Prolegomena to Moral Theology

We have already spoken of Theology in general in the first volume of Dogmatic Theology. Here, therefore, it will be enough to premise a few things concerning the notion, sources, and history of Moral Theology.

1. 1° Definition. (A) Theology in general is defined: the supernatural science concerning God and creatures insofar as they are referred to God.

¹ St. Thomas, I, q. 1, a. 4-5; Zacharia, Dissertatio de Casuisticae Theologiae originibus, locis atque praestantia, in Heilig, Theol. Moralis S. Alphonsi, Mechlin, 1845, p. XXVII-CXLVIII; Patuzzi, Prodromus ad universam morum theologiam, in Migne, Theol. Curs. Compl. XI, col. 9-64; Muller, Theol. Moralis, Introduction, § 1-14; T. Bouquillon, Theologia Moralis Fundam., 3rd ed., Introduction, p. 1-167; Hogan, Clerical Studies, Boston, 1898, ch. V; which work was rendered into French under the care of Boudinhon, Paris, 1902: Les Etudes du Clerge.

It is divided into dogmatic and moral theology: the former, which is more speculative, sets forth and demonstrates the truths to be believed, and deservedly is called the rule of things to be believed; the latter, which is more practical, is concerned with morals or things to be done, and therefore is called the rule of things to be done. Yet from this it is not lawful to infer that dogmatic theology is merely speculative, and moral theology merely practical: for the dogmas which are proposed to our faith, although primarily they present to the mind an objective concept, are finally ordered to our sanctification and glorification; on the other hand, the rule of morals flows logically from Christian dogmas, and nothing more efficaciously allures to the practice of virtues than the attentive and pious contemplation of the divine mysteries, for example, Creation, Providence, and the Incarnation. Hence dogmatic theology is indeed primarily, but not exclusively, the rule of things to be believed; and moral theology, although it is primarily the rule of things to be done, must also embrace speculative questions.

2. (B) Moral theology can be defined: a science, relying at once upon reason and faith, treating of human acts insofar as they are means for attaining the supernatural end.¹ - It is called:

¹ Today not a few defenders of independent ethics ambitiously define this science as the breviary of humanity, namely the compendium of all sciences which render man happier; others, with Payot, Cours de Morale, p. 6, assert that it is the science by which human life is made more perfect, more intense, and happier. There is no one who does not see that these definitions are too comprehensive and confused.

(a) A science, that is, a series of conclusions deduced from certain principles and connected in logical order. It differs therefore from that theology which is merely casuistic, and which is situated in the solution of practical difficulties; for Moral Theology ascends higher: it investigates, sets forth, and demonstrates the principles of morals, known both by reason and by faith; afterward from these it deduces in logical order conclusions which approach more nearly to practice; and it hands down rules by which human acts can tend toward our supernatural end.²

² Recently there has arisen, especially in Germany, a controversy among Protestants and Catholics, and indeed among Catholics themselves, concerning the method to be followed in Moral Theology: for many have contended that the casuistic discipline rests upon no solid foundation, and gives occasion to many abuses. This indeed is true when the rules of morals are set forth independently of dogmatic truths; but it is by no means verified in the works of theologians who, adhering to the footsteps of St. Thomas, diligently investigate principles, with the help of analysis and synthesis, and from them logically deduce conclusions. Cf. Mausbach, Die katholische Moral, ihre Methoden, Grundsaetze und Aufgaben, Cologne, 1901; Adloff, Katholische Moral und Sittlichkeit, Strasbourg, 1901; E. Van Roey, Recentes controverses de Morale, in Revue Neo-Scolastique, May-Nov. 1902, pp. 213, 464.

(b) Relying upon reason and faith, that is, obtained not by natural light alone, but also with the help of revelation; and thus it is distinguished from Ethics, or moral Philosophy, which treats of the principles of morals known by reason alone, and insofar as they tend toward the ultimate natural end.

3. (c) Treating of human acts insofar as... by these words the object of this science is declared, namely all human acts, whether internal or external, pertaining to private, domestic, or social life, not indeed under every respect, but insofar as they tend toward the ultimate supernatural end; therefore it treats of human acts both in themselves and in their principles; of the laws by which acts of this kind are regulated; and also of the internal or external means, for example, the sacraments, by whose help we may be able to direct our actions to our supernatural end. And thus it is distinguished from those human sciences which treat of laws pertaining to some particular end, for example, from economic science, which hands down norms by which riches ought to be acquired and distributed; from politics, which hands down norms of prudent governing, etc. - It is likewise distinguished from those ecclesiastical sciences, such as canonical and liturgical science, which are proximately ordered to promoting the external governance of the Church or public worship, although remotely they also tend toward the ultimate end. Nevertheless moral theology uses these various sciences, and even in some respect presides over them, insofar as the proximate end ought to serve the ultimate end.

4. Moral theology taken in the broad sense embraces ascetical and mystical theology; but in the strict sense it is distinguished from them: for it is concerned with the laws of the Christian life; ascetical theology, however, with the rules and counsels of Christian perfection; and mystical theology with the higher ways of contemplation and of intimate union with God.

5. 2° Division. Commonly moral theology is divided into two parts: (a) General, or Fundamental, which treats both of the last end of man and of the norm of morality, which is nothing other than the ordering of acts to the last end, and of the general means by which we tend toward the end; (b) and special, which discusses the particular means by which we tend toward the end; namely, the virtues common to every Christian, and the duties proper to each state; and also the sacraments, by which grace is conferred for rightly fulfilling the duties of the Christian life.

6. But since in the Synopsis of Dogmatic Theology the doctrine, not only speculative but also practical, concerning the four sacraments has already been set forth, we first completed the sacramental matter, by setting forth the moral and canonical doctrine concerning the three other sacraments, namely Penance, Matrimony, and Order; afterward, however, in the following order we shall discuss the various parts of Fundamental and Special Theology:

Fundamental or General Theology:

On the Last End and the norm of morality.
On Human Acts.
On Laws.
On Conscience.
On Sins and Vices.
On Virtues in general.

Special Theology:

On Theological Virtues.
On Moral Virtues, or on the Decalogue.
Appendix concerning the precepts of the Church.
On Justice and Contracts.
On the Various Obligations of States.

7. The reason for the division will be clear to one who attends a little. First, in the Fundamental part, there is treatment of the Last End toward which we tend, according to that saying: in all things look to the end; afterward, of Human Acts, insofar as they are means to the end; of Laws, by which our acts are directed to the end; of Conscience, by whose help general laws are applied to individual persons; of Sins and Vices, by which the human will turns aside from the law; of Virtues, by whose help we are inclined to live according to the law.

Special theology, which treats of particular duties, first treats of theological virtues, and secondly of moral virtues, because under these two genera are comprehended all the common duties of the Christian life; thus the precepts of the Decalogue, which are referred to the virtues, are set forth. By way of Appendix, however, there is joined the Treatise on the Precepts of the Church, as a complement of Decalogal Theology. - But because among the moral virtues justice demands a longer exposition, there is special discussion of it in the Treatise on Justice and Contracts. - Finally, since besides the duties common to all, there are certain duties proper to various states, these are discussed in the Treatise on the Various Obligations of States.¹

¹ In the special edition for the use of seminaries, where Moral Theology is set forth separately from Dogmatic Theology, we follow this division: T. I. Fundamental moral theology; on virtues and precepts. T. II. On Justice and contracts; on the various obligations of States. T. III. On the Sacraments in general and in particular.

The sources from which moral truths are drawn are the same as the theological sources, concerning which there has been treatment in the Synopsis of Fundamental Theology. It may be permitted to add only a few things which more directly concern moral discipline.

8. 1° Concerning the use of Scripture in moral matters. All who admit the inspiration of the Scriptures confess that the Scriptures both of the Old and of the New Testament are useful, indeed necessary, for the right institution of morals: "All Scripture, inspired by God, is profitable to teach, to reprove, to correct, to instruct in justice; that the man of God may be perfect, furnished to every good work."¹ In truth, in them are found both precepts and examples by which morals are instructed.

¹ II Tim. 3:16-17.

(A) But when we use the books of the Old Testament, three things especially must be kept before our eyes: (a) that there was a constant and progressive increase of revelation from the Patriarchs even to Christ; and that God, in those things which He prescribed, permitted, or tolerated, accommodated Himself to human weakness, so that not all things which were lawful for the Jews are permitted to Christians; for example, polygamy and divorce, which at least were tolerated in ancient times, are wholly prohibited under the new dispensation; and the law of charity toward neighbor was not understood in the same manner by Jews and Christians. Hence texts taken from the Old Testament ought not to be alleged or understood without choice and discrimination, but with account taken of this evolution.

(b) In the legal books there are found precepts of three kinds: moral precepts, which retain their force, provided they are taken not precisely in the manner in which they lie there, but as approved, explained, and perfected by Christ; ceremonial precepts, which regarded worship; and judicial precepts, which constituted the law proper to the Israelite nation. These two latter kinds have now been abrogated, and we cannot use them except for determining more fully what is lawful or expedient in certain circumstances, what pertains to natural or positive law, or also for illustrating by analogy certain Christian truths or practices.

(c) As to the examples which are reported there, many indeed are worthy of imitation; but since even the holiest men are not free from human frailty, not all things which they did are for that very reason commendable, although they are not expressly reprehended by Scripture. Therefore it must be carefully weighed, from the context and parallel places, whether these are approved or not; and if they are approved, whether in themselves, under the moral respect, or under another respect; and if any actions either are evil, or at least bear before themselves the appearance of evil, they are not to be drawn into imitation. - The same must likewise be noted as to certain parables and some examples related in the New Testament.

9. (B) In reading the books of the New Testament, attention must chiefly be given to these three things: (a) Christian revelation was not completed in one moment, but grew successively until the death of the last of the Apostles; even after the Apostles had died, the Spirit of God teaches through the infallible magisterium of the Church, and those things which are contained only obscurely, implicitly, and virtually in the Gospels, Epistles, and divine Tradition, are in the course of time proposed more lucidly, explicitly, and formally by the Church herself. Hence, in order to set forth Christian ethics fully, one must wisely use the various books of the New Testament, the divine Traditions, and the infallible magisterium of the Church, whether extraordinary or ordinary.

