Course Syllabus

Moral Theology I

Course Syllabus

Instructor: Jeffrey S Arrowood

E-mail: arrowoodj@mfldacs.net

Web Sites:

http://cchsmoraltheology.blogspot.com for daily class journal

http://www.schoolnotes.com/54449/arrowood.html for weekly homework schedule

Course Description

This course will begin with an examination of natural law, which God has built into our human nature, and our state of interdependence. Next, the course will explore salvation history and divine law to highlight the truths that we were all created to participate in a relationship of love with God and with others, that sin destroys those relationships, and that Jesus Christ is the only way those relationships can be restored. The course will focus on the role morality plays in cooperating with the graces of Jesus Christ to help us fill our vocation to holiness.

Materials Needed

Textbook Dear Brother Thomas (provided)

Bible

3-ringed binder

Loose leaf paper

Unit packet (provided at the beginning of each unit – if you lose the copy given to you, you will be required to purchase a replacement copy)

Key Concepts of the Course

This could be one of the most important classes you will ever take. The things you learn in this course will do more than fill your mind. They could actually affect the person you become by helping you to form your character. As in any class, and in any situation, attitude is everything. What you will get out of this class depends upon what you put into it. This class is filled with the truth of our faith. Even if I fail to reach or interest you as a teacher, you should be able to learn things that make you think, and that could change your life.

The main theme of this course is how to find true, lasting happiness. This semester will focus on how we know there is a difference between right and wrong, where our standards for right and wrong come from, and why morality should be an important part of our Christian lives. Next semester will cover how we follow the norms of Christian morality given to us by God through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition by focusing on specific moral issues. If you study carefully, you may just discover the answer to every person’s most fundamental question, “how do I find fulfillment in my life?” This answer evades most people. Most people never truly live their lives to the fullest, because they don’t take the time to study life’s instruction book in order to find out how it should really be lived. Will you be a member of the unfulfilled herd? Or will you strike out and be different in order to find fulfillment and eternal happiness? Something to think about…

It is important to note that rote memorization of facts is not the focus of this course. Rather, the focus of this course is on learning to think with the mind of the Church, with the mind of Christ, in our moral lives. By understanding the reasons that God gave us the moral law, and how specific moral laws fulfill those purposes, we will be better equipped to make wise moral decisions. Furthermore, by understanding why moral laws exist, we will be better able to defend them in the face of a culture that wants to ignore their importance if not their very existence.

Heavy focus will also be placed on good thinking skills. These skills are useful in all areas of our lives, not just in moral decision making. People who think deeply and carefully do not just passively absorb what is on television, in the movies, or in entertainment literature. They examine their life philosophies and ideas so that they do not unconsciously absorb the philosophies and ideas of those around them. As a result, they do not become products of forces they do not choose. They make up their own minds about what to think and who to become. A good place to start is to take charge of the ideas that you have about the moral life. Learn to think consciously, deliberately, and skillfully about your beliefs. This process can help you to remake your own mind and to understand its inner workings, to take control so that you can make it healthy and fit and fine-tuned. Whenever you are doing a task in or for this class, ask yourself, “would an independent observer watching me closely conclude that I am engaged in taking charge of my mind, or my ideas about morality, or would such a person conclude that I am merely going through the motions of doing an assignment, trying to succeed by rote memorization?”

Course Goals, Objectives, and Assessments

Goal 1: Students will learn about the role of clear and complete thinking in gaining a clearer understanding of moral theology.

Objective 1: Students will learn how the philosophical method leads to a clearer understanding of natural law and divine law

Objective 2: Students will identify how the scientific method supports natural law and divine law.

Objective 3: Students will learn about the interaction between faith, science, and philosophy.

Assessment: participation, presentation, essays, informal writing activities, quizzes, exams

Goal 2: Students will learn the role of natural law in making us more human, fulfilled, and happy

Objective 1: Students will apply natural law to human actions, needs, emotions, freedom, and society.

Objective 2: Students will learn how to form their character around human maturity.

Assessment: quizzes, tests, essays, participation, worksheets

Goal 3: Students will learn the role of divine law in helping us live the life of grace and charity, and in becoming fulfilled and happy

Objective 1: Students will learn why a relationship with God brings us true fulfillment and happiness.

