Catholic moral theology

Catholic moral theology is a major category of doctrine in the Roman Catholic church, equivalent to a religious ethics. Moral theology encompasses Roman Catholic social teaching, Catholic medical ethics, sexual ethics, and various doctrines on individual moral virtue and moral theory. It can be distinguished as dealing with "how one is to act," in contrast to dogmatic theology which proposes "what one is to believe."

Description

Sources of Catholic moral theology include both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and philosophical ethics such as natural law that are seen as compatible with Catholic doctrine. Moral theology was mostly undifferentiated from theology in general during the patristic era, and is found in the homilies, letters and commentaries on Scripture of the early Church fathers. During the Middle Ages, moral theology developed in precision and scope through scholasticism.

Contemporary Catholic moral theology is developed by acts of the Magisterium, by the Pope, other bishops, and by the works of lay Catholic moral theologians, which include magisterial teachings, as well as (in some matters) theological opinions. Examples of Catholic moral theologians include St. Alphonsus Liguori, Germain Grisez (author of The Way of the Lord Jesus) and John Finnis (author of Natural Law and Natural Rights). Moral theology tends to be advanced most authoritatively through official statements of doctrine, such as papal encyclicals, which are based on the dogmatic pronouncements of Ecumenical Councils (e.g., Vatican II), Sacred Scriptures, and Sacred Tradition. In addition, moral theologians publish their own works and write in a variety of journals devoted in whole, or in part to moral theology. These scholarly journals are helpful in making the theology of the Church more clear and accessible to others, and serve as a forum in which scholarly discussion of understanding and application of issues occurs. However, these journals per se do not add or remove anything from Catholic teaching.

Approaches to Catholic moral theology

In a deontological approach, morality takes the form of a studying of "how one is to act" in relation to the laws established by the faith. In a teleological approach, "how one is to act" is related to the ultimate end which is again established by the faith. In a dialogic approach, morality follows the pattern of faith directly, the "how one is to act" is related to an encounter with God through faith.^[1]

See also

• Casuistry
• Catholic
• Catholic Church
• Catholic–Orthodox theological differences
• Catholic teachings on sexual morality
• Catholicism
• Christian theology
• Christianity
• Ten Commandments in Roman Catholicism
• Traditionalist Catholic

References

History of Catholic theology Theologians Teachings Heresies General history History of the Catholic Church Early Christianity History of the Papacy Ecumenical Councils Timeline of the Catholic Church History of Christianity History of Christian theology Church beginnings Paul Clement of Rome First Epistle of Clement Didache Ignatius of Antioch Polycarp Epistle of Barnabas Shepherd of Hermas Justin Martyr Epistle to Diognetus Irenaeus Montanism Tertullian Origen Antipope Novatian Cyprian Constantine to Pope Gregory I Eusebius Athanasius of Alexandria Arianism Pelagianism Nestorianism Monophysitism Ephrem the Syrian Hilary of Poitiers Cyril of Jerusalem Basil of Caesarea Gregory Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa Ambrose John Chrysostom Jerome Augustine of Hippo John Cassian Cyril of Alexandria Peter Chrysologus Pope Leo I Boethius Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite Pope Gregory I Early Middle Ages Isidore of Seville Maximus the Confessor Monothelitism Ecthesis Bede John of Damascus Iconoclasm Transubstantiation dispute Predestination disputes Paulinus II of Aquileia Alcuin Rabanus Maurus Paschasius Radbertus John Scotus Eriugena High Middle Ages Roscellinus Gregory of Narek Berengar of Tours Peter Damian Anselm of Canterbury Joachim of Fiore Peter Abelard Decretum Gratiani Bernard of Clairvaux Peter Lombard Anselm of Laon Hildegard of Bingen Hugh of Saint Victor Dominic de Guzmán Robert Grosseteste Francis of Assisi Anthony of Padua Beatrice of Nazareth Bonaventure Albertus Magnus Thomas Aquinas Thomism Roger Bacon Mysticism and reforms Ramon Llull Duns Scotus Dante Alighieri William of Ockham Richard Rolle John of Ruusbroec Catherine of Siena Brigit of Sweden Meister Eckhart Johannes Tauler Walter Hilton The Cloud of Unknowing Heinrich Seuse Geert Groote Devotio Moderna Julian of Norwich Thomas à Kempis Nicholas of Kues Marsilio Ficino Girolamo Savonarola Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Protestant Reformation Counter-Reformation Desiderius Erasmus Thomas Cajetan Thomas More John Fisher Johann Eck Francisco de Vitoria Ignatius of Loyola Francisco de Osuna John of Avila Francis Xavier Teresa of Ávila Luis de León John of the Cross Petrus Canisius Luis de Molina Molinism Robert Bellarmine Francisco Suárez Lawrence of Brindisi Francis de Sales Baroque Period to French Revolution Tommaso Campanella Pierre de Bérulle René Descartes Mary of Jesus of Ágreda Jean-Jacques Olier Louis Thomassin Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet François Fénelon Cornelius Jansen Jansenism Blaise Pascal Nicolas Malebranche Giambattista Vico Alphonsus Liguori Louis de Montfort Maria Gaetana Agnesi Alfonso Muzzarelli Johann Michael Sailer Clemens Maria Hofbauer 19th century Joseph Görres Felicité de Lamennais Luigi Taparelli Ignaz von Döllinger John Henry Newman Henri Lacordaire Jaime Balmes Gaetano Sanseverino Giovanni Maria Cornoldi Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler Giuseppe Pecci Joseph Hergenröther Tommaso Maria Zigliara Matthias Joseph Scheeben Modernism Léon Bloy Désiré-Joseph Mercier Friedrich von Hügel Vladimir Solovyov Marie-Joseph Lagrange George Tyrrell Maurice Blondel Thérèse of Lisieux 20th–21st century G. K. Chesterton Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Joseph Maréchal Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Jacques Maritain Étienne Gilson Ronald Knox Dietrich von Hildebrand Gabriel Marcel Marie-Dominique Chenu Romano Guardini Edith Stein Fulton Sheen Henri de Lubac Gabriel Roschini Jean Guitton Josemaría Escrivá Adrienne von Speyr Karl Rahner Yves Congar Bernard Lonergan Emmanuel Mounier Jean Daniélou Hans Urs von Balthasar Edward Schillebeeckx Thomas Merton Raimondo Spiazzi Elizabeth Anscombe René Girard Pope Benedict XVI Johann Baptist Metz Henri Nouwen Walter Kasper Michał Heller Jean-Luc Marion Tomáš Halík Catholicism portal Pope portal