This article addresses the idea that, over the centuries, Christianity has survived only by betraying its own uncompromising ideals. It investigates how damaging this interpretation could be for Christianity, and suggests that Christianity's survival might paradoxically be a function of the very phenomenon that seems at first sight to undermine it.

Catholic moral theology today, especially virtue ethics, often bears little connection to the sacraments; Catholic ethicists largely do not discuss the sacramental life when they address issues of morality or concepts of virtue. Given this disconnect, Thomas Aquinas's consideration of penance in the Summa Theologiae provides an important way to reconnect virtue to sacrament, as well as to emphasize virtue in relation to God. Penance is both a virtue and a sacrament inasmuch as it involves acts of the will. As a virtue, penance is a species of justice, an act of the will choosing according to right reason in aiming to amend for offenses against God. The acts of the virtue of penance, especially contrition, confession and satisfaction, constitute the matter of the sacrament of penance. Hence the sacrament presupposes the virtue even though the sacrament is a cause of grace whereas the virtue is an effect of grace. Penance as sacrament and virtue are virtually inseparable. A reclamation of penance as virtue and sacrament in the field of Catholic moral theology highlights the role of grace and hence connection of virtue to God, while also re-grounding virtue ethics in the sacramental life, especially through the sacrament of penance.

Taking advantage of the way in which Charles Taylor hinges his account of the rise of modern secularity around the year 1500, this article attempts a reassessment of some aspects of early modern thought which have been prominent in recent studies. In particular, it focuses on the thin boundary between illusion and reality, on the lure of scepticism, and on the changing role of the Aristotelian notion of phronêsis in human action.

John Zizioulas is not only a prolific writer but arguably one of the most original and influential Orthodox scholars of our present time. His originality can be most clearly observed in his development of a personal and relational ontology. Central to this approach is his assertion that the Father as cause should be understood as the one God rather than the divine ousia. Zizioulas subsequently asserts that the divine ousia should be understood in terms of divine communion. While this approach might be original, it is not without its difficulties, not least the possible implication that there are two different Gods. It is our contention that this problem arises out of a failure by Zizioulas to adequately distinguish between two distinct types of divine unity particularly located in the writings of the Cappadocian Fathers. The first is located solely in the ousia and ensures the ontological oneness of God, the second may be observed in the relational role of the Father as a point of reference for the Son and the Spirit. Finally, although these two forms of unity are identified by the Cappadocians we will suggest that the second is more adequately located with the Spirit by Augustine.

Taking part in secular discussion is difficult for a Christian philosopher. An approach that has often been favoured by Catholic philosophers is to attempt to engage at a level of pure reason using natural law concepts. This paper argues that such an approach sells us short and represents a failure to engage in secular discussion on equal terms and a failure to give adequate witness to the teachings of Christ. The paper seeks to argue that while it is not true that reason has a wax nose, as former Cardial Ratzinger argued, there is a role for faith-derived concepts in secular discussion and for encouraging others to share their view whether faith based or not, and for subjecting those concepts to the scrutiny afforded by rational analysis in an effort to achieve an identified common ground of human goodness that both transcends individual culture and belief but has its individual origins within the disparate cultures and traditions.

This article considers three aspects of Taylor's A Secular Age: the issue of the status and authority of theological insights derived from sociological analyses; the irresolvable ambiguities of secularity, where it marks the disappearance of religion but inadvertently affirms its persistence; and the properties of nostalgia and memory that unexpectedly shape post-secularity and the forms of enchantment it seeks.

This paper shows the theological vision of Aquinas’ moral theology by exploring the intimate connectedness of his moral thought in the prima secundae of the Summa theologiae with his sacramental theology and Christology in the tertia pars. While some have disputed the theological and Christological character of Aquinas’ moral thought, both the structural presentation of the Summa and the key role grace plays in his treatment of the moral life point to the importance of the sacraments, which, empowered by the Holy Spirit, communicate the grace of Christ's Passion to men, who by themselves cannot act to attain their end in God because of God's infinity and man's sinfulness. The paper proceeds by exploring Aquinas’ moral writings on man's end, habits and human action, and law and grace to a discussion of why man needs a savior. The paper then discusses the Passion of Christ the savior and its function in forgiving sin and opening the way to the infinite God in heaven for finite men, and concludes with a discussion of the importance of the Sacraments in the moral life as the instruments through which the effects of Christ's Passion are transmitted to men.