Section 1: The Patristic Period

1. Those who occupied themselves publicly with the moral teaching of Christianity in the first three centuries did so for a practical rather than a scientific purpose; they wrote to instruct the faithful in the principles of right living and to ward off pagan or heretical attacks. a) The so-called Apostolic Fathers¹ expound the moral teaching of the Church on the basis of Sacred Scripture and Tradition. They specially emphasize the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity as the core and kernel of Christian morality.

¹ Cfr. F. X. Funk, Patres Apostolici, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Tübingen 1901. —A cheap edition of the writings of these Fathers, with a fairly reliable English translation, is now available in the Loeb Classical Library (Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers, 2 vols., London 1912 and 1913).

The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, has been called "the first handbook of Moral Theology." It gives a synopsis of Christian ethics under the figure of two ways, the way of life and the way of death.²

² Διδαχὴ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων, Ch. I-VI. —On the Didache and its teaching see Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, Freiburg and St. Louis 1908, pp. 19 sqq.; J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Vol. I, St. Louis 1910, pp. 135 sqq. —A synopsis of the Didache is given by Slater in his Short History of Moral Theology, pp. 9 sqq.

The same simile, in a slightly altered form, occurs in the Epistle ascribed to St. Barnabas.³

³ Ep. Barn., c. XVIII-XXI. —For a brief account of this letter and its contents see Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 22 sqq.; Tixeront, Hist. of Dogmas, Vol. I, pp. 139 sqq.

St. Clement of Rome, who, according to St. Irenaeus, was the third successor of St. Peter, instructs the Corinthians in their duties, warns them against harboring envy and jealousy, recommends the practice of humility and obedience, and points to certain types and examples of these virtues contained in the Old Testament.⁴

⁴ 1 Ep. ad Cor., c. 1-36. —Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 25 sqq.; Tixeront, Hist. of Dogmas, Vol. I, pp. 107 sqq.; J. Gregg, The Epistle of St. Clement, London 1899.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, of whose letters St. Polycarp says that they "contain faith, patience, and all the edification which pertains to our Lord," ⁵ calls faith and charity "the beginning and the end of life," 6 and describes the mutual relationship of these two virtues as follows: "The beginning is faith, the end is love; and when the two are joined together in unity, it is God, and all other noble things follow after them." ⁷ St. Polycarp as a rule confines himself to general admonitions; but now and then he exhorts his disciples to obey "the presbyters and deacons'' and emphasizes the three theological virtues together with love of one's neighbors.⁸

⁵ Polycarp, Ad Phil., XIII, 2. 6 the beginning and the end of life.

⁷ Ad Ephes., XIV, 1: The beginning is faith, the end is love; and when the two are joined together in unity, it is God, and all other noble things follow after them. —On St. Ignatius' teaching see E. Bruston, Ignace d'Antioche, ses Epitres, sa Vie, sa Theologie, Paris 1897.

⁸ Ad Phil., III, 2-3. —Cfr. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Vol. I, pp. 132 sqq.

The twelve commandments (mandata) inculcated by the Shepherd of Hermas are a kind of compendium of Catholic moral teaching.⁹

⁹ Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 38 sq.; Tixeront, op. cit., I, 111 sqq.

The Letter to Diognetus describes the exemplary life led by the Christians of the third or fourth century.¹⁰ b) The Apologists of the second and third centuries,¹¹ without shutting their eyes to the commendable features of pagan civilization, contrast the pious life led by Christian believers with the depravity of the pagan masses, and extol the former for their unworldliness, their chastity and benevolence, their charity and heroism, which frequently culminated in martyrdom.

¹⁰ Ep. ad Diogn., c. V-VII. —On the authorship of this disputed letter see Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 68 sq.

¹¹ V. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 44 sqq.

Though the early Christians constantly kept in view the essentials of morality, and recognized prayer and penance as the principal means of sanctification, their views and customs undeniably betray a certain rigorism. Thus they condemned play-acting and other diversions which are in themselves harmless.¹²

¹² Cfr. K. J. Hefele, Beiträge zur Kirchengeschichte, Vol. I, Tübingen 1864, pp. 16 sqq.; A. Bigelmair, Die Beteiligung der ersten Christen am offentlichen Leben, Munich 1902, pp. 172 sqq.

