As a college professor who has taught upwards of thirty sections of an introductory Christian Moral Life class over the past ten years, I have searched widely for a suitable book for introducing students to the discipline of Catholic moral theology. While there are some decent offerings out there, Rziha’s recent book easily surpasses them all in clarity, thoroughness, and applicability. Some moral theology books are too technical and thus inaccessible for the average reader. Others are helpful and very readable but omit key concepts such as a detailed explanation of the role of law (actually four types of law, according to Aquinas) and grace in guiding humans to fulfillment. This book includes all the key concepts that a beginning student needs, whether reading for academic purposes or for personal enrichment.
The structure of this volume resembles that of Aquinas’s treatise on moral theology in his Summa Theologiae, but Rziha has made a few tweaks that I find helpful. Following Aquinas in the I-II of his Summa, the first of the book’s two parts deals with realities fundamental to the study of moral theology in general. The author grounds his moral theology in the Trinity and sound anthropology. But to this he adds a vital historical element that Aquinas himself did not consolidate all in one place—an extended treatment of human nature across its various stages over time which paves the way for the book’s later discussions of man’s natural inclinations, supernatural inclinations, sin, redemption, etc. After detailing what the human being is—where he begins his “journey to happiness,” as the author fittingly calls it— next comes the discussion of man’s last end, the “destination of the journey.” Other chapters in the first part then deal with foundational topics including sin, grace, law, virtue, and guidance from the Holy Spirit. As I hinted at above, the book’s chapter on law is critically important and by its own accord sets the book apart from its peers.
Like the II-II of Aquinas’s Summa, the second half of this book is dedicated to the individual virtues, with a chapter dedicated to each of the theological and cardinal virtues. Helpfully, Rziha discusses the faith, hope, and charity first, a move which I will appreciate as I adopt this textbook for use this coming semester. I had always found it inconvenient that the book I was using treated grace and the theological virtues at its end, whereas I want students to understand their role early on so that they can see how the Christian faith informs the exercise of the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Thanks to this volume, I will now be able to achieve that goal much more easily.
As my own thought and writing focuses more in the realm of biblical scholarship than moral theology, my favorite part of this book was without doubt Ch. 4 on “Moral Methodology in the Bible.” The Second Vatican Council taught the study of Scripture is the “soul of theology,” but it is not as easy as one might think to find moral theology books that ground themselves in the revealed word of God. Modeling his efforts here on the work of renowned Dominican Servais Pinckaers, Rziha’s book stands as an eminent example of how to put Vatican II’s teaching into practice, and my hope is that it will spur others in the field to follow his example.
In particular, I found a treasure in Rziha’s narration of how the Old Testament’s deontological approach to morality (focusing on rewards and punishments) transitions in the New Testament into a teleological outlook (focused on internal transformation resulting in proper action and, ultimately, happiness). This distinction does not amount to a criticism of the Old Testament, let alone a call to ignore or disparage it. Rather, like the Fathers of the Church, Rziha thinks of the gradual development of morality throughout the Bible as a move from spiritual childhood to spiritual maturity. As all parents know, sometimes a deontological approach is what children need, but we ultimately need to be leading our children to a teleological vision of morality wherein the rules are not seen merely as the arbitrary imposition of authorities but instead as the loving gifts of parents who want their good and want them to get to the point where they don’t need the rule in order to act rightly—in other words, to the point of virtue.
In sum, unlike older moral theology manuals, this new volume manages to lay out the foundations of Catholic moral theology in a very practical way, with straightforward examples on practically every page. As a result, Rziha’s book achieves the rare feat of being readable by a wide audience while also assisting those who are already conversant in the field. For theologians like myself, the book will help to better formulate and structure many of the things we are already saying. For the Christian who has never read a page of moral theology, this volume will provide you with straightforward directions for how to attain happiness as enshrined in two thousand years of Catholic tradition.
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