(b) Since certain things are handed down under precept, but others under counsel, these must not be mixed indiscriminately, but must be distinguished with great circumspection. The foundation of this distinction is found in the Gospel itself:¹ for when the very rich young man had come to Christ, asking, "What good shall I do that I may have life everlasting?", the Master answered: "But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." The young man said that he had kept these from his youth; then Jesus said to him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." From this it is inferred that, for attaining eternal life, the observance of the commandments strictly suffices; but for perfection something further is required, namely poverty and the other evangelical counsels. Hence from the text, the context, parallel places, the subject matter, and especially the interpretation of the Church, it must be discerned what is established by way of precept and what by way of counsel.

¹ Matt. 19:16-21; cf. Maldonatus, on this place; St. Thomas, I-II, q. 118, a. 4.

(c) Likewise among precepts, some are universal, some particular, others perpetual, others temporary; for example, the Apostles in the Council of Jerusalem established these things:¹ "For it hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us, to lay no further burden upon you than these necessary things; that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication." Now from elsewhere it is clear that the prohibition of fornication is perpetual, absolute, and universal, but that the other things are prohibited only for a time. Hence likewise the context, parallel places, and the interpretation of the Fathers and of the Church must be diligently inspected.

¹ Acts 15:28-29.

10. 2° Concerning the use of Tradition in Moral Theology. It has already been set forth elsewhere (On the Sources of Revelation, n. 961 sq.) by what means Tradition is transmitted and known; what is the authority of the solemn or ordinary magisterium of the Church, of the Fathers, theologians, Congregations, etc. It may be permitted to add only a few things which more nearly regard practice.

(A) In reading the decrees of Councils and Supreme Pontiffs, these things especially must be attended to: (a) Definitions concerning moral matters indeed contain principles of morals which in themselves are immutable; but their application can be diverse according to the diverse circumstances of times and places. Thus definitions concerning usury, established in those times when economic laws differed much from those which now prevail, cannot today be applied in the same way as in the Middle Ages. (b) Disciplinary laws vary according to various times and nations, and therefore can be changed or abrogated; hence more recent decrees sometimes correct and reform older ones. Yet the theologian ought to use these so that he may better understand and explain the new dispositions of laws. (c) As to condemned propositions, in order to uncover their sense, it must be carefully inquired by whom and in what circumstances they were uttered, why and how they were reprobated.²

² For accomplishing this, cf. D. Viva, Damnatae Theses; Vacant-Mangenot, Dictionnaire de Theologie, I, 740, 748, etc.

11. (B) The Roman Congregations, in the name of the Pontiff, often promulgate decisions very useful concerning moral matters. For they not only have the power of authentically interpreting the Tridentine decrees and other ecclesiastical laws, each according to its proper competence, with the approval of the Roman Pontiff preserved; but in addition they settle controversies which are to be solved in a disciplinary or administrative manner:¹ decisions of this kind, however, which make law only between the parties, bear very great authority for similar cases. But among these one must speak a little more fully concerning the Holy Office, whose duty it is "to guard the doctrine of faith and morals,"² and also concerning the Tribunal of the Sacred Penitentiary, whose office it is "to examine and settle questions of conscience."³

¹ The examination of questions which are to be treated in judicial order is reserved to the Tribunal of the Sacred Rota; its sentences, which contain the reasons both in fact and in law, are of the greatest importance.

² Pius X, Bull Sapienti Consilio, June 29, 1908.

³ Ibid.

(a) The Congregation of the Holy Universal Inquisition, which is commonly called the Holy Office, has the right of proceeding and defining in all causes concerning heresy, schism, apostasy from the faith, magic, and abuse of the sacraments; for which reason it has issued not a few decrees for explaining the Bull Apostolicae Sedis, where these crimes are punished by various censures. Its doctrinal responses enjoy great authority, especially because they are not issued except after mature discussion of the matter, and are always approved by the Supreme Pontiff; nevertheless this approval, ordinarily in common form, in no way renders them infallible.

(b) The Sacred Penitentiary solves practical difficulties for the internal forum,⁴ but it does not settle speculative controversies; hence its decisions must be received with the greatest reverence, and can be very useful even in similar cases; but they do not have the force of law, since they are issued only for a particular case.

⁴ In truth Benedict XIV, Constitution Pastor Bonus, granted to the Major Penitentiary that "he may be able, with the counsel of his Doctors and Theologians, to declare all doubts in the matter of sins, or otherwise concerning the penitential forum in any way." - More briefly, Pius X, Bull Sapienti Consilio: "It examines questions of conscience, and settles them."

12. 3° Concerning the use of reason in Moral Theology. (A) Although the theologian treats especially of those things which God has revealed and which the Church proposes to us to be believed and done, he cannot pass over the principles of morals which are known by natural reason: for God is the author of reason as well as of faith, and revealed truths

are better understood and set forth when they are compared with truths of the natural order. On the other hand, revealed truths themselves ought to be understood reasonably; from these same truths conclusions and practical conclusions are to be inferred. Therefore Moral Theology can and ought to use reason in order rightly to set forth the principles of morals, to prove and illustrate them, and to unfold them for practical uses.

Yet human reason in moral matters is not independent, but subordinated to faith, and it ought to acknowledge the infallible magisterium of the Church in moral questions as much as in dogmatic ones.

(B) Among the natural sciences which can be useful to moralists are numbered: (a) natural Ethics, which treats of the various duties of men, and therefore the works of philosophers, even pagans, which deal with virtues and duties; (b) Psychology, not only speculative, where there is question of human faculties, habits, passions, etc., but also practical, which is acquired from discreet commerce with men; nor should experimental psychology be passed over, especially that part in which the various diseases are described which can affect the internal faculties; (c) Pastoral Medicine, where physiological and pathological notions are handed down which, on account of the intimate relations between body and soul, are very useful for judging concerning the morality of certain actions; (d) Sociology, which treats of the rights and duties of citizens, insofar as they are members of the social organism; (e) Political Economy, which hands down principles concerning the production and equitable distribution of temporal goods; (f) Civil Jurisprudence, insofar as it sets forth by law those things which among various nations complete and perfect the natural law; (g) History, especially that part which describes the morals, worship, and moral precepts of various peoples: for in this way the progress or regression of moral science is better understood; and besides, from the experience of past times it is more wisely inferred by what means morals can be restored.

13. In order that the aforesaid sources, especially the works of the Fathers and theologians, may be inspected more deeply, and that the method to be followed in Moral Theology may be better understood, it will not be beside the matter briefly to delineate the history of this science. In it a twofold age can be distinguished: the former, of the Fathers; the latter, of the theologians. In each age, several epochs may be distinguished, which have their own proper character: the difference among these does not proceed from their mutual opposition, but from successive evolution; and, since one epoch is a preparation for another, it can often scarcely be defined where this one begins and the other ends.

¹ Zacharia, Dissertatio de Casuisticae Theologiae originibus; Patuzzi, op. cit.; C. F. Standlin, Geschichte der christlichen Moral; Luthardt, Geschichte der christlichen Ethik; Ziegler, Geschichte der christlichen Ethik; E. Muller, Theologia Moralis, Introduction, § 11-13; Pruner, Theologie Morale, translated by Belet, t. I, p. 19-47; Bouquillon, Theologia Moralis Fund., Introduction, n. 124-195.

14. In the age of the Fathers, Moral Theology is more positive, apologetic, and polemical than speculative and scientific; more paraenetic or exhortatory than casuistic; it does not embrace an integral and systematic exposition of all ethics, but only particular treatises, or a brief and incomplete synopsis of duties. - In this age, three epochs are usually distinguished: the first, from the beginning to the Council of Nicaea; the second, from the Council of Nicaea to St. Gregory the Great (+ 604); the third, from St. Gregory to St. Bernard (1120).

² Cf. Le Nain de Tillemont, Memoires pour servir a l'Hist. ecclesiastique, Paris, 1701; Dom Ceillier, Hist. des auteurs ecclesiastiques, 1758; Fessler, Institut. Patrologicae, Innsbruck, 1850; O. Bardenhewer, Les Peres de l'Eglise, French translation by Godet and Verschaffel, Paris, 1898.

15. 1° In the first epoch, the principles of morals are not unfolded in a systematic manner, but, as occasion is given, are set forth compendiously in epistles, homilies, commentaries, or particular treatises.

(A) Among the Apostolic Fathers who wrote especially concerning moral matters: - (a) the author of the work Didache, or Doctrine of the Twelve Apostles (around the end of the first century), hands down a compendium of Christian ethics: there are three principal commandments, namely love of God and neighbor, and also the golden rule that one should not do to another what he would not wish to be done to himself; the graver sins are murder, fornication and adultery, idolatry, theft, blasphemy; finally particular duties toward oneself, the Church, the poor, and the family are described.¹ (b) St. Clement, Pope, in the Epistle to the Corinthians (around the year 97), especially commends concord and fraternal charity; envy and jealousy stand in the way of this; these vices must be eradicated through penance, obedience, and humility; just as in the body some members minister to others and all to the head, so the faithful of the Church ought to minister one to another, and all to legitimate superiors; therefore those who dissent should confess their sin, subject themselves to the presbyters, and return to peace and unity.² (c) Hermas, in the work entitled Pastor (around the year 140), sets forth the chief commandments in the second part of his book: for the Shepherd, or angel of penance, commands that Christ's disciple believe in God, flee detraction, and bestow alms; that he cultivate truth and chastity, and also justice, patience, and penance; that he flee sadness, avoid pseudo-prophets, and remove from himself every evil desire; the devil is not to be feared, but God, who can save and destroy. Other things are handed down here and there concerning divorce in the case of adultery, concerning the use of riches, concerning fasting, and finally concerning the way of salvation.³

¹ Funk, Patres Apostolici, 2nd ed., Tubingen, 1901, t. I, p. VI-XIX and p. 2-37.

