Presents points of view on the sensus fidelium from a wide range of theologians and pastors and makes an outstanding contribution by widening its application to ethical and not only doctrinal issues.

Do various members of the church--regardless of their generation, gender, race, sexual orientation, country of origin, and whatever their doubts are about official church teachings and policies--have any role in determining, safeguarding, and assessing the authentic teaching and praxis of the faith of the church? This has always been a haunting question in the life of the Christian church, though only recently acknowledged, because of the long-standing role of male clergy of European descent with a Eurocentric outlook who held hierarchical offices and determined official doctrines and moral and disciplinary codes. There have been controversies that bear on these matters over the course of the church's history. But it has only been over the last fifty years that the question has received increasing attention among Roman Catholics in terms of the baptismal anointing of the Spirit that bestows the gift of the sense of the faith on individuals and the collective sense of the faithful. This gift provides discerning skills to recognize, receive, and imaginatively and practically apply the living faith in history and society. This book explores these issues from historical, sociological, systematic and theological ethical perspectives, infused by the contributions of world Christianities.

Professor Brian V. Johnstone, CSsR, has been quietly and unobtrusively contributing to the intellectual life of Catholicism, especially in the field of moral theology, for nearly four decades. Having published numerous theological articles on many topics, including biomedical ethics, peace and war, and fundamental moral theology, and directed many doctoral dissertations, it is no exaggeration to say that he has dedicated his entire life to teaching and writing theology. In honor of Johnstone's work, this felicitation volume covers a wide range of themes in the Christian moral life with original articles written by internationally recognized theologians. In the spirit of Johnstone's thought and work, each article challenges the reader to reflect upon the present while contemplating the future of moral theology.

Table of Contents SIntroduction: Vocation, Friendship, and the Catholic Moral Tradition Alessandro Rovati and Matthew Philipp Whelan “A Shadowy Sort of Right”: The Ius Necessitatis and Catholic Moral Theology Matthew Philipp Whelan Nurturing Masculinities: Constructing New Narratives of Fatherhood Jacob Kohlhaas Theologies of Labor and the Limits of Capital Nicholas Norman-Krause Sensus Fideli—Whom? Retrieving Insights from Johann Adam Möhler Gina Maria Noia Virtue as Birth Control: An Examination of the Account of Rational Participation as a Component of Natural Law in Humanae Vitae and the Documents of the Papal Commission Arielle Harms Catholic Social Teaching, Liberalism, and Economic Justice Jason A. Heron and Bharat Ranganathan A Good Moral Teacher Must Be a Good Pre-Moral Teacher: On the Pedagogical Limits of US Constitutional Law Jason Menno The Healing Power of the Body of Christ: An Ecclesial and Neurological Argument for Social Connection Despite Social Distancing Christopher Krall, SJ Looking for Good Work: From Matthew Crawford to Pope Francis via Wittgenstein Mark R. Ryan

Introduction David Cloutier and Robert Koerpel “But from the begining it was not so”: The Jewish Apocalyptic Context of Jesus’s Teaching on Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage John W. Martens Historical Theology and the Problem of Divorce and Remarriage Today David G. Hunter Saint John Henry Newman, Development of Doctrine, and Sensus Fidelium: His Enduring Legacy in Roman Catholic Theological Discourse Kenneth Parker The Risk of Tradition: With de Certeau toward a Postmodern Catholic Theory Philipp W. Rosemann Tradition as Given: Eucharist, Theological Pugilism, and Eschatological Patience Jonathan Martin Ciraulo Interpreting Chapter Eight of Amoris Laetitia in Light of the Incarnation Nicholas J. Healy, Jr. Beyond the Law-Conscience Binary in Catholic Moral Thought David Cloutier and Robert Koerpel Inculturating through the Lens of Liberation: John Mary Waliggo and the Renewal of Catholic Tradition in Africa J.J. Carney Gnoseological Concupiscence, Intersectionality, and Living Truthfully: Insights into How and Why Moral Theology Develops Kathryn Lilla Cox The Challenge of Technology to Moral Theology Paul Scherz Book Reviews Thomas Crean and Alan Fimister, Integralism: A Manual of Political Philosophy Kent J. Lasnoski Marie Dennis, ed., Choosing Peace. The Catholic Church Returns to Gospel Nonviolence Margaret R. Pfeil Kevin Flannery, Action and Character According to Aristotle: The Logic of the Moral Life Michael Bolin Richard Grigg, Science Fiction and the Imitation of the Sacred Kim Paffenroth Elizabeth T. Groppe, ed., Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart: Cultivating a Sacramental Imagination in an Age of Pornography Matthew Sherman Matthew Hanley, Determining Death by Neurological Criteria: Current Practices and Ethics Gina Maria Noia Theodora Hawksley, Peacebuilding and Catholic Social Teaching Caesar A. Montevecchio Albert de Mingo Kaminouchi, Brother John of Taizé, trans., An Introduction to Christian Ethics: A New Testament Perspective Thomas P. Scheck Han-Luen Kantzer Komline, Augustine on the Will: A Theological Account J. M. Stewart Matthew Levering, Aquinas’s Eschatological Ethics and the Virtue of Temperance Steven J. Jensen Matthew Levering, Engaging the Doctrine of Marriage: Human Marriage as the Image and Sacrament of the Marriage of God and Creation Timothy P. O’Malley Marcus Mescher, The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity Jessica Wrobleski Kelley Nikondeha, Defiant: What the Women of Exodus Teach us About Freedom Patricia Sharbaugh Michael S. Sherwin, OP, On Love and Virtue: Theological Essays James W. Stroud Janet E. Smith, Self-Gift: Essays on Humanae Vitae and the Thought of John Paul II John Sikorski

Daniel J. Finucane's original work assesses the long history of the understanding and use of the concept of sensus fidelium, and develops criteria from its history and the teachings of Vatican II to critique the postconciliar use of the concept. This a comprehensive work in both its scope of history and its treatment of contemporary theologies of the concept, as well as suggesting a significant role for hermeneutical issues. The variety of views on the sensus fidelium challenges the traditional understanding of the concept. In this study criteria are offered here for reassessing the sensus fidelium in the light of Vatican II's teaching and the concept's history. Major theological perspectives on this topic since Vatican II are surveyed and explicated. Among the theologians and philosophers discussed are Newman, Congar, Rahner, John Coulson, Jean Guitton, Guenter Biemer, Samuel D. Femiano, John C. Ford, Beinert, Schmaus, Granfield, and others.