Objective 2: Students will learn why gaining perfect happiness is hindered by sin and ignorance

Objective 3: Students will learn about the role of grace in living the divine life

Objective 4: Students will learn how divine law helps us to cooperate with grace to gain perfect happiness

Objective 5: Students will understand the relationship between divine law and natural law

Assessment: quizzes, tests, essays, participation, worksheets

Goal 4: Students will learn how to reason clearly and completely, especially in their moral decision making process

Objective 1: Students will learn intellectual standards and intellectual virtues

Objective 2: Students will apply intellectual standards and intellectual virtues to their own thinking process

Objective 3: Students will apply intellectual standards and intellectual virtues to the thinking process of others

Assessment: essays, in-class activities

Grading Policy

Grades will be figured based on a points system (not by weighted categories). The points students earn will be divided by the total points possible for a grading period. Since this course is designed to be flexible and guided by student progress and interest, the total points possible will be variable. Graded assignments will include the following:

Daily accountability. Students will be held accountable each day for previous material. This may take the form of a quick writing exercise, a longer Catechism exercise, or a pop quiz. These daily accountability exercises will not all be graded. Students will keep them in a portfolio and I will randomly grade about one per week.

Homework will be assigned periodically. These are usually textbook assignments or discussion prompts. Most of these assignments will be graded for completion and are worth 5 points each. However, I will randomly collect these assignments to take a more careful look at them. Collected assignments will be worth 10 points each.

Quizzes will be given periodically on the flash card study guide. These will measure memorization of key terms and concepts. Most quizzes will be worth 10-25 points, depending on the content being studied. If students are absent, they may make up quizzes only if their absence is excused. Students are responsible for seeing me for make-up quizzes.

Writing Assignments: If you want to learn how to think well, you need to learn how to write well. Students will be asked to perform a number of formal writing assignments throughout the year. These assignments will be graded according to a rubric. Most essays and writing assignments will come from the Thinking-it-Through Question (TTQ) Study Guide. I will grade a representative sample of the “daily” writing assignments after giving students a chance to revise them. Essay tests may also be given on the TTQ questions. Essays and writing assignments will be worth 50 points.

Participation is very important in this class, and is in fact the main activity of this class. You should consider it your opportunity to enter more deeply into the ideas presented in class. I will keep track of each person’s in-class participation and award points based on my observations and student self-assessment. Participation will be assessed according to how well it shows mastery of course goals and objectives. Participation is worth 25 points per quarter. Participation means:

Coming to class prepared with your binder, pen, loose leaf paper, and correction fluid ready.

Completing all of the homework. There is no such thing as “busy work” in this class. Home work assignments are all important. Please complete the assignments and do your best on each one.

Active, skilled participation means sharing thoughts, ideas, and questions that are well thought out and that meet the intellectual standards. There will be many opportunities – it’s the way I teach! If you don’t participate, the class does not move forward. Just remember – you could be listening to one of my boring lectures instead of having a discussion!

Taking advantage of participation alternatives, such as e-mailing comments to me or commenting on the blog, keeping a journal of your thoughts and periodically handing it in, discussing your questions with me one-on-one, etc.

Tests will be given at the end of each unit, worth 50-100 points. Each test may be some mixture of objective (multiple choice, true/false) questions from the Flash Card Study Guide and essays (2 or 3 short or 1 long) from the Thinking-it-Through Questions

Semester exams will be worth 150 points each, covering the material from the Flash Card Study Guides for all four units covered in the semester.

Self-evaluations will be worth 50 points each quarter. You will “make a case” for receiving a particular grade using criteria provided in class and citing evidence from your work across the semester. Your self-evaluations will not determine your quarter grade. Rather, you will be graded on how well you defend your case.