² Funk, op. cit., p. XXXII and 98-184.

³ Funk, op. cit., p. CXXII and 414-639.

16. (B) In the second and third century, besides many Fathers who incidentally, in apologetic books against pagans or polemical books against heretics, vindicated the principles of Christian ethics, certain men wrote entire treatises concerning the chief virtues.

(a) Thus, in the Greek Church, Clement of Alexandria elegantly set forth a brief summary of moral doctrine in the Paedagogus, and a more profound exposition in the books of the Stromata.⁴ The Pedagogue is Christ Himself, always like His eternal Father, who teaches us with meekness what a Christian ought to be like: how we ought to use foods not for pleasure, but for the conservation of our life; how carefully obscene speech and acts, and also luxury and ostentation, are to be avoided; afterward he treats of Christian marriage, which ought to be ordered not to pleasure, but to the procreation of children; of the true beauty of man, which consists not in comeliness or external adornment, but in charity; of riches, which we ought to communicate to others not arrogantly and sparingly, but kindly and liberally;¹ of baths and bodily exercise. In the books of the Stromata, among other things, he sets forth that the Christian gnostic or philosopher ought to be adorned especially with two virtues, Stoic insensibility and Christian charity.

⁴ Migne, P.G., t. VIII and IX; in t. IX, p. 798 sq., there is to be found the excellent dissertation of Nicolas Le Nourry concerning the works and doctrine of Clement; cf. E. de Faye, Clement d'Alexandrie, Paris, 1898; W. Capitaine, Die Moral des Clemens von Alexandrien, Paderborn, 1903; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. III, p. 137.

¹ Concerning this argument he treats more fully in the little work whose title is Quis dives salvetur, P.G., IX, 603-652.

17. Origen wrote many things about ethics, not indeed in an ordered and systematic manner, but incidentally in homilies, commentaries, and various treatises, from which a summary of moral science has been excerpted.² For there he sets forth the origin of sin, which had already been committed by spirits and human souls before these were joined to bodies; Christ indeed satisfied for our sins, but the free will of man must cooperate with grace in order that he may obtain sanctification. Actual sins must be expiated in various ways, but especially by penance, which supposes the confession of sins. Moreover there are two classes of Christians: the perfect and the imperfect. The former, or gnostics, ought to cultivate continence and virginity, and to withdraw from the world. But Origen erred concerning the eternity of punishments.

² The works of Origen which survive you will find in Migne, P.G., t. XI-XVII; concerning his moral doctrine Capitaine wrote De Origenis ethica, Munster in Westphalia, 1898; cf. Huet's Origeniana, P.G., XVII, p. 697-1114.

St. Methodius, about + 311, carefully avoided these errors. Moreover he taught that faith, as well as good works and the observance of the commandments, is necessary for salvation; if we sin, recourse must confidently be had to penance, since God is merciful and ready to pardon. He established the distinction between precepts and counsels, and especially commends virginity, yet without in any way reprobating marriage.³

³ The chief work of St. Methodius, Convivium decem virginum, you will find in Migne, P.G., XVIII, 27-228; as to his other works, cf. G. N. Bonwetsch, Methodius von Olympus, I, Schriften, Erlangen and Leipzig, 1891.

18. (b) In the Latin Church, Tertullian and St. Cyprian especially wrote concerning moral matters. The former favors excessive rigorism, even before he embraced the errors of the Montanists;⁴ nevertheless he describes certain duties clearly and eloquently. He treats of civil and public life especially in his little works De spectaculis, De idololatria, De corona, and there he urges the principles of cooperation too strictly, not distinguishing sufficiently between precepts and counsels. He excellently sets forth the virtue of fortitude in the books Ad martyres, De patientia, and De fuga; he treats of temperance in the Exhortatio castitatis, De virginibus velandis, Ad uxorem, De monogamia, De cultu feminarum, De jejuniis, but there he censures second marriages too bitterly.

⁴ The works of Tertullian you will find in Migne, P.L., t. I-II; Oehler made the best edition public, Leipzig, 1853-1854; cf. P. Monceaux, Histoire litteraire de l'Afrique chret., t. I, 1901; A. d'Ales, La Theologie de Tertullien, Paris, 1905; Turmel, Tertullien, 1905.

St. Cyprian, although a disciple of Tertullian, tempered his severity.¹ He carefully distinguishes between precepts and counsels. One of the chief virtues is faith, which is truly free, and makes us capable of good works. By good works we truly merit, while by evil works we are made debtors of God; nevertheless we can satisfy God by just works, and do penance for sins. He treats especially De habitu virginum, De dominica oratione, De opere et eleemosynis, De bono patientiae, De zelo et livore, De lapsis, and, in his letters, of penance, where he asserts the necessity of confession. - He erred concerning the necessity of rebaptizing heretics.

¹ Read the works of St. Cyprian in Migne, P.L., t. IV; nevertheless the best edition is that which G. Hartel edited, Vienna, 1868-1871; cf. E. W. Benson, Cyprian, his life, his times, his work, London, 1897; P. Monceaux, Hist. lit. de l'Afrique chret., t. II, 1902.

19. (c) In the same age, certain particular Councils issued decrees concerning practical questions pertaining to the Christian life; thus the First Council of Carthage, about the year 215, established laws concerning heretics to be rebaptized; the Council of Elvira, about the year 300, concerning idolatry, sorceries, adultery, divorce, usury, times of fasts, the excommunicated and energumens, and many other matters; the Council of Arles, in the year 314, concerning the faithful who wish to administer public affairs, concerning the baptism of heretics, divorce, marriage with Gentiles, clerics who take interest, those who hand over the sacred Scriptures or the vessels of the Lord to pagans, etc.² Likewise the Canonical Epistle of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus³ (253-258), which hands down the penitential discipline of this age, ought to be read attentively.

² Hefele treats learnedly of these councils, Histoire des Conciles, t. I, § I-XVII. Cf. Mansi, Concilia, t. I; Th. Bruns, Canones Apostolorum et Conciliorum, Berlin, 1839, t. I.

³ Migne, P.G., t. X, p. 1019-1047.

20. 2° The second epoch, from the fourth to the sixth century, is deservedly called the golden age of the Fathers. Moral works were then published not only more numerous in number, but also more profound in doctrine and erudition. On the occasion of rising heresies, the foundations of Christian ethics are more firmly established; from the progress of monastic life there arises a more perfect exposition of ascetical and mystical theology; on the other hand, moral principles are more specifically adapted to the various changes which occur in civil life; thus there is more often treatment of the acquisition, use, and abuse of riches, of usury, of alms, etc. Questions of this kind

questions are weighed not only in epistles, in homilies and sermons, but also in commentaries on Scripture, or in various treatises concerning the chief virtues. At the same time, the letters of the Roman Pontiffs and collections of canons exhibit ecclesiastical discipline and authentic rules of morals.

21. (A) Among the Greeks, there flourished especially:

(a) St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who in the Catecheses (347) lucidly treats of the dignity, necessity, and illustrious effects of baptism; of sacred chrism or confirmation; of the Eucharist, of the Mass and its utility not only for the living, but also for the dead; of confession and penance for obtaining the remission of sins.¹

¹ Migne, P.G., t. XXXIII; cf. J. Marquardt, S. Cyrillus baptismi, chrismatis, eucharistiae mysteriorum interpres, Leipzig, 1882.

(b) St. Basil the Great, who flourished in the year 365: he wrote concerning moral and ascetical matters. In the Moralia he treats of virtues and vices, whether common or proper to each state; in the homilies, of certain capital vices, avarice, anger, drunkenness, and also of the contrary virtues, alms, humility, fasting. He was also a legislator of the monastic life, both in the Ascetical Treatises and in the Longer or Shorter Rules.²

² Migne, P.G., t. XXXI; cf. Vasson, S. Basile le Grand, ses oeuvres oratoires et ascetiques, Paris, 1894.

(c) St. Gregory Nazianzen (330-390) wrote moral poems in which, after setting forth the nature of virtue, he inculcates the individual virtues, especially patience and equanimity in adversities, chastity, poverty, liberality, and humanity toward the poor; but especially he instructs adolescents devoted to the study of letters with salutary admonitions, and afterward the unmarried and monks, excellently commending virginity.³

³ Migne, P.G., t. XXXVII; cf. Benoit, S. Gregoire de Nazianze, Paris, 1876; C. Cavalier, S. Greg. de Naz., Montpellier, 1886.

(d) St. Gregory of Nyssa, who flourished in the year 371, wrote three Treatises concerning Christian and religious perfection, where he shows that Christian profession properly consists in the imitation of Christ, in purification from sins, abnegation of one's own will, assiduous prayer, charity, humility, and modesty. Besides, in a special book, he treats of virginity; in the Orations, he especially commends love of the poor and beneficence.⁴

⁴ Migne, P.G., t. XLVI; cf. Diekamp, La Theologie de S. Greg. de Nysse, 1896.

22. (e) St. Ephrem, the Syrian (+ 362), after demonstrating free will, declares how man's true beatitude consists in virtue; afterward he treats of the individual virtues, especially of the fear of God joined with confidence, of charity and humility, of obedience and abnegation of oneself, of patience, meekness, and chastity. For cultivating these virtues, spiritual combat is necessary, so that the devil and one's own concupiscence may be overcome. He likewise wrote a little book on the priesthood and very many sermons concerning the perfection of the monastic life.¹

¹ S. Ephraem Opera, Rome, 1732-46, t. II and III; cf. A. Haase, S. Ephraemi Syri theologia, Halle, 1869.

23. (f) St. Chrysostom (+ 398), in his homilies, eloquently sets forth almost all the duties of the Christian life. Among virtues, he most greatly commends charity, the love of enemies, and alms; among vices, he strictly reprehends drunkenness and avarice, the luxury of the rich, impurity, and the custom of frequenting theaters and circus games. Afterward he urges penance, to be manifested by confession, tears, humility, and alms. He also wrote many moral little works, especially six books On the Priesthood, a book On Virginity, two books To the Younger Widow, and the book That No One Is Harmed Except by Himself.²

² Migne, P.G., t. XLVII-LXIV; cf. A. Puech, S. Jean Chrysostome et les Moeurs de son temps, Paris, Hachette, 1891; Ph. Schaff, Saint Chrysostom and Saint Augustin, London, 1891.

