POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

QUEZON CITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUITEMENT

MEM 647 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS AND VALUES EDUCATION

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. MILAGROS CAARES

SUBMITTED BY:
MR. MARIO L. FLORES II

Summer, SY 2015 2016

The Moral and Ethical Teachings of Jesus Christ

Christs Presentation of Himself as Teacher

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth
any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest
unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt 11:2530)

In this passage Jesus makes two assertions about himself:

1. that he is the almighty Son of God.
2. that nevertheless he is meek and lowly in heart.

He gives two descriptions of his teaching:

1. that it is a yoke to which his disciples must submit, and a burden they must
carry.
2. that nevertheless his yoke is easy and his burden is light.

And then on the basis of these two assertions and these two descriptions, he issues two
invitations, each accompanied by a promise:
1. come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
2. take my yoke on you and learn from me . . . and you will find rest for your souls.

Two Descriptions
1. Christs ethical teaching is a yoke
Jesus Christ does not hide the fact that his ethical teaching is a yoke which his disciples
must accept, and a burden they must carry.

The meaning of the term yoke. In the ancient world a yoke was a specially shaped
piece of wood which a farmer would fit on to the neck of his oxen so that he could
control them and harness them to plough the fields, thresh the corn, or pull the farm
carts. Ancient kings, therefore, called their government a yoke because by it they
controlled and guided the people. And teachers of morality and religion called their
teaching a yoke for the same reason.

2. Christs ethical teaching is an easy yoke

A good farmer would see to it that the yokes which he put on his oxen fitted them well
and did not chafe them. It thus made it easier for the oxen to do their work. If a boy
wants to become a champion tennis player, he must submit to his coach. Obeying the
coachs instructions may seem hard at first; but it is better than hitting the ball
uncontrollably and in the end it will make the playing easier, more successful and more
enjoyable. It is always better to drive a car according to the makers instructions. Christ
knows how our bodies, minds, emotions and desires were meant to work. He made
them! His yoke is designed to fit us, and so to make life easier.

The Two Invitations

1. The first invitation and promise
The first invitation is addressed to people who are weary and burdened.

To those who come to him Christ gives immediate rest, because he gives:
1. immediate forgiveness and release from guilt: see e.g. Luke 5:20.
2. a restored sense of purpose in life: see e.g. 1 Thess 1:910, to serve the
living God.

3. an immediate sense of being loved and valued by God, and therefore of being of
infinite and permanent significance: see e.g. Matt 12:12; Rom 5:5 11.
4. an assurance of Gods care in the practical affairs of life and relief from anxiety:
see e.g. Matt 6:2530.

2. The second invitation and promise

This is to enter the School of Christ and to be taught and trained by him how to live. His
teaching will require standards of behaviour that are very different from the worlds
standards; and for that reason they may well incur the worlds hostility and opposition.
But here too Christ promises rest to our souls, because he can effect within us a new
birth by which we become children of God, and receive new powers with which to carry
out his instructions and to live according to his moral standards: see e.g. 1 John 5:34.

Jesus the Teacher

The First and Greatest Commandment
Jesus was once asked what in his estimation was the greatest commandmentthe
basic principle from which all the others are derived? He replied: Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the
great and first commandment (Matt 22:3738).

We see at once what, according to Christ, the basic motivation behind all true morality
must be: love. Not desire for happiness or success, but love. And not love of oneself,
nor primarily love for ones neighbour and the community (though, as a later study will
show, that comes second), but love for God, the Creator. The world is his world. He
made it to serve his pleasure and to run according to his design. It is only rational that
our prime duty should be to live according to our Creators will, and, out of sheer
gratitude for our existence, to love him. In this context love for God does not mean
some sentimental religious feeling: this is the love of God, says the Bible (1 John 5:3),
that we keep his commandments. We are to do so with all our heart, mind, soul and
strength.

In breaking the first and greatest commandment (and we have all done so), we are
guilty of the greatest sinfailing to love God.

The Christian apostle John summed it up in two short sentences. We love God,
because he first loved us. This is the love of God that we keep his commandments (1
John 4:19; 5:3).

The Second Greatest Commandment

According to Jesus Christ the second greatest of all the commandments is: Thou shalt
love thy neighbour as thyself (Matt 22:3740).

The lesson is clear: our duty is to act in a compassionate, loving and practical way to
those whom we actually encounter in daily life that are in any need whatever, if we are
able to help them.

This lesson can be reinforced as follows. Another way of expressing the commandment
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself is to say, as Jesus did on another occasion:
Whatever you would that people should do to you, that do also yourself to them (Matt
7:12). If you were mugged like the man in the parable, and were lying half dead on the
road, would you not want the passers-by to help you? Would you not complain bitterly if
they ignored you? Well then, treat anyone who is in any need whatever, in the same
way as you would wish to be treated if you were in that need.