Scope and Sequence

1 Nature of Truth

1.1 Objective & subjective truth

1.2 Tools for knowing objective truth

1.3 Intellectual virtues & standards

2 Natural Law

2.1 Law of God

2.2 Human nature

2.3 Human Action: What makes a human action unique?

2.4 Human Emotions & Temperaments

2.5 True Freedom

2.6 Human social life

3 Divine Law

3.1 True Happiness

3.2 Covenant: Creation

3.3 Original Sin

3.4 Salvation history (focus on Moses and Divine Law)

4 Christ restores the covenant

4.1 Incarnation

4.2 Miracles

4.3 Model of love

4.4 Passion & Death

4.5 Paschal Mystery

4.6 Resurrection

4.7 Meaning of human suffering

5 Living the moral life

5.1 Sin

5.2 Precepts of the Divine Law

5.3 Grace & Conversion (sin and moral suffering)

5.4 Theological virtues

5.5 Gifts of the Holy Spirit

5.6 Virtues

6 Heaven: the fulfillment of the moral life

Teacher obligations for this class

To know the subject material and prepare handouts and lectures that will help students understand that material

To organize the course in a meaningful way so that knowledge builds over the semester leading to an increased sophistication and sensibility

To consider student concerns regarding time management when assigning homework and constructing requirements for the class

To guide classroom discussion so that each student has an opportunity to participate, and to welcome student participation with respect for all students as learners and persons

To grade fairly and to meet with students in conference to answer questions about grading or instructor comments on papers

Student obligations for this class

To read all assigned material and come to class prepared to discuss that material

To participate in all class activities. This includes being attentive when other students are speaking or making oral presentations

To complete all assignments on time, and to provide drafts and revisions of assignments as requested by the instructor

To respect all members of the class as learners, teachers, and as persons. To enter into respectful reasoned discourse in response to disagreements. As Christians, we are called to treat each other with dignity and charity. Common courtesy, awareness of each other’s needs, caring communication, and observance of the safety and comfort of those around us are all part of this call.

To enter fully into the learning process and to do your own work. Since the goal of this course is for you to become your own thinker, it is imperative that you do your own thinking and your own work. Essays need to be completely your own thought process. Plagiarism in part or in whole will result in a zero, not just a failure, for the paper. Suspected plagiarism that cannot be proven will be brought to the attention of the student, who will be given a chance to assert his or her thought process in dialogue with me. Quizzes and tests are meant to test your mastery of basic concepts, and must therefore be conquered through studying and your own mastery of the material. Copying or cheating on these quizzes or tests will result in a zero, not just a failure, of the quiz or test. The same is true for any assignment given in the course of this class.

To take pride in your work as a learner and scholar. Please type all assignments except informal in-class assignments. Please make all assignments neat and presentable before handing them in. Use only loose-leaf paper for collected assignments.

To make up any missed work. Any missed work due to excused absence is to be turned in on the day you return to school. Missed work due to incompleteness or unexcused absence will be penalized five points for every day it is late. Missed quizzes or tests due to excused absences are to be made up within one week of the student’s return to school. Missed quizzes or tests due to unexcused absences will be given a value of zero points in the grade book. If a student is absent prior to a test or quiz and feels unprepared, he or she may talk to me about taking the test or quiz at a later date. I will allow this only if I feel the absence posed a serious impediment to the student’s ability to study. Tests and quizzes will be announced ahead of time, so absence the day before is not automatically a valid excuse.

Cheating:

Students are expected to do their own work on all assignments and assessments. Copying assignments or cheating during assessments will result in a zero. The student may make up the grade by seeing me one-on-one and proving to me that he or she has learned the material.

Extra Credit

Extra credit takes the form of additional instruction. Students may come in for tutoring, perform vocabulary exercises, or retake a quiz in order to increase quiz scores. They may also re-write daily writing assignments in order to achieve a better grade. There is no extra credit available for tests or essay tests, however objective tests may be curved if necessary.

Communication

My preferred method of communication to students and to parents is e-mail and Internet communication. If you have access to a computer, please take advantage of the daily class journal and weekly homework schedule. You may also choose to have grade reports sent to you by e-mail and put onto an Internet grade report that you can access whenever you wish.

Absence Make-Up

If a student is absent, the best way to make up what was missed is by checking the daily journal Internet site and the weekly homework schedule. All necessary notes and any discussions notes recorded for the day will appear there, along with homework assignments. If Internet is not available, request an assignment sheet from the office. Students must take the initiative to make up missed work!