, freedom, joy
Discernment seeing God in all things when making decisions
Grounded on Sensus Fidei sense of the faith/faithful possessed by all; gaydar
for Christian practice; instinct that tells you if its authentic Christianity
Vocation response to our call to holiness in professions and how we
respond to call to love, are you making this world a better place?


As Christians, we are required to base our decisions from a Christian perspective which
takes into account all of these things in order to make decisions and in order to live our
lives with meaning, according to the will of God.

2. We see a development of the idea of commitment and ethics in Scripture and
Tradition. The Old Testament shows us a commitment based on the covenant,
while the New Testament focuses on commitment as faith in Jesus Christ. This
commitment continues as a part of Christian Tradition, manifested in different
ways in the early Church communities, the reformation period, and Vatican II
onward.

The idea of commitment and ethics have constantly been developing since the
start of time
In the Old Testament, commitment was based on mans covenant with God that
began from the Creation Story when man was created in the image and likeness

Ysa Fonacier 12/16/14 9:30 PM

Comment [1]: Consistency

Ysa Fonacier 12/16/14 9:30 PM

Comment [2]: EXPOUND

Ysa Fonacier 12/14/14 9:03 PM

Comment [3]: Ethics is learned through
stories

Faith and commitment to God

of God. This perpetually continued to be seen in the stories found in the

suceeding books
o The first one: During the Call of Abraham, the covenant was a two-way
process between God and man where God made a promise to Abraham
in return of his response to Him as commitment. This was the first
promise made by God to man, and the first response of man to God.
Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac and willing to leave his land
without any assurance/
o In Exodus Story: Moses delivered the Israelites out of Egypt and into the
desert. God provided them with the Ten Commandments. This set of
rules became the peoples covenant with God, and commitment would
be obeying them.
o In the Historical and Prophetic Books: The people wanted a king to lead
them. Here, the covenant with God was by following their King.
o In the Wisdom Books: They were exiled into Babylonia. The covenant was
the constant turning to God amidst the hardships that they faced.
Commitment here is turning to God even in the midst of exile
In the New Testament, commitment was seen as faith in Jesus Christ and mercy
for others
o No longer simply about rules, but the core of a person as well.
o Matthew takes great pains to show parallels between Moses and Jews.
He says Jesus is the new Moses, while Luke emphasizes social justice and
provides a narrative of what Jesus did, such as bringing good news to the
poor, setting free the oppressed, announcing the good news that God will
save his people and giving lessons about what it means to follow God and
we see how different how Jesus understands commitment. Luke teaches
us the importance of inner virtues like mercy, justice and compassion. He
talks about the poor, the equality of people, and Jesus who was very
compassionate about the poor. He talks about the injustices Jesus saw
during his time and describes the gut wrenching feeling when confronted
by injustice. He teaches us that Christianity is not simply following rules
but what matters is what is inside the person. We, being a community of
Christs followers, have a social commitment to stick to and to live by.
This commitment calls us to respond to those in need. As commitment
was implied in Epistles, its not just enough to believe in Christ. We must
also follow his ways and do what he did. Hence, we are called to action to
respond by promoting peace, justice, integrity and compassion to those
who need us most.
o
Shifting to Tradition in the early Church communities and up to the reformation
period, Christianity underwent birthing pains. During this period, commitment
to God was lived out in the manner that deviated to negative extremes

o Prevalence of ungrounded theology and piety

Teachings became an appeal to emotion rather than logic and
reason
o Papacy became corrupt
o Church succumbed to simony and nepotism
Sold indulgences and appointed relatives to the hierarchy
o Luther and Calvin
Sola Fidei
. The main propagators, Martin Luther and John Calvin,
questioned the Church authority and their practices, particularly
the selling of indulgences. They wanted to bring back traditional
Christianity where the Bible was the main source of authority
They sought to overthrow the corrupt Church and reform it frm
within
o As it sorted itself out, Catholic church countered by saying that ethics
means a faith that needs to be also sustained by good works
Vatican II
o World Council
Invited other religions and disciplines
o commitment of the church to align itself with the times
commitment of the entire self: it emphasized faith as a
commitment of the entire self
ethics of being in the world: It also emphasized that the ethics
should be in the world, in the human person, working for the
kingdom. It understood the Church as a people of God, not simply
an institution, and that the primary mission of the Church was
always the Kingdom of God
ethics of using our conscience: Another point emphasized by
Vatican II is using our conscience. We reiterate how using our
conscience calls for a lot of sincerity and humility on our part.
Before, they had all these rulebooks to tell if one is doing the right
thing or not. For example, there is a flowchart that answers the
question if one should or should not have sex. It asks if one is
married, if the person your wife, if it is Lent, and all other
questions about the circumstance. If one answers yes to all
questions, then it is not a sin to have sex. If, however, there is a
contention even just one then it is already considered a sin.
From the above example, we can see how people before did their
morality: rigid and clear-cut. Now, because Vatican II emphasized
conscience, we shifted from a rule-book morality to discernment.
We focus more on the context of a person.

