ABSOLUTES IN MORAL THEOLOGY?

Father Curran is the young priest whose dismissal from the faculty of Catholic University caused the mass walk-out of students and faculty in 1966. The reason for his dismissal was his ""unorthodoxy"" in matters of moral theology. It is not difficult, then, to conclude that, under his aegis, the question of the title of this book is answered in a firm, though qualified, negative. The question asked is, essentially: Is what is ""wrong,"" according to Christian theology, always and in every circumstance to be regarded as wrong? The contributors are all teachers of moral theology, and in their examination of different aspects of the question, they conclude that it is as impossible to speak of ""absolutes"" in moral theology as it is in any other science, and for the same reason: circumstances, and man's knowledge of himself and of the world, change constantly. Father Curran illustrates by examining the Catholic Church's traditional teaching on masturbation--a teaching, he demonstrates, definitively formulated in the 17th century and based upon a biology propounded by Galen and Aristotle. As revolutionary as may seem the position of Curran et al., there is little doubt that they are not only ""telling it like it is,"" but also telling it as it will be. The authority of the authors, as well as the somewhat sensational implications of their conclusions, will make this a much discussed and controversial book.