Abstract
Moral law or moral doctrine is another foundation of religious morality in Newman’s works. It implements the abstract and concrete processes of reason (reflected in notional and real assent) in his hermeneutics. His understanding of first principles shaped his approach to moral law, reflecting the stages in his theory of knowledge: intuitive apprehensions arise from particular experiences, abstractions from these experience lead to notional assents (such as first principles), and the application of these abstractions to concrete reality generates real assent. The abstraction of moral law characterizes its objective and absolute character. However, this does not mean that a moral law can be applied indiscriminately to reality. To apply moral law requires the concrete reasoning of informal inference and real assent of certitude. An example of the abstract and applied aspects of moral law appeared in his dispute with Charles Kingsley over lying during his conversion. While the moral law against lying is always true as an abstraction, when applied to concrete situations a cautious dispensation of truth (equivocation) may be justified. In turn, when abstract moral law is applied to reality, new experiences can arise that cause the law to be refined subsequently. The ongoing interpretation of moral law, through its application and subsequent refinement, requires a keen sensitivity to historical consciousness. Together, these aspects of moral law (its genesis, application, and refinement) provide a practical foundation of religious morality that applies the interpretative process in his hermeneutics of the imagination.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Achten (1995), 27–179.
- 3.
Lonergan (1972), 223.
- 4.
Lonergan (1992), 285.
- 5.
Ferreira (1987), 151.
- 6.
- 7.
- 8.
- 9.
de Achaval and Holmes (1976), 68.
- 10.
- 11.
Ferreira (1987), 160–167.
- 12.
- 13.
Lonergan (1972), 267.
- 14.
Lonergan (1992), 181.
- 15.
- 16.
Ferreira (1987), 169–170.
- 17.
Mahoney (1987), 184–193.
- 18.
Pope John Paul II (1993), number 43.
- 19.
Pastoral Constitution (1966), number 27.
- 20.
Pope John Paul II (1993), number 80.
- 21.
Ker (1985), 341.
- 22.
- 23.
Ferreira (1980), 78–84.
- 24.
Aquinas (1948), I–II, q.94, a.4.
- 25.
Ker (1985), 340.
- 26.
Duivesteijn (1967), 286.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
Ferreira (1980), 53.
- 30.
Ferreira (1980), 93, 103–104, 125.
- 31.
Chadwick (1978), 411–416.
- 32.
Himmelfarb (2007a), 185.
- 33.
DeLaura (1990), 88.
- 34.
Ker (1991), 17.
- 35.
Newman (2006), 169.
- 36.
Griffiths (2008).
- 37.
Magill (2011a).
- 38.
- 39.
Carr (1996), 137, 169.
- 40.
- 41.
Lonergan (1992), 310, 315, 231.
- 42.
Lonergan (1992), 604.
- 43.
Lonergan (1992), 600–601.
- 44.
Lonergan (1972), 238–239.
- 45.
Lonergan (1992), 604.
- 46.
Knauer (1967).
- 47.
Rahner (1963), 221.
- 48.
Pope John Paul II (1993), number 96.
- 49.
International Theological Commission (1990).
- 50.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, 1: 3.
- 51.
International Theological Commission (1990), A, 1: 4.
- 52.
International Theological Commission (1990), A, II: 1.
- 53.
- 54.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, II: 4.
- 55.
Pope John Paul II (1993), number 3.
- 56.
Pope John Paul II (1993), numbers 30, 37.
- 57.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, III: 2.
- 58.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, II: 1.
- 59.
- 60.
Pelikan (1984), 30.
- 61.
Ker (2009), 139–141.
- 62.
Gilley (2009), 20.
- 63.
Page (1994).
- 64.
Coulson (1961), 23, 33.
- 65.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, III: 1 and 5.
- 66.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, III: 5.
- 67.
- 68.
- 69.
Morgan (1989), 241.
- 70.
International Theological Commission (1990), C, III: 2.
- 71.
Dogmatic Constitution (1966b), number 8.
- 72.
Pope John Paul II (1995), number 56.
- 73.
Catechism (1977), number 2267.
- 74.
Pope John Paul II (1993), number 110.
- 75.
- 76.
- 77.
