Theology

JPI 510
Theological Anthropology:
History and Method
This course examines the main loci of a Christian doctrine of man: creation, predestination, man as imago Dei (person/gender), the relation between grace and freedom, grace and nature, original sin, justification.

Margaret McCarthy 3 credits

JPI 515
Theology of the Domestic Church:
Biblical Foundations
The purpose of this course is to construct a theology of the domestic church. This task requires the development of a hermeneutic for the recovery of a Scriptural view of reality, an analysis of the biblical basis (from both the Old and New Testaments) for this doctrine, and an examination of its development, tracing it through the early centuries of Christianity up to the middle ages, with its sudden reappearance and further development in modern times, particularly in magisterial teaching.

Joseph Atkinson 3 credits

JPI 528
Foundations of Christian
Moral Life
This course takes up themes arising within fundamental moral theology. In what sense is moral theology really a
theology? How can we relate the need for a moral “universality” of the humanum to the “particularity” of faith? What role do desire, fulfillment, love, truth, beauty, and the invitation to communion (cf. Veritatis splendor, ch. 1), all implicated by the encounter with the “other” (and especially, the “Other”), play in our grounding of moral theology? What role does “Christian anthropology” (hence “speculative reason”) play in relation to “practical reason.” In order to address these questions, the course takes up the issue of the relationship between “norm-based” and “virtue-based” moral theology, as well as the different understandings of freedom and moral action that tend to arise, given these different starting points. Can we use the knowledge gained by revelation to integrate these two perspectives more thoroughly in a moral theology grounded in the “nuptial ordination” of the human person? Finally, the course addresses the specific themes raised by Veritatis splendor with regard to recent moral theology: freedom and truth, conscience, fundamental option, proportionalism, the ecclesial setting for moral action, and the role of Church teaching. Readings include Veritatis splendor and texts drawn from St. Augustine, St. Thomas, William of Ockham, H.U. von Balthasar, L. Melina, M. Rhonheimer, S. Pinckaers, G. Grisez, J. Fuchs, and C. Curran.

David Crawford 3 credits

JPI 532/707
Biblical Theology of Marriage and Family:
Old Testament
This course’s goal is twofold: to provide the student with an adequate understanding of how the word of God to Israel instructs us in regard to marriage and family and to deepen the process by which we can appropriate a biblical vision of reality. The course begins with an introduction to the hermeneutical question and an examination of “symbolic realism.” There will be a consideration of the historical and cultural aspects of marriage and family in Israel, including a brief comparison of Israel and its neighbors. The course then analyzes a series of Old Testament texts which touch on both marriage and family. Among the texts considered are the early chapters of Genesis, the Prophetic teaching on marriage itself and the relation of God and Israel in terms of a marriage covenant, and the teaching of the Wisdom tradition on marriage and matrimonial symbols including the Song of Songs.

Joseph Atkinson 3 credits

JPI 535
Biblical Theology of Marriage and Family:
New Testament
This course’s twofold goal remains the same as in Part One: an understanding of the word of God in regard to marriage and family, and the acquisition of a biblical vision of human existence in Christ. The course begins with an overview session dedicated to familiarizing the student with the issues involved in a New Testament theology of marriage and family. It then looks at the teaching of Jesus as this is mediated in the Gospels: the dignity of marriage and the forbidding of divorce, the call to subordinate marriage to the reality of the Kingdom. The course next studies the teaching of the rest of the New Testament on the human body person in light of the resurrected Christ, the application of this to human sexuality and marriage. It looks at the cultural milieu and ethical demands of the so-called “Household Order” texts. Finally, it considers celibacy as a state of life in the Church.

Francis Martin 3 credits

JPI 540/742
Faith and American Culture:
New Evangelization I
This course offers an interpretation of American Culture in light of Pope John Paul II’s call for a “new evangelization.”
The focal point is upon the impact of the Puritan and Enlightenment thought which crystallized the shape of American modernity. Readings are drawn from Bacon, Locke, The Federalist Papers, Dewey, Tocqueville, Weber, Herberg, Wendell Berry, and others.

David Schindler 3 credits

JPI 541/717
Faith and American Culture:
New Evangelization II
This course continues JPI 540/742, focusing on significant Catholic thinkers and lives, and on Catholic interpretations of the relation of American culture to Catholicism from the founding to the present day.

