Abstract

In the last forty years, Roman Catholic moral theology has been experiencing revolutionary tension and change. In this unique and thoroughly documented study, a distinguished Jesuit moral theologian examines the events, personalities, and conflicts that have contributed, from New Testament times to the present, to the Roman Catholic moral tradition and its contemporary crisis, and interprets the fundamental changes taking place in the subject today. Among the topics covered in this volume are papal infallibility, confession as a sacrament, the legacy of Augustine, the dramatic change in attitude to "salvation outside the Church," and the continuing impact on moral theology of the 1968 papal encyclical on birth control and of the Second Vatican Council.