415. What is the moral law? (part 1)
(Comp 415) The moral law is a work of
divine Wisdom. It prescribes the ways and the rules of conduct that lead to the
promised beatitude and it forbids the ways that turn away from God.
“In brief”
(CCC 1975) According to Scripture the Law is a fatherly
instruction by God which prescribes for man the ways that lead to the promised
beatitude, and proscribes the ways of evil. (CCC 1976) "Law is an
ordinance of reason for the common good, promulgated by the one who is in
charge of the community" (St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II, 90, 4).
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 1951) Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent
authority for the sake of the common good. The moral law presupposes the
rational order, established among creatures for their good and to serve their
final end, by the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. All law finds its
first and ultimate truth in the eternal law. Law is declared and established by
reason as a participation in the providence of the living God, Creator and
Redeemer of all. "Such an ordinance of reason is what one calls law"
(Leo XIII, Libertas praestantissimum:
AAS 20 (1887/88), 597; cf. St. Thomas
Aquinas, STh I-II, 90, 1). Alone
among all animate beings, man can boast of having been counted worthy to
receive a law from God: as an animal endowed with reason, capable of
understanding and discernment, he is to govern his conduct by using his freedom
and reason, in obedience to the One who has entrusted everything to him (Cf.
Tertullian, Adv. Marc, 2, 4: PL 2,
288-289).
Reflection
(CCC 1950) The moral law is the work of
divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defined as fatherly instruction,
God's pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead
to the promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away
from God and his love. It is at once firm in its precepts and, in its promises,
worthy of love. [IT CONTINUES]
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