David Schindler 3 credits

JPI 543
Person and Nature in Christ
This course seeks to give students an introduction to Christology that will help them to deepen their understanding of the Christocentric approach to anthropology that characterizes the pontificate of John Paul II. The course thus seeks to impart familiarity with the development and significance of key ideas in Christology—in particular those of person and nature—and it pursues this objective through a study of some of the major controversies surrounding the person and mission of Jesus Christ and of the thinkers who played a decisive role in them. Attention is paid to the patristic era culminating in Maximus the Confessor, to key Christological proposals of the Latin Middle Ages, especially that of Aquinas, and to Balthasar’s attempt to synthesize constructively the Christological tradition in the light of the challenges of modernity.

Adrian Walker 3 credits

JPI 545/745
Marriage as a State of Life
and the Sequela Christi
This course considers the basis for an understanding of the concept of a “state of life” as a specification of the human vocation to love (Familiaris consortio, 11) and, therefore, of Christian marriage as constituting a specific form of the sequela Christi. The tradition has often stated that marriage and virginity possess a relationship, not of opposition, but of complementarity. Indeed, it has been suggested at various times that a failure to understand and properly value the essence and role of either state will inevitably result in the loss of a deep appreciation of both states. The result of such a loss is a kind of moralism. This course explores the way in which the two states each disclose what is at the heart of the other. Grounding our anthropology on an adequate understanding of the relationship between creation ex nihilo and human destiny allows us to see the deepest human “mystery” (Gaudium et spes, 22), and the desire and freedom indicated by this mystery, as engaged (analogously and at the deepest level) by the two states of life. The course explores the eschatological significance of the two states, the sense in which we might call marriage a “state of perfection,” and marriage’s relation to the human person’s most fundamental and interior level of freedom. Readings include selected texts drawn from Vatican II and the writings of John Paul II, H. de Lubac, H.U. von Balthasar, St. Thomas, D. Schindler, A. Scola, A. Vermeersch, and E. Schillebeeckx.

David Crawford 3 credits

JPI 618/818
Bioethics and the Family
This course focuses on issues of special concern to married couples and the family as they seek to develop a “culture of life” and resist the “culture of death.” It begins with a detailed analysis of major magisterial documents relevant to bioethical issues, in particular John Paul II’s encyclical Evangelium vitae, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s 1987 Instruction on Respect for Human Life in Its Origin and on the Dignity of Procreation. It then examines in depth such issues as the new reproductive technologies, abortion, experimentation on human subjects—including stem-cell research and genetic therapy—care of the dying and the issue of euthanasia/assisted suicide, the question of determining that a person has died, and the transplanting of organs both inter vivos and from the death.
It offers a critique of the “culture of death” and examines major writings in bioethics by contemporary philosophers and
theologians. It does not take up contraception/sterilization inasmuch as this issue is adequately covered in JPI 822/632: Redemption of Human Sexuality.

William May 3 credits

JPI 620
Communio Personarum:
Trinity and Church
This course seeks both to introduce students to Trinitarian theology and ecclesiology and to deepen their awareness of the import of the twentieth-century renewal of the doctrine of the Church that culminated in the Second Vatican Council. Taking the communio personarum as its guiding thread, the course first discusses the role of the notion of communio in the renewal of twentieth-century ecclesiology. It then goes on to explore the ultimate source of this communio through a substantial introduction to some of the principal figures in Trinitarian theology, such as Athanasius and the Cappadocians, Augustine, Richard of Saint Victor, Aquinas, and Balthasar. Finally, it offers a systematic account of the nature of the Church as participation, through the missions of Christ and the Holy Spirit, in the communion existing among the three divine persons. In this context, the course also seeks to unfold the “missionary” implications of the Church as sacramental realization of mankind’s universal destination to share in the Trinitarian communio.

