For the Life of the World: Some Reflections

As its title would suggest, For the Life of the World: Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church offers a comprehensive statement of the ideals and principles that should guide Orthodox Christians, and the church itself, in the effort to live a Christlike life in today's pluralistic society. The expression “social ethos” might suggest that this document limits itself to social questions as these are commonly understood, offering a kind of Orthodox equivalent of Roman Catholic social encyclicals. On examination, it is clear that this document goes beyond the standard topics pursued under the rubric of social ethics. It includes an extended discussion of marriage and family life, addressing questions of marital relations and family dynamics as well as the social dimension of marriage; a comparably extended discussion of medical ethics; extended comments on ecumenical and interfaith relations; and reflections on the liturgy as the ultimate context for the moral life. We even find brief but perceptive remarks on our treatment of animals. This document is not so much a presentation of social ethics as a treatise on moral theology comprehensively considered. The nearest Roman Catholic parallel would be Veritatis Splendor, rather than one of the social encyclicals.

The Opposite of Custom

Fifteenth-century Italian urban and ecclesiastical authorities sought to regulate the laity’s conspicuous consumption of dress, sometimes resulting in canon law petitions for exemption on the grounds of custom. By exploiting an ambivalent definition of custom according to status, wealthy men and especially women successfully sidestepped regulation. Critics of luxury such as the Franciscan Observants, who encountered similar arguments in confession, countered this permissive understanding of custom with alternate criteria for determining proper dress tied to the morality of the economic behavior that made luxurious dress possible. Overlapping definitions of custom drawn from canon law and moral theology thus provided both fashionable people and their confessors a way to negotiate and contest their status.

Hati Nurani

This article describes the meaning of conscience according to the definition presented by the Second Vatican Council in the light of Thomistic and Carmelite perspectives and explains the depth of this definition, in order to dispel misconceptions about the meaning of conscience that are widely circulated, and show its proper role in the edifice of moral theology. For this reason, this article elaborates on the harmonious correlation between the two dimensions of conscience, namely, synderesis and conscientia, as well as the harmonious correlation they have with the virtue of prudence which is perfected by the gift of counsel from the Holy Spirit. The pastoral aspect of this article is presented in the end by analyzing the importance of conscience revived by the Church as presented in the apostolic exhortation of Amoris Laetitia.

Charles E. Curran, Sixty Years of Moral Theology: Readings in Moral Theology no. 20

Book review on Charles E. Curran, Sixty Years of Moral Theology: Readings in Moral Theology no. 20, New York: Paulist Press, 2020, 255 s., ISBN 978-0-8091-0665-3.

The Delicate Art of Putting Intractable Disputes into Question

The conflicting evaluations given to moral issues beg for an explanation. Can such an explanation be found in the invisible presence of competing rationalities that result in intractable disputes? This essay seeks to explore how the work of Alasdair MacIntyre can be useful in making visible the way competing traditions of moral inquiry hamper our attempts to make tractable currently intractable disputes in the field of moral theology. A comparison between the approach of MacIntyre and Charles E. Curran aims at developing a methodology for evaluating such competing modes of inquiry.

Fritz Tillmann, Discipleship and the Renewal of Moral Theology

The notion of discipleship has come to be considered an essential foundation and perspective in modern Catholic moral theology. Fritz Tillmann’s manual Die Idee der Nachfolge Christi was a landmark work in the early 20th century whose popularity led to a wide diffusion of the biblical concept of discipleship in Catholic moral theology. However, little mention is made of Tillmann in current academic writing. The article aims to explore the thought of Tillmann by outlining his understanding of Christian moral discipleship in conjunction with examples of key authors who influenced Tillmann, such as Hirscher and Linsenmann of the Tübingen School, as well as Neo-Scholastic authors who severely criticized his approach. The article concludes with a reflection on the current implications of discipleship in moral theology, calling for a greater recognition of the need for a transformative, loving relationship with Christ to fuel the desire to choose the good.

Fragments of Moral Theology in John Locke’s Notebooks

Согласно Локку, «закон морали» столь же важен для спасения, как «закон дел» и «закон веры», и предполагает неукоснительное исполнение всех моральных предписаний, возвещенных в Евангелии. Локк также считал неприемлемой «слепую веру» и противопоставлял ей веру ясную и понятную, рациональную и просвещенную, открыто и свободно исповедуемую любым человеком. В ответе на вопрос, как и в каком интеллектуальном контексте происходило становление моральной теологии Локка, свою роль могут сыграть не только основные теологические тексты философа, но и его записные книжки (1692–1698). According to Locke the Law of Morality is crucial for Salvation, in the same way as the Law of Works and the Law of Faith, requiring full observance of all moral precepts delivered in the Gospel. Locke also deemed unacceptable the so called “implicit” or blind faith, and contrasted it with the Faith plain and explicit, rational and enlightened, openly and freely professed by any believing person. The content of his notebooks (1692–1698), as well as Philosopher’s main theological works, may be of help in tracing how and in what intellectual context occurred the making-up of his Moral Theology.