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IMAGINATIVE MORAL DISCERNMENT: NEWMAN ON THE TENSION BETWEEN REASON AND RELIGION

IMAGINATIVE MORAL DISCERNMENT: NEWMAN ON THE TENSION BETWEEN REASON AND RELIGION Saint Louis University All too often reason and religion seem to oppose one another as we attempt to resolve the complexity of modern moral dilemmas. The tension between secular rationality and religious belief can be perceived as having to choose between them as mutually exclusive alternatives in the process of moral discernment. Theologians have identified such a stark contrast as a crucial problem for the credibility of religious moral discourse today. Two leading theologians from the Catholic and Protestant traditions have attempted t o explain in different ways how reason and religion can be harmonized in morality. The Catholic moralist Josef Fuchs emphasizes the connection between each aspect of this problem: how we reason in our moral judgements and how religious belief influences our judgement. On moral reason he adopts a n anthropological stance to argue that moral truth can be attained through the individual’s creative understanding and judging, though our insights can reach only moral certainty and therefore cannot prevent reasonable doubt.’ On religious belief he contends that moral obligation can be legitimately described as the voice of God in so far as the religious dimension should not be separated from the evaluative comprehension of reason but http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Heythrop Journal Wiley

IMAGINATIVE MORAL DISCERNMENT: NEWMAN ON THE TENSION BETWEEN REASON AND RELIGION

The Heythrop Journal , Volume 32 (4) – Oct 1, 1991

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References (9)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0018-1196
eISSN
1468-2265
DOI
10.1111/j.1468-2265.1991.tb00473.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Saint Louis University All too often reason and religion seem to oppose one another as we attempt to resolve the complexity of modern moral dilemmas. The tension between secular rationality and religious belief can be perceived as having to choose between them as mutually exclusive alternatives in the process of moral discernment. Theologians have identified such a stark contrast as a crucial problem for the credibility of religious moral discourse today. Two leading theologians from the Catholic and Protestant traditions have attempted t o explain in different ways how reason and religion can be harmonized in morality. The Catholic moralist Josef Fuchs emphasizes the connection between each aspect of this problem: how we reason in our moral judgements and how religious belief influences our judgement. On moral reason he adopts a n anthropological stance to argue that moral truth can be attained through the individual’s creative understanding and judging, though our insights can reach only moral certainty and therefore cannot prevent reasonable doubt.’ On religious belief he contends that moral obligation can be legitimately described as the voice of God in so far as the religious dimension should not be separated from the evaluative comprehension of reason but

Journal

The Heythrop JournalWiley

Published: Oct 1, 1991

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