An Introduction To Moral Theology, 2nd Edition. William May. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: William May
Издательство: Ingram
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Жанр произведения: Философия
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781612782324
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alone: “The written word of God is inseparably linked to Sacred Tradition; both together as the supreme rule of the Church’s faith are authentically interpreted by the Magisterium, whose definitive teachings are to be faithfully assented to” (p. 97). Moreover, as Gutowski notes, the Fathers also directed that in understanding divine revelation the teaching of the Church Fathers — and in particular, the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas — provides indispensable help and insight (p. 97).

      In seeking to follow the directions of Vatican Council II and Pope John Paul II, therefore, I will try to show the sound philosophical foundations that help the Christian faithful come to a deeper and richer understanding of the truths of the moral life mediated through Christian faith and also to show how the truth about human existence definitively revealed in and through the saving mission of Christ and the new law of grace and love “perfect” and “fulfill” the “natural law” written on our hearts. As we have seen already, it is indeed Jesus, God’s eternal Word-made-man, become, like us, a “created word” of the Father, who reveals to us who we really are. And one way of coming to know Jesus is to meditate on the Scriptures — in particular, the New Testament, wherein the promises made through the prophets of the Old Testament come to fulfillment. I thus hope to root the moral theology presented in this book in the Scriptures — in particular, the New Testament. I seek to do this primarily in Chapter Six, below, which treats of Christian faith and the moral life — and in particular, with Jesus as the foundation of our moral life and with his Sermon on the Mount as the “magna carta” of the Christian moral life. It will, however, be useful to conclude this opening chapter by briefly considering how moral theology is rooted in Sacred Scripture.

      The Church teaches that all Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and that it provides us with the truths necessary for our salvation. “We must acknowledge,” Vatican Council II instructs us, “that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully and without error, teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the sacred Scriptures. Thus ‘all Scripture is inspired by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work’ (2 Tm 3:16-17, Gk text)” (Dei Verbum [Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation], no. 11; emphasis added). This means that it includes the moral truths necessary for our salvation. In particular, the gospels, although not intended to give us a “biography” of Jesus, present an accurate portrait of him and offer him as the model of the moral life required of his disciples. Thus, the Church insists on the historical accuracy of the gospel narratives, as this passage from Vatican Council II makes very clear:

      Holy Mother Church has firmly and with absolute constancy held, and continues to hold, that the four Gospels just named, whose historical character the Church unhesitatingly asserts, faithfully hand on what Jesus Christ, while living among men, really did and taught for their eternal salvation until the day he was taken up into heaven (see Acts 1:1-2). Indeed, after the ascension of the Lord the apostles handed on to their hearers what he had said and done. This they did with that clearer understanding which they enjoyed after they had been instructed by the events of Christ’s risen life and taught by the light of the Spirit of truth. The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth or in writing, reducing some of them to a synthesis, explicating some things in view of the situation of their churches, and preserving the form of proclamation but always in such fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus. For their intention in writing was that either from their own memory and recollections, or from the witness of those who themselves “from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word” we might know “the truth” concerning those matters about which we have been instructed (cf. Lk 1:2-4) [Dei Verbum, no. 19].

      Through the covenant, which he initiates, God calls Israel to partnership with him. He will be their God, their protector, and they will be his people. Their relationship, as prophets like Hosea, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel show us, is analogous to that of husband and wife in marriage: it is a love-based union and requires utmost fidelity. Israel’s entire existence is rooted in Yahweh’s choice to give himself to this people, the descendants of Abraham with whom he had made a personal covenant. By his sovereign power, Yahweh speaks, and Israel comes into being as his people.