School of Education, Arts and Sciences

Christian Faith Education Department

LEARNING MODULE
CFED 1023 (Christian Morality in Our Times)

Lesson 2: HUMAN NATURE/THE HUMAN PERSON

Topics: The Nature of the Human Person and Their Implications for Morality
Some views on the Ultimate End/Destiny for the Human Person and their
Serious Implications for Morality

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

a. Describe the holistic nature of the human person;

b. Explain how the moral norms flow from the nature and the end of the human person;
c. Trace the source of the wrong principles of morality;
d. Explain the serious moral implications of the different ultimate goals for the human
person by some philosophies and beliefs; and
e. Cite some probable things that will happen if the wrong principles of morality are correct.

LEARNING CONTENT:

INTRODUCTION

In our discussion last week, we mentioned the three bases on how morality came up
with the norms for the human person which are: the origin of all things, nature, and the destiny
of all. Among these three bases, the closest or nearest from which morality derived norms
for the human person is Nature. Nature in its totality refers to our environment as a whole,
and since we are living on earth or specifically since we have a body (physical part) that is
connected to mother nature/earth, we are essentially part of nature. With this, we will discuss
first the characteristics of the nature of the human person based on nature, after which is
his/her traits in a theological view and the last part will present some views about his/her
ultimate end/destiny.

Lesson Proper

Human Nature/The Human Person

Who or what is the Human person based on Nature?

Since the actions of the human person flow from what he/she is, we
need to discuss his/her nature by enumerating its essential characteristics.
1. Rational being - The human person has intellect/mind/reason. She/he discovers things by
reason, and she/he is the only animal who knows that she/he knows. He/she thinks,
rationalizes, reflects, and other activities of the intellect.

2. Has free will. The human person is free/ has freedom which means he/she has two or more
options or choices and also has will which is the power to act or not to act on his/her
choices. Will is the power to do or not to do or to act or not to act.

3. Has Conscience. – is the practical judgment of the intellect on what is good or what is bad,
and is prompting the person to always do/follow what is good.

4. Loving being – Aside from the love between the opposite sex which is designed for the
continuity of the human species, generally, loving means desiring the good of others.

5. Body - Person – We have a flesh (physical part), which connects us to the material world.
Our bodies (physical parts) are dependent on nature/earth. Our bodies use the elements of
the earth. The death of Mother Earth will also be the death of our bodies.

6. Sexual – refers to being male or female which is intended for companionship and
procreation.

7. Unique Though Social: - We are individuals and need independence but we are also social
beings: who live with others. These two are inseparable. We are individuals and need
independence but we also need the presence of others to complete ourselves.

8. Historical: We have a continuity with the past.

9. Transcendental: We always aim higher, to surpass our achievements, since we are longing
for Completeness or total satisfaction/contentment. This also means that the human
person has Metaphysical (meta = beyond) aspects such as intellect, emotion,
conscience, and others.

What is the Implication of the Human Nature to Morality? Going directly to the point,
what does your nature have to say about your actions? As we have stated above, our actions
flow from our nature. For example, if you are historical beings, then you must learn from your
past experiences; if you are a loving being, you must always desire what is good for others;
if you are a rational being, then think before you act; if you are transcendental, then you are
not satisfied with your present achievements, or it will lead us to ask and reflect that if we are
transcendental, are we heading to a certain destiny. if we are body persons, do we need to
take care of Mother Earth? and the likes. Among these traits of the nature of the human
person, which should regulate the others and his/her human actions/decisions?
Among the nine traits stated above, the one that should always regulate others or
human actions which proceeds from the other traits is Conscience. This is because using
other traits like intellect or free will alone without the intervention of Conscience can lead to
misuse or abuse of human actions. An example is thinking, if you are problematic, you can
think of some bad actions as a solution to your problems which in the end is not the case,
but it will just add to or complicate your problem.

Since we are Christians who strongly believe in the existence of a Creator (Theos or
God) as the origin of all and the proper destiny that this Creator prepared for us, we also
need to look at the other traits of the human person based on this perspective.

Who/What is the human person in a Theological Perspective/View?

1. Masterpiece of God (God’s Image

and likeness): If we are the image and
likeness of God, means we reflect some of
the important characteristics of God such
as goodness, loving, just, compassion, and
many others. So, if God is good, then
basically we are also good; if God is just,
we are also basically just, and others.

2. Fundamentally/innately good or
moral being: No human person is evil, only
our wrong actions are evil and not the human person.

3. God’s partner / “co-creators” of God. God created the world and us as “incomplete” or
imperfect so our mission is to develop or bring ourselves and our world to perfection. This is
why we are called stewards of God’s creation. Part of our being “co-creators” of God is our
being sexual (male or female) which is designed for procreation.

4. Rational being– has intellect or reasoning or mind.

5. Free–will – has the freedom and will which he/she can use to act or not to act.

6. Brother’s keeper (social, and communal): we need to take care of others aside from ourselves.

7. Weak / has fallen nature/ “brokenness”: This is called original sin in Theology. In other terms,
we may call this being “incomplete”, or “unfinished”. From this being incomplete comes your
mission which is to finish or complete yourselves. Point for reflection: What if God created us
as perfect beings, what would you do?

8. Graced: this means we are aided/being assisted by God in our journey of bringing ourselves
to perfection. In the Catholic Church, God’s grace will come to us through the Seven
Sacraments and our other ways of connecting with our Creator.

9. Transcendental: this pushes us to look for the ultimate meaning of life and ultimately to our
God.
10. Children/family of God. We belong to the family of God, formally through Baptism.

