Foundational Matter

(A) The Place of Sexual Ethics within Concrete Christian Ethics
Sexual ethics can be defined as the systematic study, from the viewpoint of moral values and principles, of human conduct insofar as this conduct is a manifestation of the totality of the p ysical and pyhic qualities which make up an individual male or female.
• Sexual ethics is treated as one aspect of Christian personal ethics.

(B) The Moral Dimension of the Human Person: General Considerations
• In order to understand the moral dimension of the human person we need to consider all the aspects of the human being. In the process of considering the human being comprehensively we hope to form an ethics that is authentically
• An authentically humanizing ethics affirms and accepts that all human beings have the moral res ons -. o romote and defen er human beings.
• The dignity of the uman person is the structural center of ethics.

(1) Respect for the Dignity of the Human Person
• The person is the primary subject and object of moral life.
• Respect for the dignity of all persons and each person is the necessary condition for all morally good acts.
• Respect for human dignity should be concrete, universal, egalitarian, absolute, and in partisan in favor of those who suffer from dehumanizing situations.
o Concrete - this respect does not refer to abstract human nature but to real human beings in complex and conflictive historical realities.
o Universal - this respect applies to all persons regardless of social grouping
o Egalitarioan - This respect affirms the equality of human persons in dignity, rejecting all discrimination.
o Absolute - This respect is rendered to persons precisely as persons, and not for what they possess, nor ehat they can give us, nor for their physical, intellectual, and social capacities, but for what they are--persons. The person is valuable most of all because he or she is a person; he or she is an end in himself or herself, and should never be used or manipulated as a mere means to an edn.
o Partisan - This respect is partisan in favor of those who suffer dehumanizing situations, in the sense that it has a preferential option in practice in favor of the liberation of those human beings whose humanity has been disfigured by dehumanizing situations--the oppressed, the destitute, and other marginalized persons.
• Respect for the human person entails respecting the concrete dimensions of the human personhood -- particularly his or her corporeality, social nature, and reason and liberty.
o Respect for corporeality - at different stages of the life of a human being, special protection and care is necessary -- there is always need for food, health care, respect for life, and physical integrity. Examples of corporeal attacks on human dignity - abandonment of children, elderly persons and the handicapped, lack of adequate housing, hunger torture, biological manipulation, homicide, etc.
o Respect for social nature of human beings - Within society, the rights and responsibilities of persons should be recognized, and as persons they should be active participants in the social and cultural life in a relation of equality with other persons. Marginalization, discrimination, and totalitarianism are attacks against human dignity.
o Respect for reason and liberty of human beings -Human beings should be active and responsible subjects of their own lives. Consequently, they should have access to information that affects them. One must respect human liberty as long as its exercise does not violate or injure the rights of other persons
(C) Christian Perspectives for the Moral Dimension of the Human Person.
• The Christian faith deepens the inherent dignity of the human person by affirming that the human person is “an image of God,”“a likeness of Christ,” and is gifted with the “active presence of the Holy Spirit.”
• Vatican 11 has dedicated chapter 1 of Gaudium et spes to the dignity of the human person, and states in no. 19, that “The dignity of man rests above all on the fact that he is called to communion with God.”
• The Bible provides a vision of the human being that has a normative value for the way Christians should understand and regard the human being.
• Elements of a biblical vision of the human person:
• The Synoptic Gospels
o The absolute value of the human person is above any human institution or “tradition”
• Mark 2:13-2:6 - Jesus is presented as the “lord” of human institutions. His dominion and freedom is transmitted to all human beings whom follow him. For a disciple of Jesus the correct norm for human conduct is the fulfillment of human beings.
o Preferential option for the weak
• All other things being equal, the believer has to always take the side of the weak and not that of the powerful. See the if passages:
• Relating to those who are marginalized for religious reasons: Mk 2:13-
17, MT 9:10-13; Lk 5:27-32
• Definition of the “neighbor” as “the most needy”: Lk 10:25-37
• Identification by Jesus with the weak: Mt 10:42 Mk 9:4 1; Mt 18; Mt 25:31-46
o The evangelical attitudes of interiority and radicality - Synoptic Gospels emphasize that the human being should be values for himself or herself from an attitude of interiority and radical ity
• The law of interiority:
• Mk 7: 14-23 and Mt 15:10-20 stress the overcoming of legal and ritual categories of “pure” and “impure” by the categories of interiority.
• The law of radicality:
• Mt 10:37-39 - the life of an apostle is one of radical decisions
• Mk 8:34-38 - Radical option is needed for entrance into Christian discipleship.
o Counter-example: Pharisaic morality
• Pharisaic morality has the following traits: vanity, hypocrisy, moral tyranny, pride, giving importance to the trivial, neglect of the important, exploitation of fellow human beings, attachment to wealth.
• Gospel values: justice, mercy and good faith.
o Jesus; the ethically normative human being
• Mk 8:34-38 - the disciple has to hand over his life as his master does
• Mk 9:33-37 - The disciple should be the servant of all since the master did not
come to be served but to serve.
• Paul
o The new human being - The Christian is a new human being compared to two the Greek and Jewish anthropologies at the time of Paul. Christian life is a life lived in grace and in hope.
• Rom 8:5-14; Gal 5:16-24 - the life of the Spirit
• Eph 4:22-24 - life of the “new” human being
o The human being who discerns - Human persons are given the ability to evaluate all
situations according to evangelical criteria.
• Phil. 1:9-11 - the subject of discernment (the disciple)
• Rom 12:1-2: the object of discernment (God’s will)
o The “free” human being - Paul defines Christian life as life of liberty
• Freedom from: sin (Rom 6:11, 18, 22; 8:2); death (Rom 6:16-23); and the Law
(Rom 7:2-4; Gal 4:21-3 1)
• The Gospel of John
o The human being as receiving the Light - to be authentically human is to accept enlightenment from the Word (John 1:1-18) and to free oneself from the inner darkness (John 3:19-21; 8:44)
o The human person is a being “in communion” - Then human being defines and realizes himself or herself by his or her capacity for communion, Only through this communion can the Christian believer “remain in God” (1 John 1:7; 1 John 3:24)
o The human being is seen essentially in terms of faith and love - To have faith and to love summarizes the life of a Christian believer
• To believe is: salvation (John 3:18); life (John 5:24; 6:47); the work to accomplish (John 6:29); vistory over the world (1 john 5:4-5).
• To love is: the “new” commandment (John 13:34-35); the commandment we have from God (1 John 4:7-21)
(D) Conclusion: The Ethical value of the Human Person--Conjoint Affirmation of Civil Ethics and of Christian Ethics
• Gaudium et Spes #12: “Believers and unbelievers agree almost unanimously that all things should be ordained to man as their center and summit.
Christian ethics recognizes the relative autonomy of human ethical reasoning, it is capable of sharing in an ethical project that is ecumenical and even interfaith, in the broadest sense of these words.
• The ethical valuing of the human person is a point of convergence between civil ethics and Christian ethics.