Introduction to Moral Theology

by May, William E.

• ISBN13: 9781931709927
• ISBN10: 1931709920
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-09-01
• Publisher: Our Sunday Visitor

Summary

Here -- carefully documented, footnoted, and indexed -- is not only what the Church teaches but also why it is obligated to do so. This updated and expanded edition of a text widely used in colleges, universities, and seminaries (as well as in high schools and parish religious education programs), offers the latest Catholic teaching on moral theology, including: moral theology; human dignity, free human action, virtue, and conscience; and natural law, moral absolutes, and sin. Read why -- and how -- living what the Church teaches can transform hearts, minds, and souls.

Author Biography

William E. May is the Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He is the author of many books

Table of Contents

Foreword to the First Edition	13	(2)
Introduction to the Second Edition	15	(6)
Key to Abbreviations of Biblical Books	21	(2)
Moral Theology: Its Nature, Purpose, and Biblical Foundation	23	(18)
The Moral Life --- An Introductory Description	23	(1)
The Nature, Purpose, and Renewal of Moral Theology	23	(8)
Who We Are and Who We Are Meant to Be in the Light of Faith	23	(3)
Theology and Moral Theology	26	(1)
The Function and Purpose of Moral Theology	26	(1)
The Renewal of Moral Theology	27	(4)
Moral Theology and Holy Scripture	31	(6)
Conclusion	37	(1)
Notes for Chapter One	37	(4)
Human Dignity, Free Human Action, Virtue, and Conscience	41	(30)
Three Kinds of Human Dignity	41	(3)
Free Choice	44	(3)
The Significance of Human Action and the Meaning of Character	47	(1)
Virtue and Our Moral Life	48	(4)
Grisez on Virtue	52	(1)
St. Thomas Aquinas on Virtue	53	(3)
Virtue-based Ethics and Principles-based Ethics	56	(1)
Conscience and Our Moral Life	57	(8)
Notes for Chapter Two	65	(6)
The Natural Law and Moral Life	71	(53)
Introduction	71	(1)
Natural Law in St. Thomas Aquinas	71	(16)
The Basic Understanding of Law in the Summa Theologiae	72	(1)
Eternal Law	73	(1)
Natural Law: Its Central Meaning and Character	73	(3)
`Primary' Precepts of Natural Law, Precepts `Close to' Primary Precepts, and Other Precepts of Natural Law	76	(4)
Excursus 1: St. Thomas and Ulpian's Definition of Natural Law	80	(4)
Excursus 2: St. Thomas's Teaching on Natural Law in the Summa Contra Gentes	84	(3)
Natural Law, Vatican Council II, and Pope John Paul II	87	(6)
Natural Law and Vatican Council II	87	(4)
Natural Law in the Teaching of Pope John Paul II	91	(2)
Natural Law in the Thought of Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and Joseph Boyle	93	(26)
The First Principle of Practical Reasoning and Its General Specifications	94	(4)
The First Principle of Morality and the Ideal of `Integral Human Fulfillment'	98	(4)
The Specifications of the First Principle of Morality: The Modes of Responsibility	102	(3)
From Modes of Responsibility to Specific Moral Norms	105	(1)
Moral Priorities, Religion, and God	106	(5)
A Summary of the Natural Law Teaching of Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle	111	(2)
An Assessment of the Thought of Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle on Natural Law	113	(6)
Natural Law in the Thought of Martin Rhonheimer	119	(5)
Areas of Agreement Between Rhonheimer and Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle	119	(1)
Areas of Disagreement Between Rhonheimer and Grisez, Finnis, and Boyle	120	(1)
Two Levels of Practical Reason: The Perceptive--Practical and the Descriptive-Reflexive	120	(2)
The Relationship Between Natural Law and Virtue	122	(1)
The Movement From the First or Common Principles of Natural Law to the `Proximate' or `Immediate' Conclusions	123	(1)
Conclusion	124	(1)
Notes for Chapter Three	125	(180)
Moral Absolutes	141	(44)
Introduction	141	(29)
The Revisionist Rejection of Moral Absolutes	142	(3)
Clarifying the Terminology	145	(1)
Arguments to Support the Revisionists' Denial of Moral Absolutes	146	(1)
The `Preference' Principle or Principle of `Proportionate Good'	146	(2)
The Nature of a Human Act as a Totality	148	(2)
The Historicity of Human Existence	150	(1)
A Critique of Revisionist Denial of Moral Absolutes	151	(1)
The `Preference' Principle or Principle of `Proportionate Good'	152	(4)
The Nature of a Human Act as a Whole or Totality	156	(1)
The Historicity of Human Existence and Moral Absolutes	157	(2)
A Defense of the Truth of Moral Absolutes	159	(5)
Notes for Chapter Four	164	(6)
Appendix I to Chapter Four St. Thomas and Moral Absolutes	170	(4)
