Post by homeschooldad on Mar 16, 2024 18:56:22 GMT
traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/f233_Dialogue_136.htm
...and now we know why.
Yes, Jone is a little strange in spots, but there are others, McHugh and Callan, Prümmer, one other that escapes me at the moment, and others on top of that. (And, yes, I know, this article refers to manuals of dogmatic theology as well as moral, but moral theology is where people live their everyday lives and are tested. People generally don't have persistent temptations to doubt articles of faith, but they do have temptations, day in and day out, to commit sins of various types. I know confessional lines are short these days, so maybe people have quit sinning as much, but I'd like to know their secret, because I still have issues with sin, myself. What do they know that I don't know?)
Let's face it, modern "change agents" don't want us to be able to think clearly about morality, don't want us to know the difference between mortal and venial sin, they just want us docile and doing whatever they say to do. Ignorant people are malleable people. To say "look it up in the Catechism", well, no catechism, past or present, is a comprehensive treatment of moral theology. Even the Baltimore Catechism was very low on specifics where various sins, their variants, gravity, and so on, are concerned. That's not their task. That's not what they're written for. When we were studying the Baltimore Catechism in homeschool religion class, I ended up having to make a "cheat sheet" of the various sins against the Ten Commandments (no, not all sins against the Decalogue are grave matter, that's another virus that's spreading throughout the Catholic online world, traditional moralists and catechists clearly taught there is such a thing as "parvity of matter"), and the Precepts of the Church, and listed out various sins as grave matter, venial matter, or grave/venial depending upon parvity of matter. People don't know how to do that anymore. Back in the day, that knowledge was top-of-mind, but alas, we're not "back in the day" anymore. You will hear people occasionally talking about "moral sins", they're trying to reach the concept of "mortal sins", but they don't know the terminology, either nobody ever told them, they were told but it didn't soak in, or they misunderstood. Kind of like how "immaculate conception" gets conflated with miraculous conception sans père and/or virgin birth. They know just enough to know the term, but don't know what it means. (Kind of like "begging the question", which means something totally different from what most people think it means.) Again, ignorant people are malleable people. Don't be ignorant. Don't be malleable.
On a personal note, I got in back of someone in the confessional line (actually, I was first and she jumped ahead of me, out of what I am willing to assume was lack of presence of mind on her part) the other day, and this sweet little old lady spent what seemed like forever in there. Now, I've seen a lot of axe murderers in my day, and she didn't look like any axe murderer I've ever seen, she couldn't have done much of anything, so I just assume (yes, I know, we don't know...) she needed a lot of guidance about what is a sin and what isn't. A moral theology manual could have come in handy for her.
Moral theology manuals are an excellent resource. Get one and read it. I don't think they write them anymore, so you'll probably have to go with something pre-Vatican II. Horrors!
...and now we know why.
Yes, Jone is a little strange in spots, but there are others, McHugh and Callan, Prümmer, one other that escapes me at the moment, and others on top of that. (And, yes, I know, this article refers to manuals of dogmatic theology as well as moral, but moral theology is where people live their everyday lives and are tested. People generally don't have persistent temptations to doubt articles of faith, but they do have temptations, day in and day out, to commit sins of various types. I know confessional lines are short these days, so maybe people have quit sinning as much, but I'd like to know their secret, because I still have issues with sin, myself. What do they know that I don't know?)
Let's face it, modern "change agents" don't want us to be able to think clearly about morality, don't want us to know the difference between mortal and venial sin, they just want us docile and doing whatever they say to do. Ignorant people are malleable people. To say "look it up in the Catechism", well, no catechism, past or present, is a comprehensive treatment of moral theology. Even the Baltimore Catechism was very low on specifics where various sins, their variants, gravity, and so on, are concerned. That's not their task. That's not what they're written for. When we were studying the Baltimore Catechism in homeschool religion class, I ended up having to make a "cheat sheet" of the various sins against the Ten Commandments (no, not all sins against the Decalogue are grave matter, that's another virus that's spreading throughout the Catholic online world, traditional moralists and catechists clearly taught there is such a thing as "parvity of matter"), and the Precepts of the Church, and listed out various sins as grave matter, venial matter, or grave/venial depending upon parvity of matter. People don't know how to do that anymore. Back in the day, that knowledge was top-of-mind, but alas, we're not "back in the day" anymore. You will hear people occasionally talking about "moral sins", they're trying to reach the concept of "mortal sins", but they don't know the terminology, either nobody ever told them, they were told but it didn't soak in, or they misunderstood. Kind of like how "immaculate conception" gets conflated with miraculous conception sans père and/or virgin birth. They know just enough to know the term, but don't know what it means. (Kind of like "begging the question", which means something totally different from what most people think it means.) Again, ignorant people are malleable people. Don't be ignorant. Don't be malleable.
On a personal note, I got in back of someone in the confessional line (actually, I was first and she jumped ahead of me, out of what I am willing to assume was lack of presence of mind on her part) the other day, and this sweet little old lady spent what seemed like forever in there. Now, I've seen a lot of axe murderers in my day, and she didn't look like any axe murderer I've ever seen, she couldn't have done much of anything, so I just assume (yes, I know, we don't know...) she needed a lot of guidance about what is a sin and what isn't. A moral theology manual could have come in handy for her.
Moral theology manuals are an excellent resource. Get one and read it. I don't think they write them anymore, so you'll probably have to go with something pre-Vatican II. Horrors!