James F. Keenan – författare

An introduction to Catholic theological ethics through the lens of its historical development from the beginning of the church until today. Starting with the Scriptures, and in particular the New Testament, the author looks at the inspiration and foundational values and virtues that emerge from its moral instruction.This is a comprehensive study of every period in the history of the tradition, from the early Patristic period to the history of the Penitentials and Confessionals, to the founding of religious orders and universities, the emergence of scholasticism, the birth of modern casuistry, the Council of Trent and the subsequent moral manuals, to contemporary Reformers within the Global Church.“The task of writing a history of moral theology is daunting. James Keenan has written a superb history. The breadth and depth of this work are stunning. The narrative is clear, logically developed, and convincing. We are all in his debt.”—Charles Curran. author, Sixty Years of Moral Theology (Paulist Press, 2021)“James F. Keenan, SJ, is among the most important Catholics in the world today writing on theological ethics. In this book, he displays his dazzling knowledge of the breadth of the Catholic tradition as it stretches from the New Testament to the present, and he combines that knowledge with compelling insights into its relevance for our times. Indispensable for the professional, the book is, despite its great learning, accessible to the general reader. I congratulate James Keenan on the landmark achievement of A History of Catholic Theological Ethics.”—John W. O’Malley, SJ, University Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University“The inimitable James Keenan has provided us with another moral-theological tour de force—surfacing twenty centuries of theological innovation in a tradition better known for its attachments to the past. Carried by Keenan’s signature themes of mercy, conscience, spirituality, and virtue, this history moves ever forward into the diversity of perspectives, emergence of women, and reverse of direction from the local to the universal, that characterize this century’s global church. This far-reaching and learned work will educate, stimulate, and provoke, all in a highly readable style with existential power.”—Lisa Sowle Cahill, Donald Monan, SJ, Professor of Theology, Boston College†

Divided into two sections, this volume first presents 26 case studies of HIV/AIDS from Africa, Asia, Australisia, Europe, Latin America and North America to highlight the complexity of HIV prevention and treatment and illustrate both the relevance of local issues and cultural concerns. The second part of the book contains six essays written by theologians who examine the moral issues involved and demonstrate how the Roman Catholic moral tradition can help in constructively mediating the apparent clash of values occuring in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment.

On July 8-11, 2006, the first ever truly International Congress of Roman Catholic Ethicists occurred in Padua. Four hundred Roman Catholic ethicists from all over the world met to exchange ideas, not under the aegis of the Roman Catholic Church, but under the patronage of a Dutch foundation and UNESCO. These ethicists, caught up in their own specific cultures, recognize the need to confront the challenge of pluralism; to dialogue from and beyond local cultures; and to interconnect within a world church, not dominated solely by a northern paradigm. While many of these ethicists knew of their conference colleagues by reputation and from their writings, this is the first opportunity most will have to meet face to face and engage in cross-cultural dialogue within their discipline. This book explores and discusses further the ideas sparked by this conference.

On July 8-11, 2006, the first ever truly International Congress of Roman Catholic Ethicists occurred in Padua. Four hundred Roman Catholic ethicists from all over the world met to exchange ideas, not under the aegis of the Roman Catholic Church, but under the patronage of a Dutch foundation and UNESCO. These ethicists, caught up in their own specific cultures, recognize the need to confront the challenge of pluralism; to dialogue from and beyond local cultures; and to interconnect within a world church, not dominated solely by a northern paradigm. While many of these ethicists knew of their conference colleagues by reputation and from their writings, this is the first opportunity most will have to meet face to face and engage in cross-cultural dialogue within their discipline. This book explores and discusses further the ideas sparked by this conference.

This is an historical survey of 20th Century Roman Catholic Theological Ethics (also known as moral theology). The thesis is that only through historical investigation can we really understand how the most conservative and negative field in Catholic theology at the beginning of the 20th could become by the end of the 20th century the most innovative one. This is an historical survey of 20th Century Roman Catholic Theological Ethics (also known as moral theology). The thesis is that only through historical investigation can we really understand how the most conservative and negative field in Catholic theology at the beginning of the 20th could become by the end of the 20th century the most innovative one. The 20th century begins with moral manuals being translated into the vernacular. After examining the manuals of Thomas Slater and Henry Davis, Keenan then turns to three works and a crowning synthesis of innovation all developed before, during and soon after the Second World War. The first by Odon Lottin asks whether moral theology is adequately historical; Fritz Tillmann asks whether it's adequately biblical; and Gerard Gilleman, whether it's adequately spiritual.Bernard Haering integrates these contributions into his Law of Christ. Of course, people like Gerald Kelly and John Ford in the US are like a few moralists elsewhere, classical gate keepers, censoring innovation. But with Humanae vitae, and successive encyclicals, bishops and popes reject the direction of moral theologians.

This appraisal of two of the most fundamental terms in the moral language of Thomas Aquinas draws on the contemporary moral distinction between the goodness of a person and the rightness of a person's living. Keenan thus finds that Aquinas' earlier writings do not permit the possibility of such a distinction. But in his mature works, specifically "The Summa Theologiae", Thomas describes the human act of moral intentionality, and even the virtues in a way analogous to our use of the term moral rightness. To Thomas, only the virtue of charity expresses moral goodness. And, although Thomas describes vices and sin as wrong conduct, he never really develops a description for moral badness. Keenan compels us to carefully examine Thomas' central moral concepts and to measure them against contemporary standards for meaning and correctness. As a result, any student of Thomas will find here a forceful argument that his notion of the good is considerably different from ours. Similarly, ethicists and moral theologians will find in the Thomas presented here a consistent-virtue ethicist concerned with descriptions for right living.Any student of theology will also find here a Thomas whose critical and concrete thinking enabled him to develop and even abandon earlier positions as his comprehension of the Good evolved. This analysis prompts a re-examination of our own concepts. Measuring Thomas' standards against our own, Keenan obliges us to ask whether we sufficiently understand rightness and moral intentionality. He also asks whether we correctly describe what it means to will or to desire something. He further questions whether we have surrendered our understanding of the virtues to the voluntarism and subjectivism which Thomas relentlessly critiqued. This historically sophisticated reading of "The Summa Thologiae" both allows Thomas to speak again as he once did, and affords us the chance to evaluate the way we describe ourselves and one another as being good and living rightly.

A profound inquiry into what prompts human beings to act morallyMost foundational texts on theological ethics address either the person or society. In The Moral Life, James F. Keenan, SJ, posits that these two are inextricably linked. He presents eight stages of preparing for the moral life, describing vulnerability as the foundation for contemporary ethics. He understands vulnerability to be what establishes the human capacity for recognizing and responding to others rather than a compromised state of being. Mutual recognition emerges as the first moral act of the vulnerable human. He shows how conscience guides the activity of one who has first vulnerably recognized others. The Moral Life offers scholars and students of Christian ethics a novel perspective on what we need to know not only to be and live morally but also to teach and share with others what they need to know.

A profound inquiry into what prompts human beings to act morallyMost foundational texts on theological ethics address either the person or society. In The Moral Life, James F. Keenan, SJ, posits that these two are inextricably linked. He presents eight stages of preparing for the moral life, describing vulnerability as the foundation for contemporary ethics. He understands vulnerability to be what establishes the human capacity for recognizing and responding to others rather than a compromised state of being. Mutual recognition emerges as the first moral act of the vulnerable human. He shows how conscience guides the activity of one who has first vulnerably recognized others. The Moral Life offers scholars and students of Christian ethics a novel perspective on what we need to know not only to be and live morally but also to teach and share with others what they need to know.