References
Abbott, W.M. 1966. The documents of Vatican 11. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Achten, R. 1995. First principles and our way to faith. A fundamental theological study of John Henry Newman’s notion of first principles. New York: Peter Lang Publications.
Aquinas, T. 1948. The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas. New York: Benzinger Bros.
Carr, T.K. 1996. Newman and Gadamer: Toward a hermeneutics of religious knowledge. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Casey, G. 1984. Natural reason. A study of the notions of inference, assent, intuition, and first principles in the philosophy of John Henry Cardinal Newman. New York: Peter Lang.
Catechism. 1977. Catechism of the Catholic church. Rome: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.
CDF. 1990. Congregation of the doctrine of the faith. Donum Veritatis, instruction on the ecclesial vocation of the Theologian. Vatican City, Italy.
Chadwick, O. 1978. The Victorian church, vol. 2. London: SCM Press.
Copleston, F.C. 1991. Aquinas. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
Coulson, J. 1961. On consulting the faithful in matters of doctrine. Edited with an introduction by J. Coulson. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Cross, L. (ed.). 1981. Shadows and images. Melbourne: The Polding Press.
Curran, C., and R.A. McCormick (eds.). 1982. Readings in moral theology. The magisterium and morality. New York: Paulist Press.
D’Arcy, E. 1981. Conscience and meta-ethics. In Shadows and images, ed. L. Cross, 153–188. Melbourne: The Polding Press.
de Achaval, H.M., and J.D. Holmes. 1976. The theological papers of John Henry Newman on faith and certainty (1846–86). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Declaration on Religious Freedom. 1966. The declaration on religious freedom. In The documents of Vatican 11, ed. W.M. Abbott. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
DeLaura, D.J. 1990. O unforgotten voice: the memory of Newman in the nineteenth century. Renascence 43(1–2): 81–104.
Dogmatic Constitution. 1966a. The dogmatic constitution on the church. In The documents of Vatican 11, ed. W.M. Abbott. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Dogmatic Constitution. 1966b. The dogmatic constitution on divine revelation. In The documents of Vatican 11, ed. W.M. Abbott. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Duivesteijn, D.C. 1967. Reflexions on natural law. Clergy Review LII: 283–294.
Dulles, A. 1982. Doctrinal authority for a pilgrim church. In Readings in moral theology. The magisterium and morality, ed. C.E. Curran and R.A. McCormick. New York: Paulist Press.
Ferreira, M.J. 1980. Doubt and religious commitment. The role of the will in Newman’s thought. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ferreira, M.J. 1987. Scepticism and reasonable doubt. The British naturalist tradition in Wilkins, Hume, Reid, and Newman. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Finnis, J. 1980. Natural law and natural rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Gilley, S. 1990. Newman and his age. London: Darton, Longman and Todd.
Gilley, S. 2009. Life and writings. In The Cambridge companion to John Henry Newman, ed. I. Ker and T. Merrigan, 1–28. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Griffiths, P.J. 2008. ‘Saying the thing that is not’: Newman on the lie. In Newman and truth, ed. T. Merrigan and I. Ker, 189–226. Louvain: Peeters Press/William B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Himmelfarb, G. 2007a. John Henry Newman: General answer to Mr. Kingsley. In The spirit of the age: Victorian essays, ed. G. Himmelfarb, 185–204. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Himmelfarb, G. (ed.). 2007b. The spirit of the age: Victorian essays. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hughes, G.J. 1978. Authority in morals. An essay in Christian ethics. London: Heythrop Monographs.
Hughes, G.J. 1986. Natural law. In A new dictionary of Christian ethics, ed. J. MacQuarrie and J.F. Childress, 412–414. London: SCM Press.
International Theological Commission. 1990. On the interpretation of dogmas. Origins 20(1): 1–14.
Jost, W. 1989. Rhetorical thought in John Henry Newman. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
Ker, I. 1985. An essay in aid of a grammar of assent. Edited, introduction, and notes by I. Ker. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ker, I. 1988. John Henry Newman. A biography. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Ker, I. 1989. An essay on the development of Christian doctrine, by John Henry Newman. Forward by I.T. Ker. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
Ker, I. 1991. Newman’s conversion to the Catholic church: Another perspective. Renascence 43(1–2): 17–28.