11. Destined for the Kingdom. We have our destiny which we commonly call “heaven” or
“paradise” or in Jesus’ words called the Kingdom of God.

Most of these traits of the human person in this Theological respective are the same as
those traits based on Nature since these are parts of the basic nature of the human person. There
are just other traits that are rooted in our connectedness with our Creator. So, for its relevance to
Morality, we have to ask the same question, what do these traits of the human person in the
Theological view say on how he/she should act or live? The same answer is that these traits of
the human person should strongly influence how he/she acts or lives his/her life. In the formulation
of specific norms for the human person, these traits should be strongly considered since these
are the ones that will help direct the human person to perfection/completeness or to his/her proper
destiny which we call the Kingdom of God. The same clarification is also why we need to formulate
norms/rules/laws for the human person if his/her nature should influence his/her actions. Well,
many people abuse their other faculties like mind/intellect, freedom, and others, and they also
ignore the very basic and immediate norm which is Conscience. This is why there are many norms
or sets of norms laid for the good of the human person and one of the very basic sets of norms is
the Ten Commandments.
With this, we hope that the sources of the norms of Morality are now very clear to us. For a
kind of widening horizon, let us look at the other views on the destiny of the human person since
we also said earlier that the concept of destiny is also one of the sources of the norms of morality.

Some Views on the Ultimate End/Destiny of the Human Person

Most if not all of these other views or concepts of the destiny for the human person are just
products of philosophizing (Philosophy).

a. Hedonism
For this Philosophy, the ultimate goal for the human person is Happiness, and this
happiness is found in pleasure (“sarap)”. So, “kung saan ang masarap’ dun ang kasiyahan”. This
pleasure is sensual.
Therefore, for this certain philosophy, the norm for human action is to look for
pleasure/pleasurable things.

b. Marxism: A philosophy by Karl Marx which looks at the human person as purely material being or
from matter and there are no such things as metaphysical aspects such as the soul and also God.
This view just focused on the way of governance since it was more of a reaction to the abuses of the
democratic and other forms of governing people.
For Marxism, the ultimate goal of people is to have a Classless Society (no rich, no poor).
This was achieved in a communistic form of government. Development or progress must always
be for the common good / not individualistic.
Norm: Do everything for the common good. Never mind individual goals or individual
progress, set aside yourselves. “all for one, one for all”.
c. Nihilism:
For this philosophy, the human person and his/her life have no ultimate meaning, no ultimate
value.
If the human person and life are meaningless or have no value at all, what is your norm for life
and for your actions? Aside from having no definite norm, you reflect on the danger of this kind
of philosophy.

d. Christian view:
For Christianity, the ultimate goal/destiny for the human person is to enter the Kingdom or
to have eternal union/happiness with God.
Norm: Follow the teachings of God such as the Ten Commandments and others.

As you may have noticed in our discussion, the view of the nature of the human person and
his/her ultimate destiny plays a very crucial role in laying out norms for human actions or for
his/her way of living. As we have said in our past discussions, the “wrong” concept of nature and
the destiny of the human person causes a lot of misconceptions about morality and produces a
lot of wrong principles or norms. Examples of these wrong principles/norms of morality are the
following:
a. Morality is a matter of opinion. This means that moral norms are subjective, and depend on the
person.
b. All opinions about morality are equal and correct. Therefore, all opinions should be followed.
c. Morality is outside the world of practical people. Whatever is impractical is not good.
d. Morality develops guilt and moral obligation which makes life unhappy. So, we need to set aside
moral norms.

Point for reflection: What are the possible or even probable things that will happen to people and
society if all these wrong principles about morality are correct?

After discussing all the sources of norms for the human person and their serious
implications if there are misconceptions, our next question is, what should we judge as good or
bad? Is it the human person or his/her qualities or traits or his/her actions? Reflect on this for our
discussion next meeting.
 *****END OF LESSON*****

EVALUATION:

Directions: Read each statement below carefully. Write T on the line if you think a
statement is TRUE. Write an F on the line if you think the statement is FALSE. (2 pts each)

1. There are three bases of morality which are the origin of all things, nature, and the destiny of
all. T
2. One of the human nature of a human person is that everyone has their standard and things
they like. True
3. Human beings aim high because they want to achieve greater things. T
4. One of the important traits of a human person is being loving. F
5. The key to happiness according to hedonism is being healthy and financially stable. F
6. Marxism believed that human persons are often material beings. F
7. Nihilism believes that humans have no ultimate meaning. T
8. Christians believe that the destiny of the human person is to enter the paradise of God. T
9. Morality is subjective and is a matter of opinion. F
10. One of the traits of a human person is his freedom to choose and decide. T
11. Norms are also called rules, standards, and non-normative. F
12. Morality is a science that deals with the quality of human acts/actions. T
13. Christian morality is based only on Moral Theology. F
14. The wrong norm is the product of one’s misconceptions of morality. T
15. In Moral Theology norms were given and revealed by God. T

REFERENCES:

Online References:

Principles: The Christian Understanding of the Human Person – A Publication of Christendom

College Volume
III, Issue IV. Retrieved February 01, 2021 from
https://www.getprinciples.com/wpcontent/uploads/2017/09/Principles_Vol3_Iss4.pdf

The Human Person: Nature. Ethical and Theological Viewpoints. Retrieved February 01, 2021
from https://metanexus.net/human-person-nature-ethical-and-theological-viewpoints/

Picture credits:

Creation of Adam by Michelangelo: https://www.signumfirenze.it/en/prodotto/creation-of-adam-detail-

bymichelangel/

Human Nature: https://mozartcultures.com/an-article-on-human-nature/