Loving your neighbour as yourself means that you must be prepared to act the good
and compassionate neighbour not only towards you friends, your fellow countrymen,
and people whom you like, but also towards people you do not like, and even towards
you enemies.

The lesson is clear. Loving our neighbour as ourselves means more than loving just
our family and friends, our fellow countrymen and people of the same religion or ethnic
group.

We must love and serve people of all ethnic groups, of all religions, and even. those
who hate us and are our enemies. Jesus said (Luke 6:2728): But I say unto you . . .

Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who despitefully use you. And certainly no follower of Christ is allowed to
persecute people of other religions.

St. Augustines View on the Human Person

St. Augustines philosophy is an attempt to reconcile and bring together an admirable

synthesis the wisdom of Greek philosophy and the divine truths contained in the
scriptures.

His philosophy is said to be eudaimonistic, means that the highest ethical goal is
happiness and personal well-being.

According to him, God is the living personal God, the creator of all things, and the
supreme ruler of the universe.

According to him God is:

An Absolute Spirit

The Absolute Will

The Absolute Intelligence

The Absolute Freedom

The Absolute Good

The Absolute Holiness

Imago-Dei-relationship
Human person bears the image of God and the human persons crowning glory resides
in his being an imago Dei.

St. Augustines teachings

Everyone should give due respect and love to everyone because the others too are
images of God.

For Augustine, God created the world out of nothing with love and the human person is
part of his creation.

Life, for Augustine, is a dialectic movement towards love.

Virtue, is the order of love.

All created things are good. Nothing is evil in itself.

Augustines Philosophy
Evil is not an existing reality (deprivation)
Summum Bonum created the world of matter and it cannot be evil. It is the awareness
of a person on what is good or who God is.
Turning to God or not is a voluntary act.
Evil or Sin is the the product of the will.
All humanity possesses freedom of the will.
Virtue is the product of Gods grace.
Human person is not self-sufficient.
Human persons pride leads him away from Gods grace.
Human person is in a constant struggle for happiness.
Subordinating to the Divine Order by seeking eternal peace.
Love of God is the means to find real satisfaction.

The purpose of human existence is to find happiness in God but not go beyond or
defeat his purpose for us.

Doctrine of Disordered Love

From this doctrine, Augustine held that the human society can be divided between those
who love themselves and the world.
The society who loves God, Augustine called the Civitas Dei, the City of God.
The society who loves self and the world, he called Civitas Mundi, the City of the
World.

Augustine believed that all men, so long as they are mortal, must of necessity be
miserable. Everyone should, therefore, make a choice as to where he would like to be
with. Every human person should, therefore, seek for God's grace in order to be led to
his proper end. Hence, human beings should cling to the law of conscience, which will
admonish them to do good and to avoid evil, the ultimate norm of morality.

Thomas Aquinas: Moral Philosophy

The moral philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) involves a merger of at least
two apparently different traditions: Aristotelian eudaimonism and Christian theology. On
the one hand, Aquinas follows Aristotle in thinking that an act is good or bad depending
on whether it contributes to or prevents us from our proper human endthe telos or
final goal at which all human actions aim. That telos is eudaimonia, or happiness, where
happiness is understood in terms of completion, perfection, or well-being. Achieving
happiness, however, requires a range of intellectual and moral virtues that enable us to
understand the nature of happiness and motivate us to seek it in a reliable and
consistent way.
On the other hand, Aquinas believes that we can never achieve complete or final
happiness in this life. For him, final happiness consists in beatitude, or supernatural
union with God. Such an end lies far beyond what we through our natural human
capacities can attain.
Moreover, Aquinas believes that we inherited a propensity to sin from our first parent,
Adam. While our nature is not wholly corrupted by sin, it is nevertheless diminished by
sins stain, as evidenced by the fact that our wills are at enmity with Gods. Thus we
need Gods help in order to restore the good of our nature and bring us into conformity
with his will. To this end, God instils us with his grace which comes in the form of
divinely instantiated virtues and gifts.

1. Metaethics
Aquinass metaethical views are indebted to the writings of several Christian thinkers,
particularly Augustines Confessions, Boethiuss De hebdomadibus, and perhaps
Anselms Monologium. Due to the constraints of space, the present section will only
consider Augustines influence on Aquinass views.
According to Augustine, things that exist are good (Confessions VII.12). This claim is
meant to express a basic metaphysical idea, namely, that if something exists, then it
necessarily has some degree of goodness. Augustines argument for this claim is as
follows. We can divide existing things into two categories: incorruptible things and
corruptible things, with the latter being inferior to the former. If something is
incorruptible, then by definition it cannot be made worse; that is, it cannot lose whatever

goodness it may have.

