The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
With regard to moral theology, Lehmkhul tells us that in the middle of
the eighteenth century there arose a man who was, so to say, a blessing
of Divine Providence. Owing to the eminent sanctity which he combined
with solid learning, he definitely established the system of moral
theology which now prevails in the Church. That man was St. Alphonsus
Maria Liguori, who was canonized in 1839, and declared a Doctor of the
Church in 1871. In his youth he was imbued with the stricter principles
of moral theology, but as he himself confesses, the experience of
fifteen years of missionary life and careful study brought him to
realize the falseness and the evil consequences of the system in which
he had been educated, and the necessity of a change. He, therefore, took
the "Medulla" of the Jesuit, Hermann Busembaum, subjected it to a
thorough examination, confirmed it by internal reasons and external
authority, and then published a work which was received with universal
applause, and whose doctrine is entirely on Probabilistic principles.
This approval and appropriation of Busembaum's teaching by one who has
been made a Doctor of the Church is a sufficient vindication of the
doctrine of Probabilism, for which the Society suffered so much, and is
at the same time a magnificent tribute to the greatness of Busembaum,
"whose book," Lehmkuhl contents himself with saying, "was widely used,"
whereas forty editions of it had been issued during the author's own
life, which happened to be an entire century before the publication of
Liguori's great work. Busembaum's "Medulla" was printed in 1645, and
Liguori's "Moral Theology" in 1748. Up to 1845, there were 200 editions
of Busembaum; that is, one edition for every year of its existence. In
the history of moral theology Sánchez, Layman, Azor, Castro Palao,
Torres, Escobar also may be cited as leading lights.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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