ethics of recognizing the need for human development and
engagement with other disciplines
Promote and restore human dignity
Last point of Vatican II is that Christian ethics
acknowledges the need of human development and
engaging other disciples. For the longest time, Church
didnt really care about what was happening outside as
long as the members were okay. But the church realizes
that we also need to care about human development: do
these people have dignity or the capacity to live lives with
meaning? We need to be wary of other people, because,
according to Gaudium Et Spes, Human dignity is crippled
with extreme poverty. There are a lot of people who
cannot do good because there are marginalized and
oppressed. As result of Vatican II, the Church began to
insert itself to the modern world to address the many
problems that the world is experiencing

Nicoles insight, do not copy: With the help of the Church and the gospel
teachings, we can also be empowered to actively participate in the transformation of
our country. All this we do because we are committed to continue Jesus Christs mission
of proclaiming the Kingdom of God and because ultimately, we want to bring the
Kingdom of God here on earth. Our ethics need not be geared towards heaven alone, if
we can bring heaven here on earth. To do that, we must stay awake in periods of
injustice to make sure people live a good life; and we must be the light in a very dark
tunnel. The social mission to uphold dignity does not just belong to the Church it
belongs to all of us. And, together, we can build a better, brighter future where no one
lives in the dark.

Synthesis
o Development of its essence throughout history does not mean that the
most recent one is more objectively right than the others
Not a matter of temporality/recency, but rather of context
Reflection of Gods will for His people at a certain period
Apart from context, the meaning would be essentially lost
o Development of commitment and ethics as a combination of:
Context

 Sources (Scripture, Tradition, Teachings, virtues, etc.)

And synthesized together in discernment
o Entire history is the product of discernment
Their decisions were based on a continuous process of honing
ones disposition towards a better discernment
Fostering openness and not a one-and-done attitude
Underscores the importance of being open and sincere and
humble in discernment

ETHICS
Learned from stories

OLD TESTAMENT
Covenant between God and man obedience, loyalty, response
Creation Story beginning of covenant between man and God
Patriarchs how Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac
Exodus commitment via 10 commandments
Wisdom Job commitment as turning always to God even in the midst of
suffering and exile

NEW TESTAMENT
Commitment as faith in Jesus
Matthew fishermen story
Healing of the sick, raising of the dead believing in Jesus Christ


TRADITION
Covenant towards God, through Jesus in the HS, through good times and bad, w/
individuals in a community

Feel Jesus even after he died, took on Trinitarian dimension, faith your choice
EARLY CHURCH COMMUNITIES
Rise of organizations, councils and different ideas

Council of Nicaea
Jesus is God
Commitment through faith in Jesus and believing that he is God

Ysa Fonacier 12/15/14 9:15 AM

Comment [4]: Bible Ethics: contextual
deriving from principles of God; living well
and doing the good in response to Gods
grace

Ysa Fonacier 12/14/14 5:37 PM

Comment [5]: God and people vs. God and
individual




REFORMATION PERIOD
Great Schism
Due to abuse of Roman Catholic Church
Selling indulgences, nepotism (priests giving relatives lands from church), less
emphasis on reason & understanding, rise of humanism
Ethics as both faith and good works, faith as a virtue that needs to be
strengthened


VATICAN II
John XXIII addressed the signs of the times (Renewal of the understanding of the
Church in relation to the modern world other religions and Christian traditions)
:
Would lead to more effective spreading of Gods Word and service, taking into
account different disciplines
Ethics of being in the world and focusing on the human person as well as using
conscience


Faith as free commitment of the self in the covenant of God, through Jesus, in the Holy
Spirit through good times and bad, as an individual, in a community, exercising it by
forming our conscience and being engaged in the issues of the world, working towards
the Kingdom of God.