Introduction to Moral Theology Book

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