Category: Morals

The First Vatican Council pronounced that the pope, in or out of council, would be protected by God with the gift of infallibility whenever he should define a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. Matters of Faith can only involve religious propositions and the matter of those propositions are true or false judgments. A moral definition would involve a proposition that is right or wrong, rather than true or false. The difference between the two involves the end being sought. A doctrinal pronouncement defines a religious truth, which is the object of the intellect. A moral pronouncement defines a good, which is the object of the will. One could say that Faith engages intellectual belief, morals engage voluntary action.

A moral act is a human act performed with knowledge and free will. Every consciously deliberate action is a moral act, and each one is either morally good or morally evil. If it leads us to our final end, eternal salvation, it is a morally good act. If it takes us away from salvation, it is a morally evil act, a sin. Morals, therefore, pertain to human conduct.

Articles in this section treat of a wide variety of issues that, immediately, proximately, or remotely, deal with the morality of human acts, whether individually or as a society.

Simian Antinomianism

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The heresy of antinomianism received its name from Martin Luther, who, wrote against the more “extreme” doctrines of Johannes Agricola, the enfant terrible of Luther’s own novel doctrine of Justification by faith only. In brief, antinomianism — coming from anti … Continue reading →