Rights, Resistance & Revolution in the Western Tradition: Early Protestant Foundations (Witte,2008)
In this essay, I focus on the development of rights talk in the pre-Enlightenment Protestant tradition. More particularly, I show how early modern Protestants, especially followers of Genevan reformer John Calvin (1509–1564), developed a theory of fundamental rights as part and product of a broader constitutional theory of resistance and military revolt against tyranny.
The Meanings of Marriage (Witte, 2002)
In discussing the meanings of marriage, we need to understand that modern Anglo-American marriage law was formed out of two traditions, one rooted in Christianity, a second in the Enlightenment. Each of these traditions has contributed a variety of familiar legal ideas and institutions some overlapping, some conflicting. It is in the overlapping and creatively juxtaposed legal contributions of the Christian and Enlightenment traditions that one sees some of the ingredients of a third way respecting marriage.
Introduction to The Moral Virtues and Theological Ethics (Cessario, 2008)
The New Testament authors may use the term “virtue” sparingly, but, as in so many similar cases, the substance
of the concept pervades their moral teaching. Moreover, ample documentation exists to show that some of the earliest
moral instruction in the Church uses the language of virtue. In fact, St. Augustine spoke about the virtue of Christ
himself as the principal support of the believer’s whole life.
Spirituality of St. Thomas Aquinas (Cessario, 2010)
While some categories favored by recent spiritual authors, such as religious experience and community, do not figure as key notions in Aquinas’s writings, both his philosophical and theological treatises provide rich sources of insight about the human experience of transcendence and man’s mystical bond with God. It is customary to identify three strains of mystical teaching that appear in the works of Thomas Aquinas: Being-mysticism, Bridal-mysticism, and Knowledge-mysticism.
Elements of Moral Theology, Course Outline at International Catholic Univeristy
Links to course of twelve lessons based on Cessario’s, Introduction to Moral Theology
Infallible Teaching & The Gift of Divine Truth (Cessario, 2000)
Though the popular imagination is wont to consider any exercise of Magisterial authority as an unwarranted intrusion into the sphere of personal determination, the charism of infallibility, which belongs principally to the Roman Pontiff and the bishops in union with him, actually promotes and safeguards authentic Christian freedom
The Image of God and the Sacraments of the Church: The Practice of Divine Friendship (Cessario, 2006)
To emphasize the practical dimensions of Aquinas’ doctrine of man in the image of God, I propose to examine the relationship of this doctrine to both the Church’s sacraments and the practice of divine friendship.