Chapter — Koch–Preuss
Chapter VIII: The Methods of Moral Theology
The attainment of man's last end may be conceived as depending upon knowledge of the truth, observance of the law, or the mystic union of the soul with Christ.1 Accordingly we distinguish three methods of studying and teaching Moral Theology. These methods are based on the three principal stages that mark the way to Christian perfection and are known as the Scholastic or speculative, the practical or casuistic, and the ascetic method.
1. the Scholastic or Speculative Method. —the Scholastic or Speculative Method Derives its Data From Positive Theology, That Is to Say, It Examines the Teaching of Scripture and Tradition and Expounds the Moral Principles Derived From That Teaching in the Light of Reason, Tracing Their Intrinsic Relations, Demonstrating Their Correctness, and Developing Their Logical Implications
This method may, therefore, be described as a deduction of the principles of right living from the truths of speculative theology. Hence its other name, speculative. The principal purpose of the speculative or Scholastic method is to set forth the eternal ideas of right and wrong as they exist in the divine intellect, the ethical faculties of man, and divine Revelation. The claims of this method need not be proved; they are justified by the very nature of the subject with which Moral Theology deals.
2. the Practical or Casuistic Method
—This method may be defined as technical instruction in the application of the general principles of morality to special conditions and events, real or imaginary; or, in other words, as the analytic solution of so-called cases of conscience (casus conscientiae). Thus defined, casuistry (theologia casuistica) is a legitimate, nay an indispensable instrument for testing the morality of human acts. By applying the principles of right conduct to the actual and possible occurrences of everyday life, the casuist decides practical problems arising in the cure of souls and determines what is right and what is wrong, what is licit and what is forbidden, what is venially and what mortally sinful in each individual case. Employed prudently, i. e., with due regard for the principles of morality, the casuistic method is undoubtedly useful. However, it embraces only a narrow sector of life, and appraises human conduct mainly from the external, juridical, and legal point of view, and hence easily leads either to excessive rigorism or undue laxity.2
2 Cfr. F. Walter, Theorie und Praxis, pp. 15 sqq.; Jos. Rickaby, S.J., Political and Moral Essays, London 1902, pp. 197 sqq.; T. Brosnahan, S.J., in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. III, pp. 415 sqq.; W. Humphrey, S.J., Conscience and Law, London 1896.
In another and a higher sense casuistry is more than a mere method employed in Moral Theology; it is a science which digests the positive moral teachings embodied in the laws and official decisions of the Church and deduces from them the true spirit of ecclesiastical legislation and definite principles for the guidance of conduct.
- THE ASCETIC METHOD. —This method shows how the means of grace should be employed so as to enable man to attain perfection.
There are three ways of attaining perfection: the purgative, the illuminative, and the unitive.
Setting out on the first (via purgativa), the soul is cleansed from sin and concupiscence by prayer, penitence, and mortification.
Proceeding on the second (via illuminativa), the soul is divinely enlightened and endowed with supernatural prerogatives, such as intuition, vision, etc.
Finally, at the end of the third way (via unitiva), the soul is united with God, its sovereign Good.
Mysticism, which in its practical manifestations is sometimes, though less appropriately, called ascetism, may consequently be defined as the science of Christian virtue, particularly ideal virtue, i. e., the hidden life of the soul with Christ in God.3 It forms the climax and crown of Moral Theology.
3 Col. III, 3; Gal. II, 20; VI, 14; Eph. III, 17 sqq. —Cfr. F. X. Mutz, Christliche Aszetik, Paderborn 1907, 1910; Th. Zahn, Einführung in die christliche Mystik, ibid., 1908; G. M. Sauvage, in the Cath. Encyclopedia, Vol. X, pp. 663 sqq.; A. Poulain, S.J., The Graces of Interior Prayer (tr. by L. Y. Smith), London 1911.
However, mystic theology does not comprise the Church's entire teaching with regard to the virtues of the Christian life. It merely deals with these virtues in their highest aspects. Wrongly conceived, Mysticism leads to the adoption of false ideals.
The Church has prescribed none of the three methods enumerated above for the study or teaching of Moral Theology.4 As each method covers but a portion of the vast field traversed by this science, all three should be employed together. We find them so employed in the writings of St. Bernard, St. Thomas, St. Bonaventure, and other great masters.
4 Pius VI in his Constitution "Auctorem fidei" (Aug. 28, 1794) and Pius IX, in the thirteenth proposition of the Syllabus, merely defend Scholasticism against the unjust accusations of its enemies; they do not prescribe the casuistic method for Moral Theology. The same is true of the letter addressed by Pius IX to the Munich Scientific Congress, Dec. 21, 1863.
—A. Sweens, Theologia Moralis Fundamentalis, 2nd ed., Haaren 1910, pp. 7 sq. —A. Meyenberg, Die kath. Moral, 2nd ed., pp. 34 sqq. —Hettinger-Stepka, Timothy, pp. 390 sqq. —M. Grabmann, Die Geschichte der scholastischen Methode, Vol. I, Freiburg 1909, pp. 36 sqq., 55 sqq. —Jos. Rickaby, S.J., Political and Moral Essays, London 1902, pp. 197 sqq. —Aug. Lehmkuhl, S.J., in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV, pp. 607 sqq.—Th. Bouquillon, Theologia Moralis Fundamentalis, 3rd ed., Bruges 1903. —A. Krawutzky, Einleitung in das Studium der kath. Moraltheologie, 2nd ed., Breslau 1898.—E. Müller, Theol Mor., Vol. I, 5th ed., pp. 23 sqq. —Thos. Slater, S.J., The Foundation of True Morality, N. Y. 1920, pp. 37 sqq. —A. Vermeersch, S.J., Theol. Mor., Vol. I, pp. 9 sqq.