Adrian Walker 3 credits

JPI 621
Liturgy, Cosmos, and the
Meaning of Gender
This course provides a reflection on the meaning of space and time, in light of the integration of theology and anthropology and indeed cosmology indicated in Gaudium et spes, 22. Starting from the notions of the human communio personarum (which images the divine communio personarum: cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1702) and of the “nuptial body” (John Paul II), the course considers how space and time originate in the trinitarian life of God (Hans Urs von Balthasar), and goes on to examine the creaturely meaning of space and time in persons and indeed a cosmos that are destined for worship (opus gloriae). The main purpose of the course, in short, is to indicate the sense in which worship, and the (nuptial-familial) relations among persons, determine the fundamental meaning of space, time, matter, and motion; and, from within this framework, to determine the original meaning of such notions as “secularity,” “secularism,” and the “world.” Readings will be selected from among the following theologians and philosophers: J. Ratzinger, A. Shmemann,
G. Grant, J. Pieper, M. Heidegger, M. Delbrêl, C. Péguy, G. Bernanos, W. Berry, H. Balthasar, and John Paul II. Writings on space and time—and technology—by various modern, postmodern, and feminist authors will also be considered.

David Schindler 3 credits

JPI 622/822
Redemption of Sexuality
This course presents the understanding of human sexuality and of sexual morality as developed in the continuing Catholic tradition, contrasting it with the understandings of human sexuality and sexual morality current in contemporary culture. It begins with an investigation of the meaning of human sexuality and of the complementarity of man and woman. It then reviews the development of Catholic teaching on sexual morality, focusing on the issues of contraception and homosexual activity to illustrate the differences between a Catholic understanding of sexual morality and contemporary concepts. This course integrates thoroughly the understanding of human sexuality developed by Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II in Love and Responsibility.

William May 3 credits

JPI 634/826
Sacramentality of Marriage
This course offers a historical and systematic discussion of the Sacrament of Matrimony, addressing both the concept of sacramentality generally and its relationship to marriage in particular. During the first half of the semester, the history of the doctrine of marriage’s sacramentality is considered. The historical and systematic problem of the relationship between marriage and its sacramentality is addressed in light of the relationship between nature and grace. In particular, the question of the relative priority of the created and sacramental characters of marriage is placed within the historical development of doctrine. Moreover, through a consideration of the “consensus-copula” debate, as well as the debate over the minister(s) of the sacrament, the question of the relationship between marriage’s sacramentality and its ecclesial role as a Christian state of life, and the place of conjugal love in marriage in fieri and in facto esse, are addressed. Focus is given to the sacrament’s relationship to marriage’s intrinsic ordination to procreation, the ecclesial and “social” aspects of the sacrament, and the sacrament’s cultural, “worldly” and cosmic implications. Readings include selected texts drawn from Trent, Vatican II and the writings of Leo XIII, Pius XI, John Paul II, St. Augustine, Hugh of St. Victor, St. Bonaventure, St. Thomas Aquinas, M. Scheeben, H. de Lubac, H.U. von Balthasar, R. García de Haro, P. Evdokimov,
and M. Ouellet.

David Crawford 3 credits

JPI 637/840
Theology of the Body
This course is in two parts. The first part studies John Paul II’s The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan—his “Wednesday Catechesis” — through a reading of the text and a discussion of his scriptural, theological and philosophical methodology. It shows how the dual unity of man and woman and their interpersonal communion, even in the body, image divine Trinitarian life. John Paul II draws from this Christological anthropology the nuptial nature of reality which is expressed differently in marriage and consecrated celibacy. The second part of the course focuses on the body in creation and salvation and its importance for comprehending the human person, the communion of persons and the material order with specific reference to the Church’s teaching on responsible parenthood. In addition, it will show how a dualistic view of the human person devalues the feminine and maternal dimension.

Mary Shivanandan 3 credits

JPI 639/739
Marriage and Family in the Early Church
This course provides an introduction to the study of marriage and family in the Early Church through a reading of representative patristic texts that situates them within a particular literary and historical context. Early Christian views of the Incarnation, revelation and salvation invoke elements of Christian anthropology that relate to marriage and family, e.g., competing concepts of the physical body, life and death in the ancient world necessarily raised questions as to whether Christians should marry and bear children or practice celibacy. Issues of marriage and family were also important in the Church’s efforts to combat heresy, since many groups identifying themselves as “Christian” discounted the need for marriage and procreation.