Echoing the general thrust of Augustines argument, Aquinas claims that Goodness and
being are really the same. (Summa Theologiae [hereafter ST] Ia 5.1). The term being
here is roughly equivalent to what is actual or existing. Thus what Aquinas means to
convey is that something is good insofar as it actual. By contrast, evil has no actuality in
its own right. It would be a mistake, then, to speak of evil as an actual thing, if by
thing we mean an existing being or quality. For evil is a deprivation of what is actual,
like blindness or sickness. For this reason, Aquinas says that something is evil
inasmuch as it is deprived of some particular good that pertains to its due or proper
perfection.
Aquinas considers a fairly straightforward objection to this view: Goodness can be
more or less. But being cannot be more or less. Therefore, goodness differs from
being. In other words, goodness is a relative property. Some people are morally better
than other people. Some horses are more developed and better trained than other
horses. Some organs are healthier and function better than organs. In each case, the
goodness things have will not be identical in terms of quantity.
We might also claim that everything that has substantial being also has substantial
goodness. That is, something is good insofar it exists or has being.
2. The Nature of Human Action
According to Aquinass metaethics, human goodness depends on performing acts that
are in accord with our human nature. Only then can we understand the nature of human
action and the end at which such action aims.
Aquinas provides the most comprehensive treatment of this subject in the second part
of the Summa theologiae. There, he explains that reason is comprised of two powers:
one cognitive, the other appetitive. The cognitive power is the intellect, which enables
us to know and understand. The intellect also enables us to apprehend the goodness a
thing has. The appetitive power of reason is called the will. Aquinas describes the will as
a native desire for the understood good. That is, it is an appetite that is responsive to
the intellects estimations of what is good or choiceworthy. On this view, all acts of will
are dependent on antecedent acts of intellect; the intellect must supply the will with the
object to which the latter inclines. In turn, that object moves the will as a final cause
because the good understood is the object of the will, and moves it as an end.
Aquinas does not think that our character wholly determines our choices, as evidenced
by the fact that we sometimes make decisions that are contrary to our established
habits.
Aquinas also thinks that the good in question functions as an endthe object for the
sake of which the agent acts. For the object of the will is the end and the good. Many
actions we perform are not products of our own deliberation and voluntary judgment
(like nervous twitches, coughs, or unconscious tapping of the foot).

3. The Cardinal Virtues

Aquinas offers several definitions of virtue. According to one very general account, a
virtue is a habit that disposes an agent to perform its proper operation or movement.
Because we know that reason is the proper operation of human beings, it follows that a
virtue is a habit that disposes us to reason well. This account is too broad for our
present purposes.
A cursory glance at the second part of the Summa Theologiae would reveal a host of
virtues that are indicative of human goodness. But there are essentially four virtues from
which Aquinass more extensive list flows. These virtues are prudence, justice,
temperance, and courage. Aquinas refers to these virtues as the cardinal virtues. They
are the principle habits on which the rest of the virtues hinge (cardo). To put the matter
another way, each cardinal virtue refers to a general type of rectitude that has various
specifications.
For example, the virtue of prudence (which we will consider in more detail shortly)
denotes a certain rectitude of discretion in any actions or matters whatever. Any virtue
the point of which is to promote discretion with respect to action will be considered a
part of prudence. Similarly, temperance concerns the moderation of passion, and thus
will include any virtue that seeks to restrain those desires of a more or less insatiable
sort.
Moreover, Aquinas thinks the cardinal virtues provide general templates for the most
salient forms of moral activity: commanding action (prudence); giving to those what is
due (justice); curbing the passions (temperance); and strengthening the passions
against fear (courage). A more detailed sketch of these virtues follows (although I will
address them in an order that is different from the one Aquinas provides).
a. Prudence
In order to act well, we need to make good judgments about how we should behave.
This is precisely the sort of habit associated with prudence, which Aquinas defines as
"wisdom concerning human affairs" or right reason with respect to action.
According to Aquinas, then, the virtue of prudence is a kind of intellectual aptitude that
enables us to make judgments that are consonant with (and indeed ordered to) our
proper end. Note here that prudence does not establish the end at which we aim. Our
end is the human good, which is predetermined by our rational nature.
As a cardinal virtue, prudence functions as a principle virtue on which a variety of other
excellences hinge. Those excellences include: memory, intelligence, docility,
shrewdness, reason, foresight, circumspection, and caution.
Without these
excellences, we may commit a number of cognitive errors that may prevent us from
acting in a morally appropriate way.
b. Temperance

