THE CENTRALITY OF JESUS CHRIST FOR MORAL THEOLOGY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE DISTINCTIVELY RELIGIOUS-MORAL THEOLOGY OF BERNARD HÄRING VOLUME I A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Notre Dame in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Lindsey Alison Esbensen ____________________________________ Jean Porter, Director Graduate Program in Theology Notre Dame, Indiana August 2008 THE CENTRALITY OF JESUS CHRIST FOR MORAL THEOLOGY: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE DISTINCTIVELY RELIGIOUS-MORAL THEOLOGY OF BERNARD HÄRING Abstract by Lindsey Alison Esbensen This dissertation seeks to develop the beginnings of a Christocentric ethic that, as such, can be distinctively Christian while also speaking universally to those outside of the Christian tradition. In order to do this, the distinctively religious-moral theology of Bernard Häring will be retrieved. Häring’s moral theology is a foundation for constructing a Roman Catholic ethic that leaves room for both the person of Jesus Christ and critical engagement with people outside of the Christian community. The imitation of Jesus Christ is central to Häring’s explication of the meaning of Christian discipleship. For Häring, Christian moral formation and development requires ongoing conversion to the life of Jesus Christ. Häring’s focus on response and responsibility, personalism, value theory, and his examination of the virtues emphasize the importance of the distinctively Christian religious convictions in the formation of the Christian moral life. The Lindsey Alison Esbensen call-and-response model serves as the recurring motif throughout Häring’s work that underscores the significance of Jesus Christ for moral theology, because Jesus Christ is the invitation of God and, at the same time, the response of humanity to God’s offer of grace. In order to retrieve Häring’s Christocentric ethic for contemporary moral theology, certain deficiencies in his work must be addressed, particularly the lack of social context throughout his work. The work of noted Protestant ethicist Stanley Hauerwas provides a social location as well as concreteness to the otherwise abstract and sometimes vague moral theology of Häring. Likewise, a contemporary retrieval of Häring’s moral theology will serve as a corrective to elements of Hauerwas’ Christian ethic. This project thus offers a critical analysis, re-appropriation, and development of Häring’s moral theology for contemporary ethics by maintaining his insistence on the centrality of Jesus Christ in moral theology and on the significance of engagement with those outside of the Christian community. CONTENTS VOLUME I PREFACE ………..…………………………………………………………………........iv CHAPTER ONE JESUS CHRIST: FOUNDATION FOR MORAL THEOLOGY ………………….........1 I. The Specificity and Universality of Christian Ethics …………………………..….....3 II. Natural Law and Roman Catholic Moral Theology: Universal, Not Specific …..…..13 III. Jesus Christ Is the Answer ……..……………………………………..………....…..26 IV. Ecumenical Dialogue: Stanley Hauerwas’ Contributions to Christocentric Ethics ....37 V. Distinctively Catholic Christocentric Moral Theology: Specific and Universal ........43 CHAPTER TWO JESUS CHRIST: GOD’S INVITATION TO HUMANITY ..…………………………..56 I. Häring’s Relation to Traditional Catholic Moral Theology ……..…………….....…58 II. “Vision of Wholeness”: A Biblical Foundation for Catholic Moral Theology ..……76 III. Christological Anthropology and Ultimate Value ………………….………..….....100 IV. The Problem of Distinctively Christian Imitation of Christ and Non-Christian Ethics …………………………………………………………..145 ii CHAPTER THREE JESUS CHRIST: THE PERFECT HUMAN RESPONSE ……….…………….……..150 I. The Religious-Moral Response ……………………………………….............……152 II. The Fundamental Option for the Religious-Moral Life: Virtues as Response .……185 III. Religion as Virtue: Heart of the Christian Moral Life of Virtue ………..……...….225 IV. The Sacramental Life of the Church in the Imitation of Jesus Christ …………......259 VOLUME II CHAPTER FOUR JESUS CHRIST: THE KINGDOM OF GOD MADE PRESENT ………..….....…….266 I. Situating Hauerwas: The Dreaded Sects Talk ……………………….……....…….268 II. Scripture and Tradition in Hauerwas’ Christian Ethic ………………...…..………297 III. Christological Narrative in Hauerwas’ Christian Ethic ……………………..……..312 IV. Christians and Non-Christians in the Kingdom of God ………………..……...…..342 V. The Christian Virtues ……………………………………………..………..…...….375 VI. The Sacraments and the Imitation of Jesus Christ ……..……………….……...…..401 CHAPTER FIVE JESUS CHRIST: THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA ……………………….……..…408 I. Häring’s Contributions to Catholic Moral Theology ……...………....…………….410 II. Prospects for a Reconstruction of Häring’s Christocentric Moral Theology………413 WORKS CITED …………….