From Teaching Confessors to Guiding Lay People: The Development of Catholic Moral Theologians from 1900—1965

TWENTIETH-CENTURY CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGIANS HAVE ABANDONED their long-standing primary task of being teachers of priests who need specific interpretations of the law to hear confessions properly. By 1965 they had become guardians of the personal consciences of lay people seeking to become disciples...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 2008, Vol.28 (2), p.141-157
Main Author: Keenan, James F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Catholicism
Charity
Christian morality
Ethical instruction
Moral development
Morale
Morality
Sacred texts
Selected Essays
Theology
War
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:TWENTIETH-CENTURY CATHOLIC MORAL THEOLOGIANS HAVE ABANDONED their long-standing primary task of being teachers of priests who need specific interpretations of the law to hear confessions properly. By 1965 they had become guardians of the personal consciences of lay people seeking to become disciples of Christ. This shift was occasioned by a sustained debate between manualists and revisionists in which they argued about the primary locus of moral theology (whether in actions or in persons), about the locus of moral truth (whether in normative, magisterial teaching or in personal judgments of conscience), and about the objectivity of moral truth (exclusive or inclusive of the moral agent).
ISSN:1540-7942
2326-2176
DOI:10.5840/jsce20082828