Lux Veritatis is a new academic journal dedicated to sacred doctrine in its speculative and sapiential fullness.  Recognizing this sapiential character of sacred doctrine, and in light of the urging of Servais Pinckaers to do moral theology in connection with systematic theology, Lux Veritatis plans, as a part of its mission, to dedicate one issue per year to topics in moral theology.

 

This call for papers is for the first such issue, which is intended to afford scholars in the field of moral theology an opportunity to reflect upon the state of the field and ask where we are and where we should be going. We therefore invite you to consider submitting an article to this inaugural moral theology issue, whose theme will be: The Current State of Moral Theology: Challenges and Opportunities.

By way of priming the pump for thinking about topics, we offer the following observations:

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• Moral theology in recent years has taken a decidedly social turn. While this is to be welcomed, since man does not exist in a vacuum, it might be asked to what extent this emphasis on social issues has cast a shadow upon questions that concern human actions, which is the proper subject of moral theology, and without which social issues do not exist.

• On the subject of human action, it might be noted that there seems to be an increasingly felt need for casuistic methods of moral analysis, which have fallen by the wayside in recent decades. This became especially clear in the aftermath of COVID and the measures taken to contain the spread of the illness. Journals were suddenly full of categories – such as the nature, extent, and types of authority and the corresponding types and degrees of obedience owed to them – that had not been discussed among moral theologians for many years.

• Recent moral theology has made virtue its primary focus and has also paid particular attention to categories that were neglected in preconciliar moral theology, such as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. While it is encouraging that such topics are receiving the attention they deserve, it is lamentable that other important categories, which, admittedly, were overemphasized in the past, have now been almost entirely forgotten, such as sin and obligation.

On these topics, or on any topic that concerns the present state of moral theology and its tasks for the future, we welcome submissions of 8,000 – 12,000 words, to be made by January 1, 2025.

Further guidelines, the Lux Vertiatis style guide, and a submission form can be found at www.luxveritatisjournal.com/submissions

In Christ,
Matthew Dugandzic and James W. Stroud, co-Editors