(g) St. John Climacus, born at the beginning of the sixth century, excellently described the perfection proper to monks in the Ladder of Paradise, which embraces thirty steps. There he ingeniously proposes the means for obtaining virtues and eradicating vices. First indeed he commends abnegation of the world, so that we may be able to adhere wholly to God; afterward obedience, penance, meekness, silence, fasting, chastity, humility, and he describes the vices contrary to the aforesaid virtues. By the practice of virtues and by prayer we can attain full perfection, or apathy, that is, a state free from vices and passions.³

³ Migne, P.G., t. LXXXVIII, 631-1164.

24. (B) At the same time, in the Latin Church, there flourished:

(a) St. Ambrose (+ 397), who wrote three books On the Duties of Ministers, in which he proposed to himself to follow Cicero's treatise On Duties, yet correcting errors and at the same time completing Stoic ethics by the precepts and counsels of Christ. First of all, he demonstrates that divine retribution is one of the chief motives for fulfilling duties. Afterward he describes various virtues, especially the four cardinal virtues; he declares how it is useful for clerics to win for themselves the love, confidence, and good estimation of others; likewise why one should seek not what profits individuals, but what profits many or all; finally he establishes that nothing is to be sought except what is honorable: therefore let not only utility, but life and friendship, yield to honesty. Elsewhere he treats of virginity, widowhood, flight from the world, the good of death, and the holy Patriarchs, whom he exhibits as models of the virtues.⁴

⁴ Migne, P.L., t. XIV-XVI; nevertheless the Vienna edition is better; cf. Pruner, Die Theologie des H. Ambrosius, Eichstaedt, 1862; Duc de Broglie, L'Eglise et l'Empire romain, t. 5-6; Thamin, S. Ambroise et la morale chretienne au IVe s., Paris, 1895.

(b) St. Jerome (+ about 385), in his Commentaries and especially in his Letters, hands down many things concerning contempt of the world and Christian perfection, concerning the virtues which are necessary for bishops, clerics, and virgins, concerning monastic life and perfection, etc.

25. (c) St. Augustine (+ 429), easily the chief of the Fathers of the Western Church, wrote many excellent things concerning almost all questions of ethics, although he did not arrange his doctrine into one body. Before all things, he establishes the foundations of ethics: God is the supreme good, the good of all goods, the good from which all goods are, and therefore the ultimate end toward which we ought to tend; wherefore the ultimate norm of morality is the eternal law, or divine reason and will; therefore the source of moral obligation is the supreme dominion of God.¹ We tend toward the end through free and meritorious acts: therefore it does not suffice to believe, but it is necessary to perform good works.² Among these the works of charity stand forth, to which the rest are referred: the love of God even to contempt of self builds the heavenly city; the love of self even to contempt of God builds the earthly city.³ In various works he describes the duties of individual, familial, and social life. Nor does he pass over the various degrees of perfection: "Charity begun, therefore," he says, "is justice begun; charity advanced is justice advanced; great charity is great justice; perfect charity is perfect justice."⁴ Augustine did not cease to enjoy very great authority among the later Fathers and the Scholastics, so that he deserved to be called the father of Western theology.⁵

¹ De Beata vita, De Moribus Ecclesiae, Confessiones, P.L., t. XXXII; De doctrina christiana, P.L., t. XXXIV.

² De libero arbitrio, P.L., t. XXXII; De fide et operibus, P.L., t. XL; De spiritu et littera, P.L., t. XLIV.

³ De Civ. Dei, P.L., t. XLI, 439; Enchiridion, P.L., t. XL.

⁴ De nat. et gratia, P.L., t. XLIV, 290.

⁵ Grou, Morale de S. Augustin, Paris, 1786; Nourrisson, La Philosophie de S. Augustin, Paris, 1869; Dorner, Augustinus, Berlin, 1873; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., I, 2432.

26. (d) Cassian (+ about 416), in the Institutes of the Coenobia and the Conferences, gathered the marrow of spiritual doctrine which had been handed down by the monks of Egypt. The end of the monastic life is to promote the kingdom of God, but its aim is to attain purity of heart, or charity. To accomplish this, it is necessary to renounce the threefold concupiscence and to eradicate the eight capital vices. God indeed permits the just to be troubled by diverse calamities and temptations, but all these things can be overcome by prayer. For perfection there are desired perfect chastity, which cannot be cultivated without the grace of God, spiritual knowledge of the Scriptures, fraternal charity toward all, and the right use of the tongue. - Yet it is to be regretted that the author fell into semi-Pelagianism.⁶

⁶ The works of Cassian you will find in Migne, P.L., t. XLIX-L; nevertheless the Vienna edition is better, edited by Petschenig, 1886-1888; cf. Lombard, Jean Cassien, sa vie, ses ecrits, sa doctrine, Strasbourg, 1863.

(e) Caesarius of Arles (+ 543), in Sermons and Letters, amplified the moral doctrine of the earlier Fathers, especially of Origen, Ambrose, and Augustine, and accommodated it to the morals of the sixth century. Worthy of note are the sermons concerning faith and the necessity of good works, concerning divine judgment and penance, concerning charity toward God and neighbor, where he treats brilliantly of the love of enemies, against impurity and drunkenness. He establishes the distinction between capital and minute sins; but at the same time he shows that the habit of often sinning lightly easily draws one to grave sins; thence he infers that it is a grave evil if progress in good works is neglected.¹

¹ His chief sermons are found among the works of St. Augustine, to whom they had long been ascribed, P.L., t. XXXV; other works were edited by Migne, P.L., LXVII; cf. A. Malnory, Saint Cesaire, ev. d'Arles, Paris, 1894; C. F. Arnold, Caesarius von Arelate, Leipzig, 1894; P. Lejay, Le role theologique de Cesaire d'Arles, in Rev. d'Hist. et de Litt. relig., t. X, 1905, p. 145 sq.; and Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. Theol., t. II, p. 2168.

27. (f) St. Gregory the Great (+ 604) wrote many things concerning morals, for the instruction of pastors and the faithful, but especially the Moralia in Job, where he explains allegorically this book of Scripture: Job is a type of Christ and the Church, who form one mystical body; the patriarch's wife designates carnal men; the three friends signify heretics; Leviathan is a figure of the devil. This allegorical exposition, however, provides him the occasion to declare at length almost all the rules of Christian ethics concerning vices and virtues. He also completes these in moral letters, so that a summa of moral theology could be excerpted from his works. Besides, in the excellent book Regula pastoralis, he excellently describes the duties of pastors of souls, by setting forth who can and ought to come to this office, how he should live, how he should teach, and how, while teaching, he should acknowledge his own infirmity.²

² Migne, P.L., t. LXXV-LXXIX; cf. Ed. Clausier, Saint Gregoire le Grand, sa vie, son pontificat, ses oeuvres, son temps, Paris, 1886-1891; V. Fevre, Etude des Morales de S. Gregoire (thesis), Paris, 1858; A. Snow, Saint Gregory the Great: his work and his spirit, London, 1892; Grisar, S. Gregorio Magno, in Civilta, 1890-1893.

28. (g) In the same age there are already found collections of canons, such as the Canons of the Apostles and the Constitutions of the Apostles, around the beginning of the fifth century; likewise there are many decrees of general and particular Councils concerning moral matters and penitential discipline;³ not a few decretal letters of the Roman Pontiffs, especially of St. Siricius, St. Innocent I, Zosimus, Boniface, St. Celestine, Hilary, St. Gelasius, Symmachus, St. Leo, and Gregory the Great.⁴

³ Concerning these, see Mansi, t. II-X; Hefele, t. I-IV; Bruns, op. cit., t. I-II.

⁴ Concerning these letters, see P. Coustant, Epistolae Rom. Pontificum, Paris, 1721; A. Thiel, Epist. Rom. Pontif., from St. Hilary to Hormisdas, Braunsberg, 1867; Ph. Jaffe, Regesta Pontificum Roman. from St. Peter to the year 1143, 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1885.

29. 3° In the third epoch of the Fathers, from St. Gregory to St. Bernard, on account of the bitterness of the times, there is scarcely any progress of theology; most authors are only collectors and compilers. For the most part theological science is cultivated in abbatial and episcopal schools, and gradually becomes scholastic. Hence there already begins a systematic exposition of ethics, and the way is prepared for the Summas of theology.

30. (A) Among the Greeks, John Damascene (+ 740) stands out. In the book De Orthodoxa fide, and in the little works De jejuniis, De Virtutibus et vitiis, he arranged the chief principles of ethics.¹ He attempted to accommodate Aristotelian philosophy to the Christian faith, and thus opened the way for the Scholastics. He establishes that there is a twofold law: the law of God manifested by the testimony of conscience, to which obedience must be given, and the law of sin, which we must resist. By fulfilling the law of God, we are made like Him. To God is owed adoration, or the worship of latria. We likewise glorify Him by exercising the virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Toward neighbor we ought to cultivate justice, charity, and beneficence. But for accomplishing this, two things are necessary: abnegation of oneself and prayer. - Elsewhere he treats brilliantly of the sacraments and the worship of images.

¹ His works were edited by Migne, P.G., t. XCIV and XCV; cf. Grundiener, Johannes Damascenus (thesis), Utrecht, 1876; Lupton, S. John of Damascus, London, 1884; V. Ermoni, S. Jean Damascene, Paris, 1904.

31. (B) Among the Latins, there flourished: (a) St. Isidore of Seville (+ 601), who, in the three books of the Sentences and in the two books De ecclesiasticis officiis, arranged the moral and ascetical doctrine of his predecessors; he was held by his contemporaries and by the Scholastics as an ornament of the Catholic Church.²

² See his works in Migne, P.L., t. LXXXI-LXXXIV; Fr. Menendez Pelayo, S. Isidore et l'importance de son role dans l'histoire intellectuelle de l'Espagne, in Annales de Philos. chret., new series, t. VII, 1882, p. 258-269.

(b) The Venerable Bede (+ 691), both in commentaries and in homilies, set forth moral doctrine in an exhortatory manner and in a fuller style;³ most studious and very learned in the Scriptures, he was called Venerable on account of the merits of his doctrine and virtues.

³ Migne, P.L., t. XC-XCV; cf. Gehle, De Bedae venerabilis vita et scriptis, Leyden, 1838; Dom Plaine, Le Venerable Bede, in Revue anglo-romaine, 1896, t. III, p. 49-96.

(c) Alcuin (+ 755), besides moral commentaries on Scripture, wrote books concerning the use of the Psalms, concerning the ceremonies of baptism, concerning confession, where he proves its necessity, concerning virtues and vices, concerning the reason of the soul, in which he gathered many useful and pious things.⁴

⁴ Migne, P.L., t. C-CI; cf. Monier, Alcuin et Charlemagne, 1864; Werner, Alcuin und sein Jahrhundert, Paderborn, 1876; Hamelin, Essai sur la vie et les oeuvres d'Alcuin (thesis), Paris, 1877.

(d) Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims (+ 845), wrote various little works concerning vices to be avoided and virtues to be exercised, concerning the restraining of the plunders of soldiers, concerning the restraining of the abduction of widows, girls, and nuns, etc.¹

¹ Migne, P.L., t. CXXV-CXXVI; cf. Vidieu, Histoire de Reims, etude sur le IXe s., Paris, 1875.

(e) Rabanus Maurus² (+ 847) wrote books concerning the praises of the Holy Cross, the instruction of clerics, marriages of blood relatives, the deceits of magicians and false divinations, sacred orders, ecclesiastical discipline, seeing God, purity of heart and the manner of penance, questions of penitential Canons, etc.

² Migne, P.L., t. CVII-CXII; cf. Dahl, Leben und Schriften des Erzbischofs R. Maurus von Mainz, Fulda, 1828.

32. (f) St. Peter Damian (+ 1057) published many little works concerning the duties of the faithful, clerics, and monks, concerning the sacraments administered by the impious, concerning the degrees of kinship and relationship, concerning the time of celebrating marriages, concerning Lent, concerning the fast of Saturday, concerning the celebration of vigils, concerning the canonical hours, concerning the celibacy of priests, concerning the common life of clerics, concerning the perfection of monks, etc. He likewise wrote histories of certain saints, so that he might confirm precepts by their examples.³

³ Migne, P.L., t. CXLIV-CXLV; cf. Vogel, Peter Damiani, Jena, 1856; Capecelatro, Storia di S. P. Damiano e del suo tempo, Florence, 1862.

(g) St. Bernard (+ 1120), "last among the Fathers, certainly not unequal to the first," says Mabillon, wrote concerning moral, ascetical, and mystical matters in such a way that he deserved to be called the Mellifluous Doctor. Besides sermons De tempore, De diversis, and De Cantico Canticorum, he wrote very many little works, especially De gradibus humilitatis et superbiae, De diligendo Deo, De gratia et libero arbitrio, De baptismo, De praecepto et dispensatione, and the five books De consideratione to Eugene III. Most devoted toward the Blessed Virgin, he salutes her as mediatrix to the Mediator and as aqueduct of grace; yet he does not acknowledge her immaculate conception. He lays the foundations of mystical theology, and treats brilliantly of the ecstatic love of God.⁴

⁴ Migne, P.L., t. CLXXXII-CLXXXV; cf. Neander, Der heilige Bernhard, Berlin, 1813; S. Huffer, Der heilige Bernhard von Clairvaux, Munster, 1886; Vacandard, Histoire de S. Bernard, Paris, 1895; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. II, p. 746-785.

33. (C) To the same epoch must be referred: (a) The penitential books, in which a catalogue is composed of grave sins and of the canonical punishments annexed to these. These books were edited: among the Greeks, by John the Faster, Theodore the Studite, Nicephorus of Constantinople;⁵ but among the Latins, by almost innumerable authors, such as St. Columbanus, Cummian, Egbert, Theodore of Canterbury, Rabanus.¹

⁵ You will find these in Migne, P.L., t. LXXXVIII, p. 1889-1918; t. XCIX, p. 1721-1734; t. C, p. 855-864.

¹ See them in Migne, P.L., t. LXXX, p. 228-230; t. LXXXVII, p. 979-998; t. LXXXIX, p. 401-436; t. XCIX, p. 927-938; t. CXII, p. 1397-1424. - Cf. J. Schmitz, Die Bussbucher und die Bussdisciplin der Kirche.

(b) Collections of canons and decrees, in which ecclesiastical laws are reported or arranged under various titles. Thus to St. Isidore of Seville is ascribed a very ancient collection, which is distributed into ten books: concerning the institutions of monasteries and monks and the orders of penitents; concerning the institutions of judgments; concerning the institutions of offices and the order of baptizing; concerning the diversities of marriages; concerning the general rules of clerics and of other Christians; concerning the honesty and affairs of princes; concerning God and those things which are to be believed about Him; concerning the abdication of heretics; concerning idolatry and its worshipers.² - There are many other collections, which were edited, among others, by Egbert of York, Isaac of Langres, Burchard of Worms, Anselm of Lucca, Ivo of Chartres, and especially by Gratian, whose Decretum was inserted into the Body of Canon Law.³

² In Migne, P.L., t. LXXXIV, p. 25-92; ibid., p. 849-914, there is found a historical-critical preface by C. de la Serna Santander.

³ The collections of Egbert and Isaac are to be found in Migne, P.L., t. LXXXIX, p. 379; t. CXXIV, p. 1075; cf. Ballerini, De antiquis collectionibus et collectoribus canonum.

34. Moral science, already from the twelfth century, is set forth by theologians in a systematic, didactic, and philosophical manner. The elements elaborated by the Fathers and Councils are united into one organic body and distributed in logical order; nor are they set forth by way of exhortation or under the form of homilies, but didactically, as is usually done in the schools; and at the same time they are accommodated especially to Aristotelian philosophy, which was then handed down in the Universities. There is a twofold epoch: the former, scholastic, which extends from the twelfth century to the sixteenth century; the latter, modern, from the sixteenth century to our own times.

⁴ Simler, Des Sommes de theologie, Paris, 1871; Haureau, Hist. de la philos. scolastique, 2nd ed., Paris, 1880; De Wulf, Hist. de la philosophie medievale, Louvain, 1900; Picavet, Esquisse d'une histoire generale et comparee des philosophies medievales, Paris, 1905; Hurter, S.J., Nomenclator litterarius, t. IV, Innsbruck, 1899. For French authors: Histoire litteraire de la France; P. Feret, La Faculte de Theologie de Paris, Paris, 1894-1897; for German authors, Michael, S.J., Geschichte des deutschen Volkes, Freiburg im Breisgau, t. III, 1903.

Three periods can be distinguished in scholastic theology: the first, which is preparatory, in the twelfth century; the second, truly golden, in the thirteenth century; the third, which falls somewhat into subtleties, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

35. (A) In the first period, the way was already being prepared for the evolution of theology by the foundation of certain schools. Thus the school of Bec, founded by Lanfranc¹ and illustrated by St. Anselm,² introduced a new method, namely the scholastic method, by whose help many conclusions are deduced from revealed principles, and are arranged into one body of doctrine. Yet these men wrote concerning moral matters only incidentally. Nor can the school of Abelard be passed over, although he erred in several matters; the Introduction to Theology, which Abelard wrote, is as it were a summa of theology, which authors not only contemporary but also later used much; another work, Scito teipsum, exhibits a compendium of natural Ethics.³ Likewise the school of St. Victor, in Paris, although less didactic and more mystical, contributed not a little to the progress of theology; among the doctors of this school Hugh of St. Victor stands out, who, in the books De Sacramentis, hands down a compendium of all dogmatic and moral theology.⁴

¹ His works were edited by Migne, P.L., t. CL; worthy of note is the little book De Celanda confessione, ibid., p. 625-632, where he says that the penitent can, when a priest is lacking, confess to clerics, and even to the faithful; cf. Lecomte, Ecole de l'Abbaye du Bec, thesis, Rouen, 1878.

² Migne, P.L., t. CLVIII-CLIX; you will find his moral doctrine especially in the homilies, sermons, and meditations; cf. Card. d'Aguirre, S. Anselmi Theologia, Salamanca, 1678-1681; Ragey, Hist. de S. Anselme, Paris, 1890; J. M. Rigg, S. Anselm of Canterbury, London, 1896; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. I, p. 1327-1350.

³ Ch. de Remusat, Abelard, sa vie, sa philosophie et sa theologie, Paris, 1855; Vacandard, Abelard, sa lutte avec S. Bernard, sa doctrine, sa methode, Paris, 1881; Denifle, Abaelards Sentenzen und die Bearbeitung seiner Theologia, in Archiv fur Literatur... des Mittelalters, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1885, t. I; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. I, p. 36-55.

⁴ Migne, P.L., t. CLXXV-CLXXVIII; cf. Mignon, Les origines de la Scolastique et Hugues de S. Victor, Paris, 1895, t. II, p. 77-395; Simler, Des Sommes de theologie, thesis, p. 78-96; Engelhardt, Hugo von S. Victor..., Erlangen, 1838. - The Summa sententiarum, formerly ascribed to Hugh, was written by one of his disciples, and does not sufficiently recede from the errors of Abelard; cf. Vac.-Mangenot, Dict., t. I, p. 53.

But the most celebrated doctor of this time was Peter Lombard, professor of theology and afterward Bishop of Paris, who in the four books of Sentences gathered a summa of Dogmatic and Moral Theology from the Fathers and arranged it by the scholastic method. In the third and fourth book, after setting forth the mystery of the Incarnation, he treats of the

Christian life, which is principally situated in the theological virtues, faith, hope, and charity, and secondarily in the moral virtues; but besides, in order to attain our end, it is necessary to observe the ten precepts of the Decalogue and the evangelical law. Afterward he treats of the sacraments in general and in particular, and of the consummation of the Christian life in heaven. He was called the Master of the Sentences, and his work was expounded in the schools for many centuries by the most illustrious theologians.¹

¹ Migne, P.L., t. CXCI-CXCII; cf. Simler, op. cit., p. 89 sq.; Protois, Pierre Lombard, son epoque, sa vie, ses ecrits, son influence, Paris, 1881; Baltzer, Die Sentenzen des Petrus Lombardus, Leipzig, 1902.

36. (B) In the second period, Universities had now succeeded the schools, and the little works or books of sentences are succeeded by Theological Summas of immense bulk and very great erudition, in which truths not only dogmatic but moral are set forth and demonstrated at length under various respects, and against whatsoever errors. The principal doctors were:

(a) Alexander of Hales (+ 1245), born in England, disciple and afterward Master in the University of Paris, having already advanced in age entered the Order of St. Francis, called the Irrefragable Doctor, wrote a theological Summa in which, after setting forth the mystery of the Incarnation, he treats of Christian ethics: of the eternal and natural law, of the Mosaic and evangelical law, by which man is directed to eternal life; of grace, by whose help we are able to observe the law; of virtues, which incline us to live conformably to the law; of the sacraments, by which we receive the grace necessary for salvation. But, prevented by death, he could not complete his work concerning virtues and sacraments.²

² Summa Alexandri Alensis, Venice, 1475; other editions, of which the best is the Venetian, 1575-1576, under this title: Universae theologiae Summa. Cf. Wadding, Scriptores Ordinis Minorum; Simler, op. cit., p. 97-133; Vacant, Dict. de Theol., t. I, p. 772-785.

37. (b) In this age theological schools began to flourish among the regulars. Two lights illustrated the Dominican Order:³ Albert and Thomas.

³ Concerning Dominican theologians read Jac. Quetif-Echard, Scriptores ordinis Praedicatorum, Paris, 1719.

Blessed Albert the Great⁴ (1206-1280), professor at Paris and Cologne, "great in natural magic, that is, in the natural sciences, greater in philosophy, greatest in theology," treats learnedly in the Summa theologiae, especially in the second part, of man and his primeval state, of grace and sins; in the Summa de creaturis he hands down useful things concerning the psychological propensities of man. But, in theological matters, he formed a disciple superior to himself, Thomas Aquinas.

⁴ His works were edited at Lyons, under the care of P. Jammy, 1651. Cf. Sighart, Albertus Magnus, Regensburg, 1857, rendered into French, Paris, 1862; Weddingen, Albert le Grand, Paris and Brussels, 1881; W. Feiler, Die Moral des Albertus Magnus, Leipzig, 1891; Vacant, Dict. de Theol., t. I, p. 666.

38. St. Thomas (+ 1274), the Angelic Doctor, taught sacred theology learnedly and accurately in the University of Paris and in some academies of Italy. He gathered and joined into one the doctrines of his predecessors, like scattered members of a certain body, arranged them in wondrous order, and increased them by great additions. His ethics is found in the commentaries on the four books of the Sentences, the Summa theologica, the Disputed Questions, and the Quodlibets. He exhibits an admirable synthesis of all Christian ethics.

In the first part of the Summa theologica, he treats of God, insofar as He is the first principle of all creatures; in the second, of the movement of the rational creature toward God. This is the moral part, which was held to be truly golden even by those who rejected his philosophical principles; in the third, he treats of Christ, insofar as He is the way of tending toward God, and of the sacraments.

In the moral part, no less than in the dogmatic part, there shines forth a truly scientific order. First he treats of the ultimate end of man, which is God; afterward of human acts by which we tend toward this end. Human acts are considered both in themselves and in their principles, whether internal or external. With the general notions thus set forth, the Holy Doctor treats of duties which are common to all: these are reduced to the theological and moral virtues, the chief of which are called cardinal; finally, of the duties of each state. There he establishes a comparison between the active and contemplative life, and excellently declares what things are required for the state of perfection. The sacraments, concerning which he treats in the third part, are the means by which grace is conferred for rightly fulfilling Christian duties. When he has discussion of the virtues, he sets forth not only those things which are necessary for avoiding sin, but also those which are desired for perfection: thus he does not tear moral theology away from ascetical theology, but embraces both together.¹

¹ Touron, La vie de S. Thomas d'Aquin, avec un expose de sa doctrine et de ses ouvrages, Paris, 1737; Barelte, Histoire de S. Thomas d'Aquin, 4th ed., 1862; Werner, Der heilige Thomas von Aquino, Regensburg, 1858-1859; Feret, op. cit., t. II, p. 443-486.

39. (c) In the Franciscan school² there flourished especially Bonaventure and Scotus.

² Concerning theologians of this school see Wadding, Scriptores Ord. Minorum, Rome, 1650.

St. Bonaventure (1221-1274), the Seraphic Doctor, born at Bagnoregio in Etruria, handed down sacred Theology in the University of Paris, and afterward was elected Minister General of the Order, Bishop of Albano, and Cardinal. His moral doctrine is to be found: in the Commentaries on the four books of the Sentences; the Disputed Questions, where, among other things, he treats of evangelical perfection, namely humility, poverty, continence, and obedience; the Itinerarium mentis in Deum, where he shows that God can be reached especially through the traces which He has left in the sensible world, through the images implanted in man's faculties, and through speculation or contemplation; the Collationes concerning the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, and concerning the ten precepts. Nor should his ascetical works be passed over: De triplici via, which is also entitled Incendium amoris, where he declares that the soul reaches God by a threefold way, meditation, prayer, and contemplation; Soliloquium; Lignum vitae, or contemplation concerning the Passion of the Lord, etc. - In speculative matters he cannot be equated with St. Thomas, but in mystical matters he is easily held to be chief; and since between the Angelic and the Seraphic Doctor there is a great likeness of virtue, sanctity, and doctrine, it is worth the effort to read the works of both.¹

¹ The best edition of the works of St. Bonaventure, under the care especially of Fidelis de Fanna and Jeiler, was printed at Quaracchi, 1882-1902. Cf. Prosper de Martigne, La scolastique et les traditions franciscaines, Paris, 1888, p. 79-116; L. de Cherance, S. Bonaventure, Paris, 1899; A. de Margerie, Essai sur la philosophie de S. Bonaventure, Paris, 1855; Werner, Die Psychologie und Erkentnisslehre des Joh. Bonaventura, Vienna, 1876; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. II, p. 962-986.

John Duns Scotus² (+ 1308), the Subtle Doctor, taught theology at Oxford, Paris, and Cologne; he adhered neither to Thomas nor to Bonaventure, but weighing their doctrines critically and subtly, he frequently proposes and defends new opinions, yet without himself falling into heresy. His principal work was the Commentary on the four books of the Sentences, which he wrote at Oxford and perfected at Paris. His moral doctrine differs in many respects from Thomistic doctrine: the norm of morality, according to him, depends more on the free will of God than on the very nature of things as perceived by divine wisdom; hence natural law is not so immutable, especially as to duties toward neighbor. Other differences will be set forth in the course of the work.

² His works were edited by Wadding, Lyons, 1639. Cf. Werner, J. Duns Scotus, Vienna, 1881; Seeberg, Die Theologie des Duns Scotus; Pluzanski, Essai sur la Philosophie de D. Scot, Paris, 1887; Vacant, Etudes comparees sur la Philosophie de S. Thom. d'Aquin et celle de D. Scot, Paris, 1891.

40. (d) Outside the aforesaid schools of the regulars there flourished William, called of Auvergne because of the region in which he was born, and of Paris because he taught theology at Paris and was bishop of this city (+ 1249). He wrote various treatises concerning moral matters, especially the Summa virtutum et vitiorum, and little works De Fide et Legibus, De remediis tentationum, De claustro animae, De paenitentia, De pluralitate beneficiorum, etc.

(e) In the same age St. Raymond of Pennafort¹ collected the Decretals of Gregory IX and made them public law, setting forth in five books the whole canonical doctrine of this time. He also published a summa concerning penitential cases, where he treated of sins against God and neighbor, of the ministers of the sacraments, and also of marriage.

¹ Cf. Raymundiana, or documents which pertain to the life or writings of St. Raymond of Pennafort, by Balme, Baran, Colomb, Rome and Stuttgart, 1901.

41. (C) In the third period, moral theology becomes less clear and synthetic, and is deformed by an intolerable abuse of distinctions. The principal causes of this were the propagation of nominalism, dissensions among the various schools of theologians, the Great Schism, and corruption of morals. Therefore only a few works are worthy of note.

Among the chief authors who wrote concerning moral matters are numbered:

(a) Peter of Ailly² (1350-1420), who, besides questions on the books of the Sentences, arranged little works concerning erroneous conscience, concerning the sacraments, etc. He writes learnedly, but holds that no action is evil in itself, but only because it is prohibited by law.

² Tschackert, Peter von Ailly, Gotha, 1877; Salembier, Petrus de Alliaco, thesis, Lille, 1886; Vacant, Dict. de Theol., t. I, p. 642.

(b) John Gerson³ (1363-1429), whose chief moral works shine with wisdom and piety: Compendium theologiae; concerning the precepts of the Decalogue; concerning confession and the art of dying; concerning little children to be drawn to Christ; concerning celibacy; concerning prayer; concerning contracts, etc.

³ Jourdain, Doctrina Gersonii de theologia mystica, Paris, 1838; J. B. Schwab, Johannes Gerson, Wurzburg, 1859; Masson, Jean Gerson, sa vie, son temps, ses oeuvres, Lyon, 1894.

42. (c) In this same age certain works were arranged for the use of confessors, summas of cases of conscience or confessional summas, in which rules were handed down for solving practical questions which occur in the sacred tribunal; the chief authors of these works were: Monaldus, O. Min. (+ 1285), St. Astesanus, an anonymous author from the town of Asti, O. Min. (+ 1330); Bartholomew of San Concordio, O. Praed. (+ 1347); but especially St. Antoninus, O. Praed. (1389-1459), Archbishop of Florence, who wrote a theological Summa, deservedly praised even today in moral matters; Sylvester Prieras (1502), who wrote a Summa casuum conscientiae.

(d) Mystical works were published by Meister Eckhart (+ 1327), who nevertheless unknowingly fell into a certain pantheism; John Tauler, O.P. (1290-1361), who wrote concerning true virtues and the degrees of Christian perfection; Henry Suso, O.P., whose works, very pious and pleasant, were recently committed to print under the care of Denifle.⁴

⁴ Cf. Delacroix, Essai sur le mysticisme speculatif en Allemagne au XIVe siecle, Paris, 1900.

43. Moral theology, which in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries had slept, awakened from sleep by the attacks of the Humanists and Protestants, received new strength, and for nearly two centuries made progress; but, as the seventeenth century waned and thereafter, it again declined, especially because the minute, and sometimes too benign, investigation of particular cases, which is called casuistry, had been cultivated too much.

¹ Cf. Hurter, Nomenclator litterarius recentioris theologiae catholicae, Innsbruck, 1892-1895, with the various authorities cited there.

44. (A) First progressive period. The principal causes of this progress were: the true reform completed by the Council of Trent; the necessity of defending faith and morals against Protestants and Rationalists; the institution of various orders of clerks regular and Congregations, especially of the Society of Jesus, from which came forth an army of theologians; the institution of new Universities or the renewal of old ones; the invention of the art of printing, by whose help the ancient works of the Fathers and theologians became much more easily available to all. - Therefore theology was called back to its sources, Scripture and the Fathers; the method was not exclusively dialectical, but partly historical; not a few subtleties vanished, and new questions, accommodated to the needs of the times, were carefully weighed. - The book of Sentences of P. Lombard is gradually removed from the schools, while the theological summa of St. Thomas is excellently expounded by commentaries. - It will suffice to enumerate the principal theologians in each school, and the best works which they wrote concerning moral matters.

45. (a) In the Dominican school or Order of Preachers, there flourished: Thomas Cardinal Cajetan (1510): Commentaries on the Summa of St. Thomas, Summa casuum conscientiae, where he shows himself to be a probabiliorist; Francisco de Vitoria (+ 1546): theological relections, where, among other things, he treats brilliantly of the right of war, marriage, the increase of charity, temperance, homicide, magical art, and simony; Bartholomew Medina (+ 1581): commentary on the first and third part of the summa of St. Thomas; he is deservedly held to be the prince of the moderate probabilists; Dominic Soto (+ 1560), a serious probabilist author: De justitia et jure; concerning caution in the use of oaths; concerning the manner of keeping and revealing a secret; commentary on the four books of the Sentences; Peter Soto (+ 1563): a classic work concerning the institution of priests; Bartholomew of Ledesma: summa of cases of conscience; John of St. Thomas (+ 1644), excellent expositor of St. Thomas; J. B. Gonet (+ 1681), distinguished by keenness of mind, rejected the more benign opinions of probabilism as intolerable laxities and an evasion of the divine precepts, in the moral part of the Clypeus thomisticus against its new opponents.

John Martinez de Prado (+ 1668): Theologiae moralis quaestiones praecipuae; De Sacramentis in genere et in specie.

46. (b) Among the Franciscans: Anthony of Cordoba (+ 1578), Commentary on the four books of the Sentences, and a theological questionnaire, or forest of cases of conscience; Emmanuel Rodriguez (+ 1613), Regular and Canonical Questions; John of the Trinity, Against Confessors Who Solicit; Martin of St. Joseph (+ 1649), Summa of Moral Theology; John Mary of Castilento (+ 1653) arranged alphabetically the Seraphic polyanthea of moral theology; Gesuald of Bologna, O. Cap., published an entire course of moral theology; Peter Marchant (+ 1661), a notable probabilist: The Sacramental and Visible Tribunal of Souls; Notable Resolutions of Various Cases and Practical Questions; Eligius Bassaeus (+ 1670), O. Cap., gathered the flowers of all practical theology.

47. (c) From the nascent Society of Jesus there came forth many theologians of great name:¹ Blessed Canisius (+ 1597), whose Summa of Christian Doctrine, translated into many languages, counts almost innumerable editions; Toletus (+ 1596), whom St. Francis de Sales greatly esteemed: Instruction of Priests, concerning the seven sins, and a most complete Summa of Cases of Conscience; Emmanuel Sa (+ 1596), whose Aphorisms of Confessors are most useful; Louis Molina (+ 1600): De justitia et jure, a work of great authority among jurists; Gregory de Valentia (+ 1603): Theological Commentaries, in which he excellently expounds all the questions contained in the Summa of St. Thomas; John Azor (+ 1608), a moderate probabiliorist: Moral Institutions; Francis Suarez (+ 1617), among modern theologians most learned, wrote clearly and at the same time profoundly, and indeed with a fuller pen, concerning the principal moral questions; Gabriel Vasquez (+ 1604), celebrated for keenness of mind and profundity, wrote a commentary on the First of the Second of St. Thomas, and also little works concerning almsgiving, scandal, restitution, etc.; Thomas Sanchez (+ 1610), who discusses marriage at length; Vincent Filliuccius (+ 1622), wrote concerning Christian duties and cases of conscience, from which he himself made a synopsis of universal moral theology; he leans toward the more benign opinions; Lessius (+ 1623), whose most praised work treats of right and justice and the other cardinal virtues; Aegidius Coninck, not an unworthy disciple of Lessius (+ 1633): De sacramentis et censuris; concerning the morality, nature, and effects of supernatural acts, where he treats of faith, hope, and charity; P. Laymann, a moderate probabilist (+ 1635): Moral Theology; Ripalda (+ 1648), wrote excellently concerning the theological virtues; John Cardinal de Lugo (+ 1660), most renowned for keenness of mind and perspicuity, subjects the opinions of others to accurate criticism and solidly defends his own: concerning the virtue of divine faith; concerning justice and right; concerning the sacrament and sacrifice of the Eucharist; concerning the virtue and sacrament of penance; concerning suffrages and indulgences; moral responses; Theophilus Raynaud (+ 1663), elegantly and eloquently, though not always critically, wrote concerning virtues and vices, and also concerning equivocation and mental restriction; H. Busembaum (+ 1668), a benign probabilist, very celebrated for his clear method, whose Medulla theologiae moralis reached more than 200 editions, and was explained by commentaries by Lacroix, St. Alphonsus, and Ballerini; Anthony de Escobar (+ 1669), a more benign probabilist: Liber theologiae moralis 24 S. J. doctoribus reseratus; The More Received Opinions of Universal Moral Theology without Dispute; Thomas Tamburini (+ 1675): Explanation of the Decalogue; An Expeditious Method of Confession.

¹ Cf. A. De Backer, Bibliotheque des Ecrivains de la Compagnie de Jesus, Liege, 1869-1876; new edition under the care of Ch. Sommervogel, Brussels, 1890.

48. (d) From other orders likewise certain moralists came forth: among the Benedictines:¹ Louis Blosius (+ 1566), who in the Mirror of Religious and other ascetical little works discusses the religious virtues with genuine piety; J. Graffius (+ 1620), Golden Decisions of Cases of Conscience; L. Engel, who in the year 1661 published a Manual of Parish Priests; J. Saenz de Aguirre (+ 1699): Concerning the Virtues and Vices of Morals. - From the Order of St. Augustine:² Peter Aragon published commentaries on the Second of the Second of St. Thomas concerning faith, hope, and charity, concerning justice and right; Bartholomew Salon likewise wrote learnedly concerning justice. - Alexander Pellegrino (+ 1634), O. Theat., composed a treatise concerning the duel. - Thomas Hurtado, O. Cler. reg., a more benign probabilist: Various Treatises of Moral Resolutions (1651). - Seraphinus a Conceptione,³ O. Carm. (+ 1663): Treatise concerning the Virtue and Sacrament of Penance.

¹ Concerning Benedictine writers, go to Ziegelbauer, Historia rei literariae ordinis S. Benedicti, Vienna, 1754; Dom Francois, Biblioth. generale des ecrivains de l'Ordre de S. Benoit, Bouillon, 1777-1778; Vac.-Mangenot, Dict. de Theol., t. II, p. 602-628.

² Cf. Gandolfus, Dissertatio historica de ducentis augustinianis scriptoribus, Rome, 1740.

³ Concerning him and other Carmelites, cf. Bibl. Carmelitana, Orleans, 1752.

49. (e) From the secular clergy: St. Charles Borromeo⁴ (+ 1584), restorer of Christian life and discipline, whose moral doctrine is found in the Acts of the Church of Milan; worthy of special praise are the instructions for confessors; St. Francis de Sales⁵ (+ 1622), easily the chief among ascetical authors; whose principal works are: Introduction a la vie devote (Philothea); Traite de l'amour de Dieu (Theotimus); Spiritual Conferences, Letters, Sermons; Martin Azpilcueta, called Navarrus (+ 1587), whose Manual, or Enchiridion of Confessors, is a classic work; Martin Bonacina (+ 1631), celebrated for abundance of matters and perspicuity of doctrine: Moral Theology; three treatises concerning laws, sins, and the precepts of the Decalogue; Francis Sylvius (+ 1648), whose principal work is a very neat commentary on the Summa of St. Thomas.

⁴ Vac.-Mangenot, Diction. de Theol., t. II, p. 2267.

⁵ Hamon, Vie de S. Francois de Sales, 3rd ed., Paris, 1858.

50. (B) Second period gradually declining. In this second period, moral theology gradually becomes less scientific, and more casuistic. After a distinction had been made between ascetical and strictly moral theology, the summas or manuals of moral theology often wholly omit, or only touch in passing, the principles of Christian life and the means for cultivating virtues; they set forth especially what is strictly required for avoiding sin. From this, there is sharp dispute between probabiliorists and probabilists as to what is prohibited under grave obligation, what under light obligation, and what can be tolerated; concerning the excellence of virtues, concerning the motives and means of cultivating them, scarcely anything is indicated, under the pretext that these things pertain to ascetical theology. Hence moral theology is turned into a certain spiritual pathology. Moreover, not rarely antiquated or idle questions are treated at length, while new problems, which arise from changed circumstances, are scarcely touched in passing. Wherefore gradually the name of casuist becomes odious.

51. Nevertheless, even in this age, not a few theologians are found who excellently clarified moral matters. Among them:

(a) From the Society of Jesus: Claudius Lacroix (+ 1714), a learned and moderate probabilist:¹ Moral Theology; John Reuter (+ 1762), a weighty and wise author: Theology Morally Divided into Four Parts; The New Confessor Practically Instructed; Dominic Viva (fl. 1710), besides a theological-moral course, wrote a very useful and classic work: Theses Condemned by Alexander VII, Innocent XI, and Alexander VIII; P. Gabriel Antoine, a probabiliorist, whose Universal Moral Theology (published in the year 1726) was explained by order of Benedict XIV in the College of Propaganda Fide; Edmund Voit (+ 1780), whose moral theology is very practical; P. Gury (+ 1866), whose Compendium of Moral Theology and Cases of Conscience often appeared: a brief, neat, and clear work, but merely casuistic; various editions illustrated or corrected with notes were published by Cercia, Dumas, Sabetti, especially Ballerini, who in addition wrote a very learned Moral Work, which Palmieri made public (3rd ed., 1898); Genicot, who arranged Ballerini's Moral Work in better order and briefly (3rd ed., 1900); Lehmkuhl, whose Moral Theology (10th ed., 1902) is more scientific and exhibits moderate opinions; Noldin, whose Moral Summa (3rd ed., 1902) is notable for perspicuity and solidity of doctrine.

¹ Theologians of the Society of Jesus, with few exceptions, defend probabilism.

52. (b) From the Order of Preachers: Natalis Alexander (+ 1724), outstanding in knowledge and erudition, who, besides historical works, arranged theology

dogmatic and moral neatly; J. Mayol, in the year 1704, published a Summa of Thomistic Moral Doctrine, where he defends moderate opinions; Charles R. Billuart (1757), a moderate probabiliorist, wrote a course of universal theology according to the mind of St. Thomas; Benatus Drouin (+ 1742) polished a learned treatise concerning sacramental matters; Vincent Louis Gotti (+ 1742), who likewise lucidly set forth the doctrine of the Angelic Doctor; Daniel Concina (+ 1756), a rigid probabiliorist, attacked the probabilists especially in the work Della storia del probabilismo e del rigorismo, and also in Theologia christiana dogmatico-morali; John Vincent Patuzzi (+ 1769), a most vehement opponent of probabilism: Christian Ethics; Trattato della regola prossima delle azioni umane, etc.; M. A. Potton, in a little work concerning the theory of probability, set forth the system of compensation, in the year 1874. Nor can H. D. Lacordaire (+ 1861) be passed over, who spoke eloquently concerning several Christian virtues in his Conferences.

(c) From the Order of Carmelites came forth the celebrated Cursus theologiae moralis Salmanticensis, which Francis a Jesu Maria, Andrew a Matre Dei, Sebastian a St. Joachim, and Alphonsus ab Angelis arranged (years 1717-1724): notable for abundance of matters and perspicuity of doctrine, but sometimes more benign.

(d) From the Order of St. Francis: Reiffenstuel (+ 1703), who wrote not only Canon Law, but also a clear and solid Moral Theology; Fr. Henno elaborated a dogmatic and scholastic theology, in which he sets forth the principal questions (1706-1713); Patrick Sporer (+ 1683) and Benjamin Elbel (+ 1756) wrote a moral theology, in which the scholastic and the casuistic method are happily joined together; both works were recently edited with new care by Irenaeus Bierbaum (1894 and 1901); Pius Van der Velden (+ 1857), Principles of Moral Theology, a clear and moderate work.

53. (e) From the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer: St. Alphonsus de Liguori (1696-1787), who deservedly is held to be the prince among modern authors of moral theology. That he might hold a middle way between the excesses of the rigid and of the laxists, he tempered probabilism by refining the system which is called equiprobabilism, as we shall set forth in its place. His principal works are: Moral Theology;¹ The Apostolic Man; The Practice of the Confessor; Examination of Ordinands. He wrote besides many ascetical little works, in which the way of perfection is safely shown. Among recent interpreters of St. Liguori are numbered: A. Konings, Moral Theology, seventh edition, New York; C. Marc, Alphonsian Moral Institutions, 4th ed., Paris, 1888; Jos. Aertnys, Moral Theology, 4th ed., 1896: these explain equiprobabilism clearly and moderately.

¹ L. Gaude began to publish a critical edition of the Moral Theology, diligently compared with the old editions, reviewed in the individual allegations of the authors, and illustrated with critical notes and commentaries; t. I appeared at Rome, 1905.

54. (f) Outside the aforesaid schools, certain theologians likewise flourished: first, Prosper Lambertini, afterward Supreme Pontiff Benedict XIV (+ 1758), who wrote most wisely concerning canon law, and touched not a few moral questions no less solidly than learnedly in the books concerning the diocesan synod, the ecclesiastical institutions, and in the treatise concerning the Sacrifice of the Mass; L. Habert, a doctor of the Sorbonne: Dogmatic and Moral Theology, 1707; P. Collet, Cong. Miss.: Institutions of Moral Theology, 1758; Eusebius Amort, canon regular (+ 1795), a moderate and eclectic probabilist, very learned: Eclectic Moral and Scholastic Theology; Christian Ethics; Rule of Moral Actions; Idea of Divine Love, or Distinct Exposition of the First and Greatest Commandment; Gaspar Saettler (+ 1779), a moderate probabiliorist, wrote a universal moral theology and admonitions to parish priests; Sailer (+ 1832) wrote many wise things concerning moral, pastoral, and ascetical theology, especially Handbuch der christlichen Moral; Vorlesungen aus der Pastoraltheologie; J. B. de Hirscher (+ 1865) published, among other works, Die christliche Moral, where, indeed learnedly, but not accurately enough, he discusses the Christian life; C. Werner, very versed in theological history and literature, published not only historical works concerning Aquinas, Suarez, Bede, Alcuin, etc., but also an Enchiridion of Moral Theology and System der christliche Ethik; Pruner, a moderate equiprobabilist, published Lehrbuch der Kath. Moralth., 1875-77, of which a new edition has recently been reprinted; Bouvier (+ 1854), Bishop of Le Mans, a weighty author and moderate probabilist, elaborated theological institutions, which were explained as a manual in many seminaries of France; Martinet (+ 1874) wrote a Moral Theology, in which all things, even the sacraments, are referred to the Decalogue; A. Carriere, Cong. S. Sulpice (+ 1864), wrote learnedly, solidly, and moderately concerning justice and right, concerning contracts, and concerning marriage;¹ Vincent and Bonaly, of the same Congregation, arranged classic compendia of dogmatic and moral theology; Ernest Mary Muller (+ 1888) published a moral theology, which is notable for solidity of doctrine and perspicuity of style: he defends equiprobabilism; Joseph d'Annibale (+ 1892) wrote an elegant and learned little summa of moral theology; Thomas Joseph Bouquillon (+ 1902), a moderate probabilist, very learned, had sketched out a great work of moral theology which he was not able to complete; there exist the following treatises: Fundamental Moral Theology, 3rd ed., 1903; Concerning the Theological Virtues, 1890; Concerning the Virtue of Religion, first part, 1880; Emile Berardi, a probabilist, wisely sets forth practical questions especially in these works: De recidivis et occasionariis, 5th ed., Faenza, 1897; Praxis Confessariorum, 4th ed., 1903; likewise John Morino, Cong. Miss., arranged a useful compendium, 5th ed., Turin, 1899.

¹ Concerning him and other members of St. Sulpice, see L. Bertrand, Bibliotheque sulpicienne, Paris, 1900.

55. Conclusion. From this brief historical survey it is permitted to infer that moral theology, at the time when it flourished, namely that of the Fathers of the fourth and fifth century, of the Scholastics of the thirteenth century, and of the Theologians of the sixteenth century, was not merely speculative nor merely casuistic, but at the same time scientific and practical: the principles of morals were solidly proved both by natural reason and by the authority of Scripture and the Fathers, and from them practical rules were inferred for the Christian ordering of life. Moreover, it was not occupied only with those things which are strictly prohibited, but also with the virtues which are desired for a truly Christian life. And deservedly: indeed, what is forbidden under grave obligation and what under light obligation must be accurately defined; but it is of no less moment to propose motives and means for extirpating vices and cultivating virtues: for unless Christians have before their mind the ideal perfection which Christ Himself exhibited by words and examples, they gradually grow cold and soon fall into sin. Certain recent theologians rightly understood this, such as Muller, Lehmkuhl, Bouquillon.

Therefore in this work, adhering to the footsteps of these men, after the general principles of morals have been set forth, we shall treat of virtues and duties in such a way that to directors of souls it may become clearly known not only what Christ strictly commanded, but also what He commended, and what are the means for making progress in the practice of virtues: "He who is just, let him be justified still; and he who is holy, let him be sanctified still."¹ But because we strive for brevity, we frequently refer readers to authors who have treated more fully of Christian perfection, especially to the Gospel itself.

¹ Apoc. XXII, 11.

Fundamental Moral Theology discusses human acts, insofar as they tend toward the ultimate end, namely:

I. Concerning the Ultimate End toward which we tend through human acts, and consequently concerning the norm of morality, which consists in the ordering of our acts to this ultimate end.

II. Concerning Human Acts considered psychologically and morally, insofar as they are general means to the end.

III. Concerning divine and human Laws, or concerning the external norm by which acts are ordered to the end.

IV. Concerning Conscience, or concerning the internal norm, by whose aid laws are applied to individual persons for the right ordering of life.

V. Concerning Sins, or acts by which the will turns aside from the law and from the ultimate end, and also concerning Vices, or evil propensities and habits by which it is inclined to sin.

VI. Concerning Virtues in general, or concerning good habits, by whose aid we are inclined to living rightly, and therefore to pursuing the ultimate end.