Servais Pinckaers, O.P., is one of the preeminent Catholic moral
theologians of his generation. His highly acclaimed works, among them
The Sources of Christian Ethics, offer a thoroughly Thomistic and
contemporary vision of the Christian moral life. They reflect the
philosophical and spiritual prowess of a moral theologian who is
estranged neither from philosophical ethics nor from dogmatic theology,
neither from Scripture nor from spirituality.
The first collection of its kind available in any language, this volume
features the twenty most significant essays written by Pinckaers since
his highly praised Sources. The essays offer profound reflections that
are only possible by a contemporary moral theologian who knows the
thought of Aquinas from lifelong study. Rather than taking a simply
historical approach to Aquinas, Pinckaers seeks the basis of the
intelligibility of the moral life, providing rich spiritual and
theological insights along the way. He plumbs the depths of fundamental
moral theology in these essays, where he treats Thomistic method and the
renewal of moral theology, beatitude and Christian anthropology, moral
agency, and passions and virtues, as well as law and grace. Such a
detailed treatment of key issues in fundamental moral theology and
Christian philosophical anthropology will certainly demand attention
from every theologian and advanced student interested in Aquinas and in
a virtue approach to Christian ethics.
Pinckaers's work has been an important source for the revival of
interest in virtue-oriented moral theology in recent years and will
continue to be a major source for debates over the place of Scripture
and the Holy Spirit in moral theology.
John Berkman is Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Area Director
of Moral Theology/Ethics at The Catholic University of America. Craig
Steven Titus is Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Ethics
and Moral Theology at the University of Fribourg and Visiting Professor
at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. The essays are
translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble, O.P., Craig Steven Titus, Michael
Sherwin, O.P., and Hugh Connolly.
PRAISE FOR THE BOOK:
"These essays speak of the sound and substantial contribution the
thought of Servais Pinckaers has made to the renewal of moral theology
called for by Vatican II. In the microcosm of this Reader he shows how
the New Law of the Gospel is the necessary rediscovery--at once
traditional and of the future--that gives fresh heart and insight to
Christian morality. As Father Pinckaers looks at Thomistic method, at
beatitude and Christian anthropology, moral agency, passions and virtue,
law and grace, he integrates morality and spirituality in a way that
will guide the teacher of moral theology and suggest new paths for the
speculative theologian."--Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of
Chicago
"The work of Servais Pinckaers is essential for the renewal of moral
theology. Pinckaers quite simply avoids the unhappy alternatives
represented by recent debates in Catholic moral theology by a profound
recovery of Aquinas' understanding of beatitude and the virtues.
Pinckaers' work, moreover, is as important for Protestant theological
ethics as it is for Catholic moral theology. This collection of essays
wonderfully represents the heart of his work in a manner that provides
us with a constructive alternative for the future. We are in debt to
John Berkman and Craig Steven Titus for making Pinckaers' work
available."--Stanley Hauerwas, Duke University
"Virtue ethics--the interloper in the morass of modern moral philosophy
and acceptable even now only to a minority among Catholic moralists--is
here given a strong voice. At last in English, we have a representative
sample of the work of the greatest exponent of this tradition, drawing
on deep knowledge of the theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas
