This book is a tribute to Kevin Kelly, who has been one of the most influential British theologians for a number of decades. On its own merits, however, it is groundbreaking collection of essays on key themes, issues and concepts in contemporary moraltheology and Christian ethics. The focus is on perspectives to inform moral debate and discernment in the future. The main themes covered are shown in the list of contents below. Several of the of the (...) contributors are from the United States, three others live and work in Continental Europe and the rest are from various parts of the British Isles. Many of the authors are among the best known in their fields on both sides of the Atlantic. (shrink)
The purpose of this thesis is to explain the moral content of the Confessions of St. Augustine. Accordingly, other works of the Saint, as well as commentators on the Confessions will be used solely to clarify the main moral tenets of this work. Since moral principles, moreover, are found not merely in the expressed ideas of St. Augustine, but are also embodied in his actions, moral principles will be gleaned and illustrated from both sources. When, moreover, (...) the Confessions consider man, they view him in the same theocentric fashion, in his relationship to God, and so reaffirm frequently that the happiness of man is inseparably linked with the knowledge and worship of God, the supreme Good and the cause of all moral good. (shrink)
Excerpt from Some Principles of MoralTheology: And Their Application The present book is an attempt to bring together, from the Bible and from Christian experience, the principles which have guided the Church in dealing with individual souls; to test those principles by the light of modern knowledge; and to apply them to present-day conditions and needs. Some of the traditional terminology of moraltheology has been discarded; much has been retained, either because it seemed the (...) best medium for expressing what had to be expressed, or because it would have been impossible otherwise to indicate the development and formulation of Christian thought on the subject. Thus the book may prove of interest not merely to the clergy and others who are confronted by the practical problems of conduct and morality, but also to students entering upon the study of moraltheology for its own sake. The Church of England affords her clergy singularly little expert guidance in this matter of the direction of souls. Two branches of the subject - those which go by the names of Christian ethics and the theory and practice of the confessional respectively - have indeed been systematically and fully treated by recent writers and there is a wealth of practical experience to be drawn both from manuals of pastoral theology and from biographies. Moraltheology, however, as will appear, com prises much more than the two topics just mentioned. Yet within the last fifty years, apparently, only three books have attempted to present the whole content of moraltheology in such a form as should guide the theory and practice of the Church of England, and all three are out of print and consequently difficult of access. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. (shrink)
Tim Stuart-Buttle offers a fresh view of British moral philosophy in the 17th and early 18th centuries. In this period of remarkable innovation, philosophers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Hume combined critique of the role of Christianity in moral thought with reconsideration of the legacy of the classical tradition of academic scepticism.
What does it mean to be a Christian in this day and age? How does this affect the way we relate to one another? In the face of so many different moral views, Kevin Kelly affirms the common ground behind them: the dignity of the human person. He looks at the relationship between experience and the development of morality, and highlights women's indispensable contribution. He also examines the place for morality in the Church's teaching.
An analysis of moraltheology, the study of how man must live in order to achieve his highest end, which, according to many theistic outlooks, is union with his maker. A species of theology, it involves the study of things divine, and is distinct from dogmatic theology by virtue of its focus. Whereas dogmatic theology concentrates upon doctrines and articles of faith, moraltheology relates, more specifically to the actions of human beings and (...) their relations to God. Moraltheology naturally involves a discussion of ethics and the natural law, since this law is recognized also by divine revelation. It is not, however, co-extensive with moral philosophy, since its subject matter derives generally from revelation and theological sources. -/- . (shrink)
In the last forty years, Roman Catholic moraltheology has been experiencing revolutionary tension and change. In this unique and thoroughly documented study, a distinguished Jesuit moral theologian examines the events, personalities, and conflicts that have contributed, from New Testament times to the present, to the Roman Catholic moral tradition and its contemporary crisis, and interprets the fundamental changes taking place in the subject today. Among the topics covered in this volume are papal infallibility, confession as (...) a sacrament, the legacy of Augustine, the dramatic change in attitude to "salvation outside the Church," and the continuing impact on moraltheology of the 1968 papal encyclical on birth control and of the Second Vatican Council. (shrink)
The essay considers the influence of Christian ethics within the political order. It considers first the witness of Thomas More, then developments in Roman Catholic moraltheology since the Second Vatican Council, and finally the dispute over the moral evaluation of the use by AIDS-infected spouses of condoms in order to sterilise their procreative acts. The whole discussion proceeds as a commentary on what Thomas Aquinas says about the temporal promulgation of Eternal Law, and also aims to (...) locate moral argument within the macroscopic context of divine revelation on health and salvation, which the Church must proclaim in its fullness. (shrink)
This study offers a comprehensive survey of developments in moraltheology since the Second Vatican Council. The author discusses the call of the Council for the renewal of moraltheology and the role the Council itself played in this renewal. Odozor also explores the various issues and controversies which have marked the discipline since the 1960s. The dramatic changes and developments in moraltheology during this period rival any in the history of the Church. (...) of Christian morality, natural law, scripture and ethics, moral norms, the Church's teaching authority, virtue ethics, and casuistry. Odozor provides a constructive proposal for a common ground which makes these debates in moral discourse possible. ethicists, systematic theologians and anyone interested in Catholic cultural and intellectual history since Vatican II. (shrink)
Background -- The moral manualists -- Initiating reform : Odon Lottin -- Retrieving Scripture and charity : Fritz Tillman and Gérard Gilleman -- Synthesis : Bernard Häring -- The neo-manualists -- New foundations for moral reasoning, 1970-89 -- New foundations for a theological anthropology, 1980-2000 -- Toward a global discourse on suffering and solidarity -- Afterword: The encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI.
It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance of Cicero to British—and not only British—philosophers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. For the most part, interest appears to have been much greater in De Officiis, De Finibus Malorum et Bonorum, De Natura Deorum, Academica, De Legibus, and so on, than in the works of Plato or of Aristotle. Yet Cicero was different things to different people. To many, he was the paradigmatic moderate Stoic, critical of the paradoxical excesses of Zeno (...) and Chrysippus, but unwilling to follow the Epicureans in their reduction of the goods of life to the merely useful and agreeable. In this rich and rewarding study of British moral philosophy from Locke to Hume, Tim... (shrink)
Moraltheology explores the sources of the moral teaching in several religions. It is the branch of theology that analyzes the scriptural, rational, and ministerial bases of moral teaching on various issues in Christian living. Moraltheology in the Catholic Church has been undergoing rapid development since the Second Vatican Council. This essay presents the encyclical Veritatis Splendor as providing an important perspective on fundamental issues in moraltheology. In Veritatis Splendor (...) , Pope John Paul II gave the response of the church magisterium to the issues raised for decades in moraltheology. This essay also evaluates the Catholic moral theologians’ responses to the encyclical. The theologians are categorized into two groups: the theologians who support the encyclical and the ones who view the encyclical in a critical way as misrepresenting their ideas. The essay recommends the encyclical Veritatis Splendor for renewing interest in fundamental issues in moraltheology. (shrink)
Answering the call of the Second Vatican Council for moraltheology to 'draw more fully on the teaching of Holy Scripture, ' the authors examine the virtues that both flow from Scripture and provide a lens by which to interpret Scripture.