Ker, I. 2009. The church as communion. In The Cambridge companion to John Henry Newman, ed. I. Ker and T. Merrigan, 137–155. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ker, I., and T. Merrigan (eds.). 2009. The Cambridge companion to John Henry Newman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Knauer, P. 1967. The hermeneutical function of the principle of double effect. Natural Law Forum 12: 132–167.
Lonergan, B. 1972. Method in theology. London: Darton Longman and Todd.
Lonergan, B. 1992. (1957). Insight. London: Darton Longman and Todd.
Luz, M. 2003. A tract for our times: Newman, Genet, and the syntax of universal morality. Irish Theological Quarterly 68: 119–154.
MacIntyre, A. 1981. After virtue. London: Duckworth.
MacIntyre, A. 1988. Whose justice? Which rationality? South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
MacIntyre, A. 1990. Three rival versions of moral enquiry. Encyclopedia, genealogy, and tradition. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
MacQuarrie, J., and J.F. Childress. 1986. A new dictionary of Christian ethics. London: SCM Press Ltd.
Magill, G. 2011. Threat of imminent death in pregnancy: A role for double effect reasoning. Theological Studies 72: 848–878.
Mahoney, J. 1987. The making of moral theology. A study of the Roman Catholic tradition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Mathien, T., and D.G. Wright. 2006. Autobiography as philosophy. The philosophical use of self-presentation. New York: Routledge.
McCarren, G.H. 2004. Are Newman’s ‘tests’ or ‘notes’ of genuine doctrinal development useful today? Newman Studies Journal 1(2): 48–61.
McCarthy, G. 1981. Newman, foundationalism, and the ethics of belief. Horizons 8: 68–69.
Merrigan, T., and I. Ker (eds.). 2008. Newman and truth, Louvain theological and pastoral monographs. Louvain: Peeters Press/William B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Morgan, D. 1989. Hermeneutical aspects of John Henry Newman’s essay ‘on the development of Christian doctrine’. Horizons 16(2): 223–242.
Newman, J. 2006. John Henry Newman and autobiographical philosophy. In Autobiography as philosophy. The philosophical use of self-presentation, ed. T. Mathien and D.G. Wright, 168–179. New York: Routledge.
Norris, T.J. 1977. Newman and his theological method. A guide for the theologian today. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Norris, T.J. 1996. Only life gives life: Revelation, theology and Christian living according to Cardinal Newman. Dublin: Columba.
O’Donovan, L.J. (ed.). 1982. Cooperation between theologians and the ecclesiastical magisterium. A Report of the Joint Committee of the Canon Law Society of America and the Catholic Theological Society of America. Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America.
Page, J. 1994. What will Mr. Newman do? John Henry Newman and papal infallibility, 1865–1875. Collegeville: Liturgical Press.
Pastoral Constitution. 1966. The pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world. In The documents of Vatican 11, ed. W.M. Abbott. London: Geoffrey Chapman.
Pelikan, J. 1984. The Vindication of tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Pope John Paul II. 1993. Veritatis splendor (The splendor of truth). Vatican City, Italy.
Pope John Paul II. 1995. Evangelium vitae (The gospel of life). Vatican City, Italy.
Rahner, K. 1963. On the question of a formal existential ethics. In Theological investigations, vol. II, 217–234. London: Darton, Longman & Todd.
Rik, A. 1995. First principles and our way to faith. A fundamental theological study of John Henry Newmanangnotion of first principles. New York: Peter Lang Publications.
Sullivan, F.A. 1983. Magisterium. Teaching authority on the Catholic church. Dublin: Gill and MacMillan.
Svaglic, M.J. 1960. The idea of a University, by John Henry Newman. Edited with an introduction. South Bend: University of Notre Dame Press.
USCCB. 2001. United States conference of Catholic Bishops. In Guidelines concerning the Academic Mandatum in Catholic Universities. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Walgrave, J.H. 1960. Newman. The theologian. The nature of belief and doctrine as exemplified in his life and works. London/New York: Chapman/Sheed and Ward.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Magill, G. (2015). Moral Law. In: Religious Morality in John Henry Newman. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10271-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10271-9_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10270-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10271-9
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)