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1. Term Moral theology, today often called theological ethics, is a discipline in Roman Catholic dogmatics that deals with human freedom and responsibility (Anthropology) and with the foundations and principles of moral action. It is the doctrine of the Christian lifestyle and the glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). Its theonomous basis differentiates it from ethics and moral philosophy. The central Christian beliefs of creation, the fall (Sin), the incarnation, redemption in Jesus Christ, and the promise of an eschatological …

Overview One may rightly ask whether Jews and Christians really have an ethics per se. For them the law of the Lord is perfect, “reviving the soul” and “making wise the simple” (Ps. 19:7; see also Psalm 119). The Jews carefully expound and specify this law in the Talmud, while Christians see it fulfilled in the risen Lord and find in it an offer of comprehensive freedom and direction. Theologians have made this point, especially when criticizing systems of ethics. Yet believers in every age have theorized about their conduct and fo…