The development of Moral Theology was strongly advanced by Clement of Alexandria, whose trilogy (Protrepticus, Paedagogus, Stromata) is a graduated or progressive introduction to Christianity. The Protrepticus (Exhortation to the Heathen) opens with an eloquent invitation to listen to "the new song of the Logos going forth from Sion." The Paedagogus is a guide to Christian life for the use of converts. The Stromata (Miscellanies; strictly, Tapestries, a collection of materials for the instruction and training of theologians) presents a scientific account of "the true philosophy," i. e., the Christian religion. Another ethical treatise by the same learned author, Τίς ὁ σωζόμενος πλούσιος; is more commonly known by its Latin title, "Quis Dives Salvetur?" ¹³ Origen made valuable contributions to Moral Theology in his treatise on Prayer and the Exhortation to Martyrdom.¹⁴

¹³ Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 129; Slater, A Short History of Moral Theology, pp. 11 sqq. —Clement's trilogy is reproduced in Migne, P. G., VIII and IX. Vol. VIII contains the Paedagogus and the first four Stromata; Vol. IX, the other works. —On his life and teaching see O. Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus, 3 vols., Leipsic 1905-09; F. J. Winter, Die Ethik des Klemens von Alexandrien, Leipsic 1882; E. de Faye, Clement d'Alexandrie, Paris 1898; W. Capitaine, Die Moral des Klemens von Alexandrien, Paderborn 1903; F. X. Funk, "Klemens von Alexandrien über Familie und Eigentum," in Kirchengeschichtliche Abhandlungen und Untersuchungen, Vol. II, Paderborn 1899, pp. 45 sqq.; W. Wagner, Der Christ und die Welt nach Klemens von Alexandrien, Göttingen 1903; J. Kaye, Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of Clement of Alexandria, 2nd ed., London 1890; K. Ernesti, Die Ethik des T. Flavius Klemens von Alexandrien, Paderborn 1900.

¹⁴ Migne, P. G., XI, 416-561, 564-637.—Cfr. W. Capitaine, De Origenis Ethica, Münster 1898; Klein, Die Freiheitslehre des Origenes, Strassburg 1894.

Tertullian ¹⁵ and St. Cyprian are the leading representatives of what may be called the practical school of early Christian moralists. The orthodox writings of the former contain many profound reflections on ethical topics.¹⁶ Tertullian was the first writer who expressly taught that the will of God is the sovereign principle of morality.¹⁷ St. Cyprian has left us a number of excellent moral treatises distinguished by genuine piety.¹⁸

¹⁵ Tertullian's ethical writings are reprinted in Migne, P. L., I and in Gersdorf's Bibliotheca Patr. Eccles. Lat., ed. E. F. Leopold, Leipsic 1839, Vols. IV-VII, and in the Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna 1890-96, XX, 1 and 3. —On this writer's teaching see G. Ludwig, Tertullians Ethik, Leipsic 1885; W. Vollert, Tertullians dogmatische und ethische Grundanschauung, Gütersloh 1903; J. Turmel, Tertullien, 2nd ed., Paris 1905, pp. 146 sqq.; Adhémar d'Alès, Théologie de Tertullien, Paris 1905, pp. 262 sqq.; F. Nielsen, Tertullians Ethik, Schönberg 1879; J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Vol. I, pp. 304 sqq.

¹⁶ De Poenitentia, De Oratione, De Patientia, Ad Martyres, De Idololatria, De Spectaculis, Ad Uxorem. —On the character of these treatises and the various editions of them see Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, 186 sq.

¹⁷ De Poenit., 4: "But for our part, within our limitations, we insist on this one thing: that what God commands is good and best. I consider it presumptuous to dispute concerning the goodness of a divine precept. For we ought to hearken, not because it is good, but because God commands it. For the rendering of obedience, the majesty of divine power comes first; the authority of the commander comes before the advantage of the servant." (Ed. Leopold, P. II, 52).

¹⁸ These treatises may be found in Migne, P. L., IV (cfr. II and V); a critical edition by G. Hartel in the Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat., III, 1-3, Vienna 1868-1871. —St. Cyprian's principal moral treatises are: De Catholicae Ecclesiae Unitate, De Lapsis, De Dominica Oratione, De Bono Patientiae, De Opere et Eleemosynis, De Habitu Virginum, De Mortalitate. —Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 192 sqq. —On the ethical teaching of Lactantius (Migne, P. L., VI-VII; Corpus Script. Eccl. Lat., Vols. XIX and XXVII, ed. S. Brandt and G. Laubmann, Vienna 1890-1897) see M. E. Heinig, Die Ethik des Lactantius, Grimma 1887.

