Critical Use of Scripture in Morality

The critical usage of scripture in morality is laborious and intricate. To relate scripture, Kenneth
Himes identifies four related tasks:

1. The Exegetical Task

Assessing the meaning of the text in its original context. Exegesis is deduced from the Greek
Exegeisthai meaning "to drew out". It is a method of drawing out the meaning of a given text.
These are various in doing exegesis: Synchronic (Gk "with time") studies the final form of the
text. Diachronic (Gk "through time") concerned development of the text and traditions accross
the passage of time.

2. The Hermeneutical Task

Assessing the meaning of the text for today. Hermeneutics is deduced from the Greek
hermeneuein, meaning, “to explain". It is the theory of reading, interpreting and understanding
of text whether written or serving as documents of life in Greek mythology, Hermes (the
messenger of the Olympian gods) role was to convey and to make intelligible for mortals the
message of gods.

3. The Methodological Task

The methodological task is a quest in assessing the use of scripture within the number of
spheres of moral reflection. How one apprehends the nature of morality will influence the role
of scripture in moral reflection.

The scripture was stressed in morality for a number of modes:

a. Revealed morality - constitute a prescriptive function by offering authoritative direction for

judgments and behavior.

b. Revealed reality - constitute an illuminative function. It advances religious framework

informing the moral life by interpreting the presence and action of God. It prompts us to the
right direction in responding.

4. The Theological Task

Expounds the engagement of scripture to other sources of moral wisdom. The theological task
of anchoring Scripture to morality is a quest in assessing the mixture of biblical materials with
other sources of moral wisdom.
The Church and the Moral Life

Gula, cited Bruce Birch and Larry Rasmussen identifying three ways in which the Church
functions in the moral life:

1. The Church as the shaper of Moral Character

Our mode of visualizing, judging, and acting are all anchored to the imagination, which is
influenced by the communities to which we belong and to the images by which our
communities live. Only a fragment of the moral life is influenced by the specific, conscious
inculcations of moral teachings, which the Church highlights on moral issues.

2. The Church as Bearer of Moral Tradition

The Church as bearer of moral tradition influences moral character. It intensifies a person to
situate oneself within a history of value and along a continuum of unfolding. The moral tradition
offers a sphere of compass for moral advancement and a composition of accountability wherein
it is necessary to evaluate what sort of character and what conduct is articulated authentically
of the tradition.

3. The Church as a Community of Moral Deliberation

Through a community of debate and deliberation, the Church shapes and directs the moral
maturity of its members by identifying the underlying reasons and convictions, which support
its moral standpoint. It challenges the faithful to move beyond an emotive response to an
ethical contention and to identify and to assimilate the fundamental convictions, which underlie
the standpoint, adopted by the Church.