Chapter X: Division of Moral Theology

Man may be variously regarded, —in his relations to God, to himself, and to his fellowmen; and hence Moral Theology has been fitly divided into three parts.¹ For our purpose, however, we prefer the more serviceable division suggested by the laws of logic and practical use: viz., into (1) General or Theoretical and (2) Special or Practical.²

¹ Tit. II, 12.

² Cfr. F. X. Linsenmann, Lehrbuch der Moraltheologie, pp. 35 sqq.

General Moral Theology treats of morality and the moral order in three subdivisions:

I. Morality, its Subject, Norm, and Object; II. The Disturbance of the Moral Order by Sin; and III. The Restoration of the Moral Order by Grace.

Special Moral Theology shows how the moral order is realized in man as an individual and as a member of society, and hence discusses (1) Man's Duties to Himself; (2) Man's Duties to God; and (3) Man's Duties to His Fellowmen, Individually and Collectively.

For convenience sake we shall divide the whole subject-matter of Moral Theology into five volumes, as follows:

Morality, Its Subject, Norm, and Object

Sin and the Means of Grace

Man's Duties to Himself

Man's Duties to God

Man's Duties to His Fellowmen READINGS.—Th. Slater, S.J., A Short History of Moral Theology, pp. 44-50.—Aug. Lehmkuhl, S.J., in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV, pp. 607 sqq. —A. Sweens, Theologia Moralis Fundamentalis, 2nd ed., Haaren 1910, pp. 13 sq.