Jody Vaccaro Lewis 3 Credits

JPI 643/843
History of the Notion of Person
This course offers an account of the emergence, development, and vicissitudes of the notion of “person” in Western thought. The course queries certain key moments in intellectual history in order to discover, and develop, the resources needed to understand the deepening of this notion that has occurred thanks to John Paul II’s hermeneutic of the Second Vatican Council. The course thus examines pre-Christian thought, the Christological and Trinitarian controversies, Medieval philosophy and theology, and important trends in modernity and post-modernity in the light of the Pope’s understanding of the person, showing how this understanding both continues and, at the same time, deepens Christocentrically the Western tradition of thinking about the person.

Adrian Walker 3 credits

JPI 714
Veritatis Splendor and
Contemporary Moral Theology.
This course will examine the development of post-conciliar moral theology in the light of the Council’s teaching and in the light of John Paul II’s encyclical Veritatis splendor, with special focus on the question of proportionalism. Authors to be read will include Joseph Fuchs, Richard McCormick, Germain Grisez, John Finnis, and Benedict Ashley.

William May 3 credits

JPI 715
Covenantal Reality: Biblical Foundations
Covenant is at the heart of God’s relationship to His people. This course will examine the basic understanding of covenant, as it is operative in the Old Testament and in particular how it functions within the prophetic texts. The ancient Near Eastern context will be studied and its development of covenant will be compared to the Biblical usage. Integral to this course will be the question as to how Israel viewed marriage in terms of this covenantal reality and the effect this had on marriage. Texts which explicitly deal with covenant and those which are implicitly structured on covenantal terminology will be studied. Finally, how the structure and elements of covenant in the Old Testament are fulfilled in the Christian Pasch will be explored.

Joseph Atkinson 3 credits

JPI 719
Issues in the Gospel of John
Analyzing selected texts in the Gospel of John, this course will study some of its basic theological teaching. After a comparison between John and the Synoptics, we will consider closely the Prologue for its teaching on the Christological meeting point of creation and redemption. Then we will look at the teaching on birth from above in chapter 3 and study closely the Eucharist teaching in chapter 6. Finally, we will consider the Mysterium Paschale in the Fourth Gospel. Each of the above texts will be looked at in the light of the whole context of the Gospel and, if time permits, we will also consider aspects of chapters 12, 14, and 17.

Francis Martin 3 credits

JPI 725
Theological Meaning
of Love and Sexuality
This course begins with a study of human freedom and its dependence on and relation to uncreated freedom. Emphasis is given to the affective dimension of human love (amor naturalis). The object of love is considered in order to distinguish between love of self and love of one’s own good. This basis is used to construct a theology of love culminating in its most elevated level, charity. The role of gender is included, with particular attention to the teaching of the apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem.

Margaret McCarthy 3 credits

JPI 800
The New Feminism
This course responds to John Paul II’s call for a “new Feminism” (Evangelium Vitae, n.99). The effort to elaborate such a feminism contributes to a genuine development of dogma in the area of Christian anthropology. This course makes use of Christian philosophy in a mediating role, providing a critique of current feminism in the light of biblical revelation and providing theology itself with new instruments by which to exploit more fully what Scripture, particularly the New Testament, has to say about the meaning and eternal destiny of the human body person, male and female. The first part of the course considers The Feminist Question, then moves on to look at aspects of physiology and epistemology as well as the philosophical notions of receptivity and relationality as these contribute to an understanding of woman and her role in the Church and society.

Francis Martin 3 credits

Philosophy

JPI 513
Modernity and Humanism
This course examines, from a philosophical perspective, the dynamics of the process of modernization that has continued from the late Middle Ages to today in Western culture and is making its impact felt throughout the world. The course’s focal point is upon the impact of the Enlightenment, which summed up and crystallized the shape of modernity in Europe and elsewhere.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 520
Philosophical Foundations for Theology
Guided by the Encyclical Fides et ratio’s account of the “circular relation” existing between theology and philosophy, this course seeks to illustrate the intrinsic relation between the two fields. Combining the historical and the systematic, the course examines the ways in which the Western metaphysical tradition contributes to and, at the same time, is deepened by, philosophical reflection on the vision of man and, by extension, to the created world, opened by the Holy Father’s emphasis on the integration of theology and anthropology in the light of Gaudium et spes 22. In this context, particular attention will be paid to such classical themes as change, substance, being, the transcendentals (unity, beauty, goodness, and truth), the person, and God, in an effort
to uncover, in a philosophically serious way, the “communal” structure of being itself.

