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like manner is also determined which of the NewTestament precepts have a universal and permanent binding force, and which are only of a temporary or local character (cf. Acts xv. 28-29). Here, as in matters of faith, the Scriptural data are interpreted officially, when necessary, by the teaching Church, aided by the testimony of tradition and by the expert opinions of recognized theologians. Thus papal and conciliary decrees, condemned propositions, and similar authoritative pronouncements become sources of moral theology. Chief among the Roman Catholic congregations which, with the approval of the pope, render decisions bearing on the subjectmatter of moral science, are the Congregation of the Council, the Congregation of the Inquisition, and the Sacra Penitentiarir. The first is empowered to interpret officially the decrees of the Council of Trent (q.v.) in disciplinary matters. Its decisions relative to the meaning of these decrees are binding and apply to all cases which they cover, but its application of a decree to a particular case does not necessarily oblige in all similar contingencies. The Congregation of the Inquisition has jurisdiction in matters of heresy and schism, apostasy, abuse of the sacraments, and the like, and it has issued many decrees bearing on the moral as well as the dogmatic aspect of these questions. The doctrinal authority of this congregation is very great, but its decisions are not considered irreformable unless so indorsed by the pope as to make them his own in a special bull or brief. The Sacra Penitentiaria does not deal with speculative moral questions or controversies. Its function is to settle practical and concrete cases of conscience, and its decisions, while useful, do not of themselves possess a legal binding force. The place occupied by the writings of the Church Fathers and theologians as sources of moral theology is much the same as in doctrinal matters. Their consensus as witnesses of a constant tradition is more important than as exponents of their own views, and their testimony is, in all cases, subject to the authoritative rulings of the official Church. Finally, since God is the author of human reason as well as of revelation, and since even the revealed precepts should be reasonably understood, moral theology makes extensive use of the ethical principles of natural law by way of comparison, illustration, and proof. Indeed, these principles can never be in real opposition to the revealed expressions of the divine will, though they are supplemented and elevated by them. Likewise the enactments of civil authority are utilized as remote and secondary sources of moral science.

While the value of human reason is duly recognized by theologians and the teaching Church in questions of moral science, its independence in the rationalistic sense is consistently denied; it remains amenable to the higher light of divine revelation properly understood or interpreted by church authority. Besides the great utility of rational ethics in the study of moral theology, other branches of science have an important though less direct bearing on its various problems. Among these may be mentioned psychology both speculative and experimental, sociology, political economy, civil jurisprudence, and history.

In outlining the history of moral theology in the

Christian Church it is customary to distinguish be

tween the period of the Fathers and that of the

theologians. The first extends from the earliest

moral treatises down to the time of

¢. History Bernard of Clairvaux (q.v.), who is

till called the last of the Fathers. The

Thirteenth ethical history of this period, however,

Century. belongs rather to the history of the

the Fathers made no attempt to expound either doc

trine or morals in a systematic or scientific manner,

and further reference to it may be omitted here (cf.

A. Tanquerey, Synopsis tlzeologice maralis, vol. ii.,

pp. xxx.-xl., New York, 1906). The period of moral

theology properly so called begins with the early

sehoohnen in the twelfth century. Their work was

preparatory to the great, development of scholastic

science in the century following-called the golden

age of scholasticism. Suffice it to mention the mo

nastic school of Bee in Normandy (see BEC, ABBEY

OF), founded by Lanfranc (q.v.) and made illustri

ous by Anselm (q.v.), who was one of the first to

introduce the scholastic methods; the school of

Abelard (q.v.), who, in his Introductio ad theologiam

sets forth a summary of theology in general, and in

his Scito teipsum traces a compendium of ethics from

the standpoint of human reason; the school of St.

Victor in Paris, which though more mystical than

didactic, contributed not a little to the progress of

moral science. Foremost among the writers of this

school is Hugo of St. Victor (q.v.), who in his trea

tises De sacramentis embodies a brief discussion of

nearly all topics pertaining to moral theology. The

most famous doctor, however, of this period was

Peter Lombard (q.v.), professor of theology and

later bishop of Paris. In the Quatuor libri sentenr

tiarum he discusses in scholastic form the entire

cycle of moral as well as dogmatic theology derived

from the Scriptures and the writings of the Fathers.

In the thirteenth century the monastic schools

were superseded by the great universities, and a

powerful impetus was given to the

g. Till the study of theology which in its compro

Renaissance. hensive treatment absorbed nearly all

the other branches of knowledge. Its

practical or moral aspect was not yet so sharply dif

ferentiated from the speculative as in later times,

and thus the great dogmatic theologians of the

epoch were also the great masters of moral science.

This period was marked by the rise of the great

rival theological schools of the Dominicans (see

DonzrNic, SAINT) and the Franciscans (see FxArrcis,

SAINT, of Assisi). Among the Dominican theo

logians two deserve special mention: Albertus Mag

nus (q.v.) and Thomas Aquinas (q.v.). The former,

who was professor successively in Paris and Cologne,

besides discussing many of the fundamental ques

tions pertaining to moral theology in his Summa

theologice, has much bearing on the same subject in

his Summa de creaturis. Thomas Aquinas, who

taught philosophy and theology in Paris and in

some of the Italian universities, is considered the

greatest of all the medieval theologians. He was the

first to apply successfully the Aristotelian philosophy

to the systematic elucidation of revealed truths, and