In the fourth century the Fathers of both the East and the West labored hard to stem the tide of corruption that threatened to invade the Church. It was in the course of this period that St. Ambrose and St. Augustine laid the foundations of Moral Theology as a science. St. Augustine in particular deserves a place of honor in the Patristic history of our discipline on account of the masterful way in which he developed theological anthropology and expounded many ethical questions.

St. Ambrose's principal moral treatise, entitled De Officiis Ministrorum, is modelled on Cicero's De Officiis and may be described as a manual of instruction composed for the author's spiritual children, the ecclesiastics or ministers (ministri) of the Church. His chief motive seems to have been to demonstrate the superiority of Christian over pagan ethics. He also wrote several works in praise of virginity and the religious state. It has been justly observed that the ethical element predominates in all his writings.¹⁹

¹⁹ Cfr. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Vol. II, pp. 251 sq. —Slater, A Short History of Moral Theology, pp. 14 sq. —St. Ambrose's moral writings in Migne, P. L., XIV-XVII.— On the relation of his De Officiis Ministrorum to Cicero's De Officiis see F. Bittner, Commentatio de Ciceronianis et Ambrosianis Officiorum Libris, Braunsberg 1849; J. E. Pruner, Die Theologie des hl. Ambrosius, Eichstätt 1862. —R. Thamin (S. Ambroise et la Morale Chrétienne au IVe Siècle, Paris 1895, ch. 5-8) underrates the influence of Sacred Scripture on the ethical teaching of St. Ambrose.

St. Augustine systematically expounded both the dogmatic and the moral teaching of the Church in his Enchiridion ad Laurentium, sive de Fide, Spe et Caritate. His treatise De Moribus Ecclesiae et de Moribus Manichaorum is devoted entirely to a defense of the moral teaching of the Church against the Manichaeans. He wrote separate monographs on lying, marriage, monasticism, continence, patience, virginity, and widowhood.²⁰ Besides, not a few of his letters deal with ethical topics.²¹ The fundamental principle of Christian morality, according to Augustine, is charity, from which all other virtues emanate, and with which they are substantially identical.²²

²⁰ De Mendacio, Contra Mendacium, De Bono Coniugali, De Opere Monachorum, De Continentia, De Patientia, De Sancta Virginitate, De Bono Viduitatis.—Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 492.

²¹ Reprinted from the Benedictine edition in Migne, P. L., XXXII-XLVII.—On the ethical teaching of St. Augustine see H. Reuter, Augustinische Studien, Gotha 1887, pp. 359 sqq.; C. Wolfsgruber, Augustinus, Paderborn 1898, pp. 360 sqq.; A. M. Tonna-Barthet, S. Augustini Doctrina Ascetica, Einsiedeln 1906; J. Mausbach, Die Ethik des hl. Augustinus, 2 vols., Freiburg 1909; Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 488 sqq.; J. Tixeront, History of Dogmas, Vol. II, pp. 367 sqq., 432 sqq., 460 sqq.

²² Cfr. De Moribus Ecclesiae, 14, n. 24 (Migne, P. L., XXXII, 1321).

St. Augustine also laid the foundation of practical Mysticism. Speculatively, this science was profoundly influenced by the writings attributed (wrongly, as we now know) to Dionysius the Areopagite.²³

²³ Cfr. H. Koch, Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita in seinen Beziehungen zum Neuplatonismus und Mysterienwesen, Mayence 1900; Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 535 sqq.; Tixeront, Hist. of Dogmas, Vol. III, pp. 5 sqq.

Other distinguished moralists of the Patristic age were St. Basil the Great,²⁴ St. Gregory of Nyssa, in whose writings the viewpoint of practical morality often asserts itself,²⁵ St. Gregory of Nazianzus,²⁶ and St. John Chrysostom. These writers treated ethical subjects mostly from the standpoint of the ascetic.²⁷

²⁴ Ethica, Ep. Canonicae (Migne, P. G., XXIX-XXXII).—Cfr. A. Kranich, Die Aszetik in ihren dogmatischen Grundlagen bei Basilius dem Grossen, Paderborn 1896.—Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 278.

