Manifesto of Faith - Beautiful, clear and uncompromised Catholic teaching.

Moral Law

The Catholic Church teaches that “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.” (CCC 1950).  The moral law stands in stark contrast to today’s popular belief in “moral relativism.”  Moral relativism states that truth is always relative to the person and their situation.

Many within the Catholic Church have fallen prey to the seductive call of relativism. This has led to a serious crisis among certain moral theologians who have embraced the separation between will and act, resulting in a morality essentially free of the reality of sin, shot through with “sincerity” and coated in talk of “complexity.”  In turn, some Catholics have concluded that “freedom” involves choosing for oneself what is true or false. Pope John Paul II addressed this misreading of truth and morality in his encyclical Evangelium Vitae (“The Gospel of Life”), where he stated:

This view of freedom leads to a serious distortion of life in society. If the promotion of the self is understood in terms of absolute autonomy, people inevitably reach the point of rejecting one another. Everyone else is considered an enemy from whom one has to defend oneself. . . . In this way, any reference to common values and to a truth absolutely binding on everyone is lost, and social life ventures on to the shifting sands of complete relativism. At that point, everything is negotiable, everything is open to bargaining: even the first of the fundamental rights, the right to life. (par 20)

Christ’s Good News was, and still is, that salvation is possible for us all — however, those who wish salvation must repent of their sins. One cannot be repentant unless a real, objective moral law exists. Moral relativism makes repentance and forgiveness―both human and divine―not only impossible but useless. It follows that all moral relativists imperil their salvation.

Related Stories

  • How liberal Catholics are promoting division in the church
  • Guardians of the natural law
  • Relativism is ‘root of the new moral paradigm’
  • The Obvious Problems with Moral Relativism
DATE October 13, 2019 CATEGORY Issue
← BackNext →
Manifesto of Faith - Beautiful, clear and uncompromised Catholic teaching.CITY OF LIGHT presents an ARCADIA FILMS LTD. production MANIFESTO OF FAITH narrator RICHARD PAYNE original text written by GERHARD CARDINAL MÜLLER executive producers JEFF DAVIS AND GUY NAPIER visual effects ALLEN MORIN music by EXTREME MUSIC tridentine mass cinematography ALEXANDER CHOONG producers STEPHEN AND RICHARD PAYNE director and editor STEPHEN PAYNE
© 2023 Manifesto of Faith. ARCADIA FILMS LTD. INC. - MANIFESTO OF FAITH IS A PROJECT OF CITY OF LIGHT, A 501(C)3 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. YOUR DONATION IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE IN THE UNITED STATES. CITY OF LIGHT’S EIN IS 38-3111316.
Manifesto of Faith - Beautiful, clear and uncompromised Catholic teaching.
  • Declaración De Fe
  • Take Action
    • Answer the Call
    • Donate to the Cause
    • Provide Us Feedback
    • Organize a Watch Party
    • Pray and Fast
    • Read the Manifesto
    • Review The News
    • Examine The Issues
    • Share Online
  • About
    • Press Kit
    • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn