Moral Theology: A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities — John A. McHugh
Moral Theology, by John A. Mchugh and Charles J. Callan—A Project Gutenberg eBook You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : Moral Theology Author : John A. McHugh Charles J. Callan Editor : Edward P. Farrell Release date : February 22, 2011 [eBook #35354] Most recently updated: March 10, 2022 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35354 Credits : David McClamrock Moral Theology, by John A. Mchugh and Charles J. Callan—A Project Gutenberg eBook MORAL THEOLOGY A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities BY JOHN A. MCHUGH, O.P. AND CHARLES J. CALLAN, O.P. REVISED AND ENLARGED BY EDWARD P. FARRELL, O.P. NEW YORK CITY JOSEPH F. WAGNER, INC. LONDON: B. HERDER Nihil Obstat ELWOOD FERRER SMITH, O.P., S.T.M. BENJAMIN URBAN FAY, O.P., S.T.LR. Imprimi Potest VERY REV. WILLIAM D. MARRIN, O.P., P.G., S.T.M. Provincial Moral Theology, by John A. Mchugh and Charles J. Callan—A Project Gutenberg eBook Nihil Obstat JOHN A. GOODWINE, J.C.D. Censor Librorum Imprimatur + FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN Archbishop of New York New York, May 24, 1958 The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the nihil obstat and imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed. Moral Theology, by John A. Mchugh and Charles J. Callan—A Project Gutenberg eBook [Transcriber’s note: References to the Code of Canon Law in this work are to the 1917 version of the Code, later superseded by the 1983 version.] All Rights Reserved by Joseph F. Wagner, Inc., New York PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Moral Theology, by John A. Mchugh and Charles J. Callan—A Project Gutenberg eBook PREFACE The purpose of the present work is to give a complete and comprehensive treatise on Catholic Moral Theology, that is, on that branch of sacred learning which treats of the regulation of human conduct in the light of reason and revealed truth. This new work strives to deal with the subject as a systematic and orderly whole, and is based throughout on the principles, teaching and method of St. Thomas Aquinas, while supplementing that great Doctor of the Church from the best modern authorities. Needless to say, there are many questions and problems connected with modern life that did not exist when the great classic works on Moral Theology were written, and to these naturally special attention has been given in the treatment that follows. Nowadays, since the appearance of the New Code and of many special works on Canon Law, it would be a mistake to encumber the pages of a work like the present one with canonical questions of interest only to the specialist, and which are ably and abundantly treated in fine commentaries on the Code that are already available. Likewise, it would be an error to treat here matter pertinent only to Dogmatic Theology or History. All digressions, therefore, into alien fields have been avoided in this work, with the result that a greater number of useful moral questions have been herein considered. But not only is it necessary to avoid irrelevant subjects, but it is also needful not to sacrifice essentials for accidentals in any work of this kind. It is the fault of too many textbooks on Moral Theology to stress controversies, cite authors, and quote opinions, at the expense of the principles and reasons that govern and explain the teaching given. This work eschews that method, and is at pains everywhere, first of all, to lay the foundations on which the superstructure is to be built, namely, the definitions and rules that are presupposed to moral judgments and conclusions. Obviously, this is a more logical way of proceeding, and it consequently enables the student much more easily to understand and retain the matter studied, since he can thus reason questions out for himself. Moreover, such a method makes for brevity and renders it possible, as said above, to treat more subjects than could otherwise be treated; it makes it possible to condense the matter of many pages of larger and less accessible works into brief and terse paragraphs. But from this it should not be gathered that the work which follows aims to present Moral Theology in a dryly scientific fashion. On the contrary, it has been our endeavor to treat the matter in a way that is at once clear, solid, comprehensive and interesting. Since the general and the abstract do not make the same strong impression as the particular and the concrete, laws and axioms are copiously illustrated throughout with pertinent and practical examples that often amount to brief _casus conscientiae_, thus combining the theory and the practice of Moral Theology. It would be a mistake to think that, while Moral Theology is a technical and scientific treatise on human conduct, it deals exclusively or primarily with vice and sin, and that it is intended only to enable the priest rightly to administer the Sacrament of Penance, distinguishing between the various classes of sins and their consequences. Of course, it does all this, but it should do much more; for it has also a much higher purpose, which is to enable man, not only to know what is forbidden and how he may escape from moral disease and death, but also to understand what are his duties and how he may live the life of grace and virtue. The subject is indeed more positive than negative, and it should be discussed accordingly. Thus, far from being useful merely to confessors as a guide by which they may detect and distinguish mortal and venial sins and the higher and lower degrees of culpability, Moral Theology in its broader aspect should be of the greatest serv