(b) The Scholastic method is a scientific statement of moral teaching through accurate definition of terms, systematic coordination of parts, strict argumentation and defense, attention to controversies, and recourse to philosophy and other natural knowledge.
(c) The casuistic method, or case-system, is the application of moral principles to the solution of concrete problems of lawfulness or unlawfulness.
14. The Scholastic method is the one best suited for the study of Moral Theology, because it is more scientific, and fits one better to understand, retain, and apply what one learns. But it is not exclusive of the other methods, since it perfects the positive method, and is the groundwork for the case method. Each method has a special suitability for certain ends. Thus: (a) the positive method is well adapted to preaching, and hence was much in favor with the Fathers of the Church, as can be seen from their moral homilies and treatises; (b) the Scholastic method is the best for study, teaching, apologetic, and was followed by the great classical works of theology in the Middle Ages and later; (c) the case method is very helpful to the seminarian and the priest in the exercise of the ministry of the confessional.
15. The History of Moral Theology.—There are three periods in the history of Moral Theology: the Patristic, the Medieval, and the Modern.
(a) The Patristic Period (1st to 12th century).—The moral writings of the-Fathers are popular, exhortatory, and occasional; and it is not till the Middle Ages that we meet with works of systematic Moral Theology. The following are among the most notable moral works of the Fathers: the _Paedagoga_ of Clement of Alexandria (d. about 217), which explains what the everyday life of the Christian should be; the _Catecheses_ of St. Cyril of Jerusalem (d. 386); the _De Officiis Ministrorum_ of St. Ambrose (d. 397), a Christian counterpart of Cicero’s work _De Officiis_; the _De Civitate Dei_ of St. Augustine (d. 430), which contrasts love of God and love of self; the _Expositio in Job seu Moralium libri XXV_ of St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), which consists of moral instructions based on the Book of Job.
Celebrated among the ascetical and mystical writings are: the _Ladder of Paradise_ of St. John Climacus (6th century), the Conferences of Cassian (about 416), the _Libri V de Consideratione_ of St. Bernard (d. 1153). St. Gregory the Great’s _De Cura Pastorali_ is a systematic work of pastoral theology, and is regarded as a classic.
(b) The Medieval Period (12th to 16th century).—The method of the moralists of this period differs from that of the Fathers in that the former is systematic and philosophical, and more proximately adapted to the use of confessors. The masterpiece of scientific Moral Theology is of course found in the _Summa Theologica_ of St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274). Works of casuistry were composed by St. Raymond of Pennafort (about 1235), by John of Freiburg (d. 1314), by John of Asti (about 1317), by Angelus of Chiavasso (about 1476), by Sylvester Prierias (d. 1523). The _Summa Theologica_ of St. Antoninus of Florence (d. 1459) has been called an inexhaustible storehouse for manuals of casuistry.
Among the ascetical writers are: St. Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor (d. 1274), John Gerson (d. 1429), John Tauler (d. 1361), Bl. Henry Suso (d. 1366), and Denis the Carthusian (d. 1471).
(c) The Modern Period (16th century to the present).—Characteristic of this period are the commentaries written on St. Thomas, the controversies over the systems of conscience, the appearance of numerous manuals and special treatises, and the attention given to changed conditions of society and ecclesiastical discipline. Noteworthy among modern works are: the Commentary on St. Thomas by Cajetan (d. 1534); the writings of Bartholomew de Medina (d. 1581), called the father of moderate Probabilism; the _De Paenitentia_ of Lugo (d. 1660), a handbook that combines speculative and casuistical theology; the _Roman Catechism_, which was issued by the authority of the Council of Trent in 1566; the _Theologia Moralis_ of St. Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1787), a work whose authority is universally recognized; the celebrated treatise on the virtues by Lessius (d. 1623); the classic work of Suarez (d. 1617), _De Religione_; the _Summa Casuum Conscientiae_ of Toletus (d. 1596); the commentaries of Francis de Victoria (d. 1546), which are writings of extraordinary merit. More recent works are so numerous that it is impossible to mention them here.
18. Among the many modern works on Moral Theology which have been published abroad, not a few are in the vernacular—in German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. While they are not intended to replace the Latin text-books used in seminaries, these are nevertheless a very great help to a fuller knowledge of the matter treated and to a more ready use of it in the work of the ministry.