Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Moral Theology

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What I like about Dr. May's books is that he takes his readers into contemporary discussions of Moral Theology, giving you a clear and succint overview of the discussion, the salient points of disagreement, as well as his own view of the matter. This introduction covers all the main areas of Moral Theology (conscience, natural law, freedom, sin...) but rather than just presenting the basics of these discussions in the traditional way as in many other introductions, Dr. May covers them with an eye toward the contemporary discussions. The other thing I like is Dr. May's weaving in the works of the Magisterium into his presentation. His chapter on Veritatis Splendor is excellent! This is a must read! I found it especially helpful (and refreshing) after reading a more standard/traditional introduction to Moral Theology.

I have mixed feelings about this book, mostly because I think the title of the book isn't really accurate.

I would say that this book is NOT a good introduction to moral theology. Instead I would say this is a good discussion of CURRENT DEBATES AND TRENDS in moral theology, seen from a strongly orthodox perspective.

I had bought the book wanting to learn moral theology and needing a true introductory text. I struggled through May's book and after investing many, many hours working on it and finally finishing it, I came away without the basis I was after. I turned to other sources and was much happier.

However, I came back to this book later, and after I already had a basic grounding in moral theology I found May's discussion of current "hot topics", the theological faults of things like a proportionalist line of reasoning, and the reorienting guidance of JPII's Veritatis Splendor to be much more approaochable and engaging. Though his writing style is sometimes a little hard to follow, he does a good job of explaining different sides of the argument and his theology is solidly in line with the Magisterium.

Overall, I think that this book is ideal for someone who already has already been through an introductory book or class and who is interested in learning about the current issues in moral theology. If it were titled something like "Current Trends in Moral Theology" that would be more appropriate and I'd have given it 4 stars.