Notes for Appendix I to Chapter Four	174	(2)
Appendix II to Chapter Four Pope John Paul II and Moral Absolutes	176	(9)
The Moral Specification of Human Acts	176	(1)
The Criteria for Assessing the Moral Goodness or Badness of Human Acts	177	(2)
Moral Absolutes Protect the Inviolable Dignity of Human Persons and Point the Way Toward Fulfillment in Christ	179	(2)
The Incoherence of Ethical Theories Denying the Existence of Intrinsically Evil Acts and Absolute Moral Norms	181	(1)
The Infallibility of the Teaching Found in Veritatis Splendor	182	(3)
Sin and the Moral Life	185	(26)
The Core Meaning of Sin	185	(26)
The Biblical Understanding of Sin	185	(4)
The Understanding of Sin in the Catholic Theological Tradition	189	(5)
The Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin	194	(1)
Biblical and Magisterial Sources for This Distinction	194	(2)
The Classical Theological Understanding of This Distinction	196	(2)
Fundamental Option Theories and the Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin	198	(5)
Fundamental Commitments, the Christian Way of Life, and Mortal Sin	203	(2)
The Role of Sin in Our Moral Lives: The Way of Sin to Death	205	(2)
Notes for Chapter Five	207	(4)
Christian Faith and Our Moral Life	211	(34)
The Existential Context of Our Moral Life	211	(4)
Jesus, the Foundation of the Christian Moral Life	215	(6)
Our Baptismal Commitment and Personal Vocation	221	(6)
Christian Love, the Principle of Our Life in Christ	227	(2)
The Beatitudes, Specifying the Requirements of Christian Love	229	(4)
The Question of Specific Christian Moral Norms	233	(3)
The Practicality of the Christian Moral Life	236	(3)
Conclusion	239	(1)
Notes for Chapter Six	240	(5)
The Church as Moral Teacher	245	(24)
Teaching and Pastoral Authority Within the Church	245	(5)
Specific Moral Norms Infallibly Taught by the Magisterium	250	(7)
What Response Should Be Given to Moral Teachings of the Magisterium Proposed Authoritatively But Not Infallibly?	257	(8)
Notes for Chapter Seven	265	(4)
Christian Moral Life and John Paul II's Encyclical Veritatis Splendor	269	(26)
Detailed Exposition of Pope John Paul II's Teaching	269	(1)
The Introduction and an Overview of the Document	269	(6)
Christ and the Answer to the Question About Morality	270	(1)
Principal Ideas Set Forth in Chapter One	271	(1)
The Religious and Existential Significance of the Young Man's Question	271	(1)
The Sovereignty of God Over the Moral Order	271	(1)
The Essential Link Between Obedience to the Commandments and Eternal Life	272	(1)
The `Fulfillment' of the Law in Jesus; the Universal Call to Perfection	272	(1)
Moral Life, the Unity of the Church, and Revelation	273	(1)
The More-than-human Authority of the Magisterium on Moral Questions	273	(1)
Dionigi Tettamanzi's Analysis of Chapter One	274	(1)
The Christocentric Meaning of Our Moral Life	274	(1)
The Ecclesial Dimension of Christian Moral Life	275	(1)
The Church and the Discernment of Certain Tendencies in Present-day Moral Theology	275	(8)
Introduction	275	(2)
Freedom and the Law	277	(1)
Conscience and the Truth	278	(1)
Fundamental Choice and Specific Kinds of Behavior	279	(2)
The Moral Act	281	(2)
Moral Good for the Life of the Church and of the World	283	(3)
Introduction	283	(1)
The Relationship Between Human Freedom and the Truth	284	(1)
The Intimate and Inseparable Unity of Faith and Morality	285	(1)
The Relationship Between Respect for Personal Dignity and Refusal to Engage in Intrinsically Evil Acts	285	(1)
The Absolute Need for God's Grace to Live a Morally Upright Life	286	(1)
The Service of Moral Theologians	286	(1)
The Responsibility of Bishops	286	(1)
Reactions to the Encyclical	286	(8)
The Selling-Jans Book: The Splendor of Accuracy	287	(1)
Richard McCormick's `Some Early Reactions to Veritatis Splendor' and Martin Rhonheimer's Critique of McCormick	288	(4)
J. A. DiNoia's `Veritatis Splendor: Moral Life as Transfigured Life'	292	(2)
Conclusion	294	(1)
Notes for Chapter Eight	294	(1)
APPENDIX Christian Moral Life and the Catechism of the Catholic Church	295	(10)
A Synopsis of the Catechism's Teaching on the Christian Moral Life	296	(2)
Essential Meaning of Christian Morality According to the Catechism	298	(5)
The Moral Life as an Endeavor on the Part of Human Persons to Become Fully the Beings God Wills Them to Be	299	(1)
Our Absolute Dependence Upon God to Enable Us to Become Fully the Beings He Wills Us to Be	300	(1)
The God-given Authority of the Church as Mother and Teacher	300	(1)
What We Must Do in Order to Become Fully the Beings God Wills Us to Be	301	(2)
Notes for Appendix	303	(2)
Index	305