Adrian Walker 3 credits

JPI 531/703
Virtue and Human Action
This course studies the place of virtue, deliberation, choice, character, friendship, ends and purposes, and other elements in moral action. It examines the active and the theoretical life and discusses various forms of goodness and badness in moral conduct. Half of the course deals with Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, the rest with Kant’s Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals, Mill’s Utilitarianism, Simon’s A General Theory of Authority, and selected passages from Thomas Aquinas. The aim of the course is to provide a range of categories that are essential to moral thinking.

Robert Sokolowski 3 credits

JPI 726
Christian Personalism
This course is an examination of the modern concept of person, with attention to such philosophers as Jacques Maritain and Gabriel Marcel. The background reading considers the idea of person and provides a general overview of personalist philosophies.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 809
Anthropology of
Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II
This course examines, in its first half, the philosophical sources used by Karol Wojtyla, in particular, Kant, Schelling and Hume. The course’s second part is given over to an analysis of his philosophical writings, especially the Lublin Lectures, The Acting Person and several articles.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 812
New Evangelization of
Post-Modern Culture
This course examines Post-Modernism, the name given to certain “avant-garde” developments in contemporary culture. While raising serious questions, Post-Modernism also poses a challenge to Christian evangelization. This course investigates the implications of the movement and the Christian response to it, using the key texts of Vatican II (Gaudium et spes) and those of John Paul II (especially Evangelium vitae). The first half of the course examines the basic ideas of the movement, while the second considers the Christian response.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 820
The Question of Christian Philosophy
An examination of the concept of Christian Philosophy, including its background in early and mediaeval thought, its displacement by “pure” reason in the modern period and the modern form of the question during the debate of 1931-34, and recently in Veritatis splendor and Fides et ratio. Selected readings include the opening essay by J. Wippel, Metaphysical Themes; J. Maritain, An Essay on Christian Philosophy; E. Gilson, Christian Philosophy; J. Pieper, Anthology.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

Historical Studies
and Experimental
Sciences

JPI 533
Practicum in Family Ministry
This course is an examination of family ministry, social service, and advocacy in light of the teachings of the Holy Father and the Church’s mission of diakonia. A combination of practice, group discussion, and lecture is used to understand and critique past, current, and emerging ministries and services offered on a parish, diocesan, and community level.

Brenda Destro 3 credits

JPI 629/829
Psychology and Pastoral Care of the Family
This course considers the contemporary social sciences, primarily psychology, as related to the family; topics include divorce, sexual and physical abuse, homosexuality, abortion, psychotherapy, marriage counseling, family therapy, and pastoral responses to these issues.

Paul Vitz 3 credits

JPI 631
Holiness and the Human Family
This course is an exploration of the universal call to holiness as experienced in the context of marriage and family life. Following an introduction to the essential elements of spiritual theology, the course focuses on the spiritual challenges implicit in gender differences and in the variety of intimate relationships comprising the human family: conjugal, maternal, paternal and
fraternal. The particular spiritual needs of children and youth will also be considered.

Robin Maas 3 credits

JPI 642/842
Family Law in America: Historical and Anthropological Perspectives
This course examines American constitutional and civil law treatment of marriage and the family, particularly in relation to the nature of marriage and family itself, and to the closely related issues of procreation, abortion, adoption, and euthanasia. The course begins with a look at early United States Supreme Court decisions that establish and set the terms of judicial review with respect to the relationship between the person and society/culture. The nature of the person and liberty are given an in-depth treatment. This brings into play, then, the issue of the relationship between the United States Constitution and natural law. In particular, the course considers the shifting and problematic notion of “ rights” in constitutional jurisprudence, which is itself set within the debate concerning “judicial activism” and “judicial restraint.” In this context, the course tracks the development of, and critically examines, the “right to
privacy” which has become so fundamental to the constitutional law treatment of the person in relation to all others in society. Readings include United States Supreme Court and other court opinions, as well as other legal materials and law review articles.