Temperance has a twofold meaning. In a general sense, the term denotes a kind of
moderation common to every moral virtue. In its more restricted sense, temperance
concerns the moderation of physical pleasures, especially those associated with eating,
drinking, and sex.
According to Aquinas, the purpose of temperance is to refine the way we enjoy bodily
pleasures. Specifically, it creates in the agent a proper sense of moderation with respect
to what is pleasurable. For a person can more easily subordinate herself to reason
when her passions are not excessive or deficient. On this view, bodily enjoyment can in
fact be an integral part of a rational life.
c. Courage
Temperance and its subsidiary virtues restrain the strong appetite, such as the sexual
appetite. But courage and its subsidiary virtues modify what Aquinas calls the irascible
appetite. By irascible appetite Aquinas means the desire for that which is difficult to
attain or avoid. Occasionally, the difficulty in achieving or avoiding certain objects can
give rise to various degrees of fear and, in turn, discourage us from adhering to
reasons instruction. In these cases, we may refuse to endure the pain or discomfort
required for achieving our proper human good. Note here that fear is not innately
contrary to reason.
After all, there are some things that we should fear, like an untimely death or a bad
reputation. Only when fear prevents us from facing what we ought to endure does it
become inimical to reason. In these cases, we need a virtue that moderates those
appetites that prevent from undertaking more daunting tasks. According to Aquinas,
courage is that virtue.
d. Justice
The virtues we have considered thus far concern our own state. The virtue of justice,
however, governs our relationships with others. Specifically, it denotes a sustained or
constant willingness to extend to each person what he or she deserves. Beyond this,
Aquinass account of justice exhibits considerable breadth, complexity, and admits of
various distinctions. Constraints of space, however, force me to mention only two sets of
distinctions: (1) legal (or general) and particular justice, and (2) commutative and
distributive justice.
The purpose of legal justice is to govern our actions according to the common good.
Construed this way, justice is a general virtue which concerns not individual benefits but
community welfare.
4. Natural Law
Aquinas is often described as a natural law theorist. While natural law is a significant
aspect of his moral philosophy, it is a subject of considerable dispute and
misunderstanding. Of course, this is not the place to adjudicate competing
interpretations of Aquinass view.

What is the natural law? We might attempt to answer this question by considering both
the meaning of the term law as well as the laws origin. On Aquinass view, a law is a
rule or measure of human acts, whereby a person is induced to act or is restrained from
acting. Elsewhere, he describes a law as a dictate of practical reason emanating from
a ruler. At a very general level, then, a law is a precept that serves as a guide to and
measure of human action. Thus whether an action is good will depend on whether it
conforms to or abides by the relevant law.
According to Aquinas, every law is ultimately derived from what he calls the eternal law.
The eternal law refers to Gods providential ordering of all created things to their
proper end. We participate in that divine order in virtue of the fact that God creates in us
both a desire for and an ability to discern what is good (he calls this ability the light of
natural reason). According to Aquinas, it is this participation in the eternal law by the
rational creature that is called the natural law. On this view, natural law is but an
extension of the eternal law. For by it God ordains us to final happiness by implanting in
us both a general knowledge of and inclination for goodness. Note here that the natural
law is not an external source of authority.
According to Aquinas, all human actions are governed by a general principle or precept
that is foundational to and necessary for all practical reasoning: good is to be done and
evil is to be avoided. This principle is not something we can ignore or defy. Rather, it is
an expression of how practical thought and action proceed in creatures such as
ourselves.
5. Charity and Beatitude
Incomplete happiness is a state we achieve by means of our natural human aptitudes.
Through them, we can cultivate some measure of virtue and, in turn, be happier than we
would be otherwise. Perfect or complete happiness, however, lies beyond what we are
able to achieve on our own. Thus Aquinas insists that it is necessary for man to receive
from God some additional [habits], whereby he may be directed to supernatural
happiness.
According to Aquinas, the habits to which he refers here are infused or theological
virtues. They are given to us graciously by God and direct us to our final and perfect
good in the same way that the moral virtues direct us to a kind of happiness made
possible by the exercise of our natural capacities.

References
Thomas Aquinas, St. Questiones de vertitate (QDV). 1954. Trans. Robert W. Mulligan,
S.J. Henry Regnery Company.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Summa contra gentiles (SCG), vol. I. 1975. Trans. Anton Pegis.
Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Summa contra gentiles (SCG), vol. III. 1975. Trans. Vernon
Bourke. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.

Thomas Aquinas, St. Summa theologiae (ST ). 1981. Trans. Fathers of the English
Dominican Province. Westminster: Christian Classics.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Commentary on Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics (In NE). 1993.
Trans. C. I. Litzinger, O. P. Notre Dame, IN: Dumb Ox Books.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Questiones de malo (QDM). 1995. Trans. John A. Oesterle and
Jean T. Oesterle. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Thomas Aquinas, St. Disputed Questions on the Virtues. 2005. Trans. E.M. Atkins. Eds.
E.M. Atkins and Thomas Williams. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Augustine. Confessions. 1993. Trans. F.J. Sheed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Christian Morality and You. James Finley. 1976. Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana.