Christ and Moral Theology by Louis B. Gillon, O. P.

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS the Church, i.e., in Christ. Not to abide in Him, however, is ipso facto to return to the activity which proceeds from that other nature, which seeks exclusively its own good. This is the situation of the Church; this is my situation. One might even say that this is the healthy split which exists in the Christian life and the life of the Church, the split which is, as it were, the matter for the application of the healing balm of God's merciful Love, through Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. La Salle College Philadelphia, Pa. M. B. ScHEPERS, 0. P. Christ and Moral Theology. By Lours B. GILLON, 0. P. Staten Island, N.Y.: Alba House, 1967. Pp. 144. $~.95. The attempt to survey the present status of moral theology as it is being taught within the Roman Catholic tradition is an arduous task. The theologian who attempts it is immediately faced with the problem of integrating the many currents and influences which are making their appearances in books and articles. This small book by Father Gillon is an effort to evaluate one of the significant emphases in contemporary moral theology: the role of Christ. The value of the author's work lies especially in the first half of the book in which he traces the development of a moral theology built around the person and following of Christ. This historical study is especially valuable to readers who are unacquainted with the writings of German authors who began this effort in the past century. The work of Steinbuchel , Tillmann, Sailer, Hirscher, Martin and Jocham is largely unknown, yet it is their work which gave a dimension to contemporary moral theology. The results of their work, as these appear in the writings of Bernard Haring, C. SS. R., should be seen in the light of the history from which they flow. It is certainly true that the person of Christ received insufficient attention in many of the " moral theologies " of past centuries. Scholastic moral theology which followed the method and outline of Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologiae often allowed for a divorce for moral theology from Christology. The synthetic theology of the Angelic Doctor was sundered into dogma and moral, with Christology cut off from moral. Father Gillon rightly shows how far such a separation was from the original intention of Thomas Aquinas. In his effort to elaborate a scientific consideration of moral theology within the structure of the one science of theology, Aquinas used the Ethics of Aristotle both for content and method. 546 BOOK REVIEWS Yet his work remained a theology and was not that juxtaposition of scripture and philosophical ethics which marked the writings of his predecessors . When the moral sections are taken out of the entire structure of the Summa and studied independently, however, the genius of Aquinas is lost. It then appears that one has Aristotle's work with interpolated sections on the beatific vision, infused virtues, grace, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is possible to maintain the unity of Aquinas's moral teaching only by fidelity to his own methodological principles. And according to his own principles, the study of human conduct pertains to theology only insofar as man is considered as the image of God. It is in this image that he was originally created and it is into this image that he is recreated by his incorporation into Christ. It is to the credit of Father Gillon that he stresses the Christological orientation of Aquinas's moral theology. The Christian is one who "imitates " Christ by his own living of those virtues which marked the life of Christ. Yet this is only the most obvious level of imitation. The Christian also " imitates " Christ by sharing in the very grace of Christ and by receiving those powers for acting which are participations in Christ's own priesthood. The truly Christological dimensions of Thomistic moral theology emerge only when the moralist takes seriously the questions on grace and sacramental character in the Third Part. Also of importance are Aquinas's explanations of how the actions of Christ, especially his passion and resurrection, are causes...