David Crawford 3 credits

JPI 713
Marriage in the Tradition of the Church
This course focuses on the developing understanding of marriage as a human reality and saving mystery in the documents of the magisterium, centering in particular on the teaching on marriage provided by the Council of Trent, Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Arcanum divinae sapientiae, Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Casti connubii, Pope Pius XII’s teaching on conjugal morality, Vatican Council II and Pope Paul VI, especially in the encyclical Humanae vitae, and by Pope John Paul II in his many writings on marriage and the family, in particular in his apostolic exhortation Familiaris consortio and in his Letter to Families. The course also examines critically theological controversies regarding marriage in the post-conciliar period.

William May 3 credits

Doctoral Seminars

JPI 905
The Person as Moral Agent in First John
This seminar considers in detail the First Letter of John from the point of view of its teaching on the activity of the believer. Among the purposes which guided the author was that of establishing criteria by which believers could discern whether they or others were in fact holding fast to the truth, that is, the revelation of the Father as it had been transmitted to them by the preaching of the Gospel and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The seminar examines both the teaching of this part of the New Testament tradition and the insights of the recent papal encyclical Fides et ratio in order to arrive at a descriptive definition of the person as moral agent whose source of activity derives from the knowledge of truth.

Francis Martin 3 credits

JPI 904
The Anthropological and
Moral Difference Between
Contraception and Periodic Abstinence
Irreconcilable concepts of the human person and human sexuality underlie the acceptance of contraception and the practice of periodic abstinence. This is a truth central to Pope John Paul II’s Familiaris consortio and for which his magisterial teaching on the nature of the human person provides compelling support. This seminar will compare and contrast the profoundly important anthropological and moral assumptions underlying the practices of contraception and periodic abstinence. The major arguments defending contraception under certain conditions (as presented by Louis Janssens, Charles Curran, Bernard Haering, et al.) will be examined in light of the teaching of John Paul II. The work of moral theologians such as Germain Grisez, Martin Rhonheimer, and Janet Smith will also be considered. Texts relevant to identifying irreconcilable concepts of the human person and human sexuality and their bearing on the “culture of death” and the “culture of life” will be analyzed.

William May 3 credits

JPI 911
The Theology of Henri de Lubac
This seminar considers the main contributions of Henri de Lubac to twentieth century Catholic thought, particularly in the light of the Second Vatican Council and the different controversies that preceded and followed the Council. Central themes to be treated include: Christ and the solidarity of man in what concerns salvation; atheism and modern culture; nature and grace; knowledge of God; theology of revelation; Mary and the Church. Works from which readings will be selected include Catholicism, Corpus Mysticum, The Drama of Atheist Humanism, Surnaturel, The Splendor of the Church, The Discovery of God, Exégèse Médiévale (The Sources of Revelation), The Mystery of the Supernatural, A Brief Catechesis on Nature and Grace, and At the Service of the Church.

David Schindler 3 credits

JPI 912
German Catholic Thought
This seminar examines the mid-decades of this century which saw the work of a remarkable group of Catholic thinkers, philosophers and theologians, including Karl Rahner, Romano Guardini, Gustav Siewerth, Eric Przywara and others, who gave serious thought in contemporary fashion to the issues on the border between philosophy and theology. Their contribution set much of the background for contemporary Catholic thought which continues to play a role today.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 913
Fides et Ratio: Sources,
Background, Prospects
This seminar will examine the encyclical in some depth, bringing its sources and the earlier papal and pre-papal writings to bear upon four of its themes: its treatment of sacred scripture, its consideration of the Fathers, its reference to scholastic thought and its opening to dialogue with other religions.

Kenneth Schmitz 3 credits

JPI 916
The Renewal of Moral Theology in Four Theologians: Germain Grisez, Servais Pinckaers, Benedict Ashley, and Livio Melina
These four theologians have significantly contributed to the renewal of moral theology advocated by Vatican II, each in his own way. Each of these theologians is noted for his fidelity to the Magisterium and for his commitment to the renewal of moral theology in the way desired by Vatican Council II and subsequently by Pope John Paul II. But these four theologians differ significantly among themselves in the way that they have sought to renew moral theology; indeed, there are some substantive areas where these theologians disagree: e.g., the question of man’s last end, the nature of natural law and the way it is “fulfilled” or “perfected” by the gospel law of love, the role of virtues in the structure of the Christian moral life, the way in which the Sermon on the Mount and the beatitudes serve as the “Magna Carta” of the Christian moral life, the question of specifically Christian moral precepts.

William May 3 credits