As college students develop their identities and construct their worldviews, they commonly wrestle with fundamental questions such as 'Why be moral?' Taking into account feedback he has received from students and colleagues, William Mattison has crafted Introducing Moral Theology, a masterful basic text on Catholic moral theology. Divided into two sections, 'The Cardinal Virtues and the Good Life' and 'Living Virtuously in the Christian Story', this work provides a solid overview of classical virtue ethics (i.e., temperance, prudence, fortitude, and justice) as well as the theological virtues (i.e., faith, hope, and love). Professors and students alike will appreciate the chapter objectives, terms and definitions, bibliographies, and case studies on timely, thorny issues such as premarital sex and euthanasia. Readers will also note that Introducing Moral Theology finds a kindred spirit with Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica. While written primarily to and from a Roman Catholic perspective, this text will appeal to a wide swathe of Christian academics and believers interested in virtue ethics.
William C. Mattison III (Ph.D., University of Notre Dame) is assistant professor of theology at The Catholic University of America. He has edited and contributed to New Wine, New Wineskins: A Next Generation Reflects on Key Issues in Catholic Moral Theology.
