A History of Catholic Moral Theology in the Twentieth Century: From Confessing Sins to Liberating Consciences

Description

This is an historical survey of 20th Century Roman Catholic Theological Ethics (also known as moral theology). The thesis is that only through historical investigation can we really understand how the most conservative and negative field in Catholic theology at the beginning of the 20th could become by the end of the 20th century the most innovative one. The 20th century begins with moral manuals being translated into the vernacular. After examining the manuals of Thomas Slater and Henry Davis, Keenan then turns to three works and a crowning synthesis of innovation all developed before, during and soon after the Second World War. The first by Odon Lottin asks whether moral theology is adequately historical; Fritz Tillmann asks whether it's adequately biblical; and Gerard Gilleman, whether it's adequately spiritual. Bernard Haering integrates these contributions into his Law of Christ. Of course, people like Gerald Kelly and John Ford in the US are like a few moralists elsewhere, classical gate keepers, censoring innovation. But with Humanae vitae, and successive encyclicals, bishops and popes reject the direction of moral theologians. At the same time, moral theologians, like Josef Fuchs, ask whether the locus of moral truth is in continuous, universal teachings of the magisterium or in the moral judgment of the informed conscience. In their move toward a deeper appreciation of their field as forming consciences, they turn more deeply to local experience where they continue their work of innovation. Each continent subsequently gives rise to their own respondents: In Europe they speak of autonomy and personalism; in Latin America, liberation theology; in North America, Feminism and Black Catholic theology; and, in Asia and Africa a deep post-colonial interculturatism. At the end I assert that in its nature, theological ethics is historical and innovative, seeking moral truth for the conscience by looking to speak crossculturally.

James F. Keenan, S.J., is professor of theological ethics at Boston College. He was principal editor of Catholic Ethicists on HIV/AIDS Prevention and is the author of numerous books, including The Works of Mercy: The Heart of Catholicism, Moral Wisdom: Lessons and Texts from the Catholic Tradition, Virtues for Ordinary Christians, Commandments of Compassion, Goodness and Rightness in Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae, and (with Daniel Harrington) Jesus and Virtue Ethics annd Paul and Virtue Ethics.

Mention in Rassegna Bibliografica Internazionale, 2010. "Remolding material from a doctoral seminar he taught for 15 years, Keenan introduces students to the intellectual history of 20th-century Catholic moral theology and to the people who developed and debated it. He limits his study to such fundamentals as conscience, sin, love, virtue, and authority, and omits ethical concerns relating to society, sex, medicine, corporations, and the like. His topics are the moral manualists, Odon Lottin initiating reform, Fritz Tillmann and Gerard Gilleman retrieving scripture and charity, Berhard Haring's synthesis, the neo-manualists, for foundations for moral reasoning 1970-89, new foundations for a theological anthropology 1980-2000, and toward a global discourse on suffering and solidarity. A brief afterword reviews the encyclicals of Benedict XVI." - Eithne O'Leyne, BOOK NEWS, Inc. 'Whichever camp you are in this book will provide much food for thought. It touches on many of the burning moral issues that have captivated and divided Catholics over the past several decades and it ends with some optimistic words about the future.' Catholic Herald, 2nd July 2010 "Keenan...writes with the deftness, enthusiasm, and thoroughness one would expect from one of today's most prolific figures in the field....Highly recommended." - Choice Reviewed in Church Times 17 September (UK) 'This is precisely what it says on the cover: a very thorough and very detailed account of the various developments in moral theology over the last century' 'Keenan's historical presentation is invaluable...helping the reader to enter the conversation and come to a balanced appraisal of the different ways of doing moral theology.' -- Theological Book Reviews 'James F. Keenan has crafted an insightful narrative reflecting the contributions of multiple theologians associated with moral theology during the past century.' -- The Catholic Historical Review James Keenan, SJ, offers a historical argument about the shape and scope of moral theology and captures with great clarity the shifting enterprise of moral theology in the last century, rightly claiming that moral theology is not a static discipline but the on-going search for truth, which proceeds differently in different times and places. -- Journal of Religion Keenan's conservative critics may not like the fact that the focus of moral theology has shifted from diagnosing "moral pathologies" to formation of conscience, but Keenan amply shows that it has. What's more, Keenan gives reason to think that his shift has been good: moral theology is no much more, well, theological that it was when the moral manuals, intended for confessors and parish priests, dominated the discipline. -- Commonweal This may be the only work in history of moral theology that presents the contributions from Asia, Africa and Latin America and integrate them into the history of moral theology. . . . Theologians and students of theology have to read this book to get an idea of the developments in contemporary moral theology as well as in other theological disciplines. -- Asian Horizons 'A History of Catholic Moral Theology in the Twentieth Century is a remarkable achievement. The more I delved into the book the more I was impressed with Keenan's command of the issues and the literature across the globe. He seems to have omitted no one who has had a hand in shaping the development of moral theology, and he masterfully summarizes their core contributions. Footnotes are in abundance and identify significant works in many languages. This is the book for anyone interested in what has happened in moral theology and in who's who among its contributors. It is essential reading for graduate students of moral theology, since much of the history narrated here and the theologicans who have shaped it remain unknown territory to many of today's students.' -Richard M. Gula, S.S, April 5, 2010 * America: The National Catholic Weekly * Keenan's text captures the incredible dynamism that marked the history of Roman Catholic moral theology in the twentieth century. It is a gripping text, for at particular junctures, Keenan amplifies uncomfortable and unsettling arguments in the twentieth century that have arisen from moral theology's fundamental search for truth. In his own uncovering of yet another part of the moral theology tradition in this book, Keenan proffers hope to the discipline of moral theology, and keeps the conversation alive. -- Patrick Flanagan, St. John's University, New York, USA * International Journal of Public Theology *