………………………………………….……………...424 iii PREFACE In recent years, many Christians have begun to wear their faith on their sleeves, literally, as they wear bracelets (necklaces, charms, and all other kinds of accoutrements) that display the letters “WWJD,” or “What Would Jesus Do?” The question is an important reminder that one’s Christian convictions must serve as the foundation for one’s moral decision-making, particularly if the Christian seeks authentic imitation of Jesus Christ in one’s own life. The problem with such a question, however, is that the disciple of Christ already knows what Jesus has done in a whole host of difficult situations. The real question, then, is not “what would Jesus do?” Rather the question is, “What does Jesus Christ’s life and overall message teach us about who we are to be precisely as disciples of Christ?” Or perhaps more succinctly, “What kind of person does Jesus Christ want me to be?” Contemporary moral theology and Christian ethics insist that Christians must not be concerned primarily with moral actions or moral choices; rather, the concern for the Christian moral life must be who one is, or what kind of person one is, as a moral agent living in the Christian community. This dissertation offers a critical examination and reappraisal of the moral theology of Bernard Häring, considered on its own terms and as a resource for contemporary, ecumenically-oriented Catholic moral theology. The central concern motivating this project, however, is the ethical significance of Jesus Christ, which is a concern that informed Häring’s work from beginning to end. With this fundamental issue iv at the heart of this work, I presuppose that the figure of Jesus Christ does have distinctive relevance to moral theology. If an ethic is to be distinctively Christian, then it must be based on some kind of specifically Christian principles, values, or ideals, which presumably will be connected to Jesus Christ in some way. This project seeks to address the issue of the ethical significance of Jesus Christ for Roman Catholic moral theology, in particular, and for Christian ethics, in general. Fundamental to this purpose, then, is to examine the meaning of the imitation of Jesus Christ for the Christian individual and the Christian community. The life of the Christian is lived in assimilation to the life of Christ. As a disciple of Christ, the Christian becomes a new person through the ongoing conversion to the life of Christ, such that the person is renewed and converted in each and every moral act that instantiates the being of the kind of person performing the action. Each moral action is a response to God’s offer of grace and fellowship with Christ and with one another. Although even the acronym does not fit as easily on a bracelet, the question is not so much “WWJD,” but “Who ought I to be precisely because I am a disciple of Christ?” Therefore, the Christian community looks not only to the historical or scriptural Jesus, but to the living Jesus Christ who invites us to grace and to constant conversion as Christian individuals and as the Christian community. For Roman Catholics, unlike Protestants, the person of Jesus Christ has not been given a central role in moral theology. In the past, Roman Catholic moral theology relied on the “moral manuals” to attest to what qualifies as a sin, the degree to which each act counts as a sin, and what our responsibilities are in particular circumstances. Thus, Roman Catholic moral theology generally emphasizes the role of reason as the basis for v ethics, over the role of the person of Jesus Christ. The emphasis on reason serves the larger society in that reason underscores what is universal to all human beings. Thus the focus on reason is central to engaging those outside of the Christian faith community in moral deliberation. The fundamental rationalistic orientation in Catholic moral thought, however, tends to de-emphasize the commitment to the specifically Christian aspect of Christian ethics. Therefore, taking Häring as a starting point, I seek to develop the beginnings of a Christocentric Catholic ethic, which, as such, can both be distinctively Christian, yet which still speaks to those who are not Christian. I shall examine whether or not there might be a way to develop a Roman Catholic moral theology which preserves the commitment to service to and engagement with the world as a whole, while still leaving room for a more positive role for Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the constructive recommendations that I make will focus on ethics from a Roman Catholic perspective, but will also emphasize the need for ecumenical dialogue in order to give a greater place to the person of Jesus Christ in moral theology and Christian ethics. In order to resolve