²⁵ See his De Perfectione, and especially De Virginitate (Migne, P. G., XLIV-XLVI).—Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 299.—On the ethical teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa see F. Hilt, Des hl. Gregorius von Nyssa Lehre vom Menschen, Cologne 1890, pp. 103 sqq., 175 sqq.; W. Vollert, Die Lehre Gregors von Nyssa vom Guten und Bösen, Leipsic 1897; J. B. Aufhauser, Die Heilslehre des hl. Gregor von Nyssa, Munich 1910.

²⁶ Carmina, Orationes (Migne, P. G., XXXV-XXXVIII).—On Nazianzen's teaching see Fr. K. Hummer, Des hl. Gregor von Nazianz, des Theologen, Lehre von der Gnade, Kempten 1890; Th. Sommerlad, Das Wirtschaftsprogramm der Kirche im Mittelalter, Leipsic 1903, pp. 136 sqq.

²⁷ Chrysostom's ascetical and moral writings in Migne, P. G., XLVII-LXIV. —On his moral teaching see Somerlad, op. cit., pp. 142 sqq.; Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 344 sq.

St. Ephraem Syrus in his orations and hymns is both scholastic and practical. Moralizing discourses, monitory or penitential, make up the greater part of his works.²⁸

²⁸ Cfr. Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 390 sq.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem deals with sin, penance, and other moral topics in his famous Catecheses Mystagogicae.²⁹™ St. Macarius the Egyptian is regarded as the founder of ecclesiastical Mysticism.³⁰

²⁹ Migne, P. G., XXXIII. —On the moral doctrine of St. Cyril see A. Knappitsch, S. Cyrilli Catechesibus quae Principia et Praecepta Moralia Contineantur, Graz 1899.

³⁰ Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 226 sq. —The Ὁμιλίαι πνευματικαί are reprinted in Migne, P. G., XXXIV, 449-822.—On the theological opinions of Macarius cfr. J. Stoffels, Die mystische Theologie Makarius des Aegypters und die ältesten Ansätze christlicher Mystik, Bonn 1908.

St. Methodius, Bishop of Olympus in Lycia, in his famous Symposion, enthusiastically chants the praises of virginity.³¹

³¹ Migne, P. G., XVIII, 9-408.— Cfr. N. Bonwetsch, Die Theologie des Methodius von Olympus, Berlin 1903, pp. 125 sqq.

The moral teaching of St. Gregory the Great is minute and practical. His Expositio in Librum Iob, more generally known as Moralium Libri XXXV, has justly been termed " a thesaurus of Moral Theology." ³² His famous Liber Regulae Pastoralis, written about 591 and dedicated to Archbishop John of Ravenna, is regarded as the first treatise on casuistry.³³

³² Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, p. 653.

³³ Op. cit., pp. 652 sq. —Gregory's writings will be found in Migne, P. L., LXXV-LXXIX. —On his life and teaching cfr. C. Wolfsgruber, Gregor der Grosse, Saulgau 1890. —On the teaching of St. Jerome and Theodoret of Cyrus see Th. Sommerlad, Das Wirtschaftsprogramm der Kirche im Mittelalter, Leipsic 1903, pp. 165 sqq., 173 sqq.

READINGS. —R. Ceillier, Apologie de la Morale des Pères de l'Église, Paris 1718.—J. P. Charpentier, Études sur les Pères de l'Église, Paris 1853. —A. Rietter, Sittenlehre der kirchlichen Schriftsteller der ersten zwei Jahrhunderte, Ratisbon 1845. —E. von Dobschütz, Die urchristlichen Gemeinden, Leipsic 1902.—A. Harnack, Die Mission und Ausbreitung des Christentums, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Leipsic 1906, pp. 172 sqq. —Bardenhewer-Shahan, Patrology, pp. 15 sqq. —J. Schwane, Dogmengeschichte, Vol. I, 2nd ed., Freiburg 1892, pp. 289 sqq., 466 sqq.; Vol. II, 2nd ed., Freiburg 1895, pp. 418 sqq., 439 sqq., 725 sqq. —Thos. Slater, S.J., A Short History of Moral Theology, New York 1909, pp. 8-35. —Aug. Lehmkuhl, S.J., in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XIV, pp. 604 sq.