1. The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father Who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil. Amen.

2. Chapter One: God Gives Us the Law

3. Lesson One: Creation

4. Nature and Revelation
1.) We can know that God exists through the natural world that surrounds us. 2.) We can know about God through his revelation: Sacred Scripture is the Word of God written down by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sacred Tradition is the entirety of the Word of God. The Magisterium is the teaching Church that safeguards revelation.

5. Hierarchy in Creation
Things that exist, exist in a hierarchy:

6. Freedom
Is freedom the ability to make any choice, or making the right choice?
What is freedom to you?

7. Do Good and Avoid Evil
In order to go to Heaven and be with God forever, we need to do good and avoid evil.
Evil actions are sins, and “sin” means, “to miss the mark.”

8. Sin
There are two ways in which we could understand sin: 1) Violation (of God’s Law) 2) Damage to our souls/spiritual connection to God These ways are NOT mutually exclusive!

9. Sin
What are laws of nature? The rules according to which reality operates. E.g. If I drop a pencil onto the floor, gravity will cause the pencil to hit the floor. If you jump out a window, you will hit the ground. When it comes to God’s laws, a lot of people think that they are arbitrary. Instead, moral laws work the same way as the law of gravity. They are not arbitrary rules meant to restrain our behavior. They are a guide based on how the world works. If you commit a sin, you objectively damage yourself in some way.

10. Euthyphro Dilemma
“Are morally good acts willed by God because they are morally good, or are they morally good because they are willed by God?”
Weak God – If the former is true, then it suggests that God is not supreme – morality is independent of God’s will
Voluntarism – If the latter is true, then it suggests that morality is arbitrary and God could decide that something good is bad and something bad is good
The classic Christian solution to this dilemma has always been to hold that morality is ultimately based on God’s nature and God’s will. Things being right or wrong have to do with who God is.
Since we are made in God’s image, things being right or wrong then have to do with who we are.

11. Activity Book, p. 1 1) What is the first rule of moral law?
– The first rule of the moral law is “Do good and avoid evil.”
2) What do the rules of moral behavior tell us?
– The rules of moral behavior tell us what we ought to do.
3) Why must we follow the rules of moral behavior?
– Answers will vary.

12. Activity Book, p. 1
4) Are we free to choose to do good and avoid evil?
– Yes, we are free to choose to do good and avoid evil.
5) How can we know what the good is?
– To know what the good is, we should look to God for guidance.
6) How does God help us know the moral good?
– Answers will vary.

13. Homework
Read Genesis 1:1-3:24

14. The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father Who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name Thy kingdom come Thy will be done On earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil. Amen.