Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

45
StMor 38 (2000) 45-66
DENNIS J. BILLY C.Ss.R.
MODELS AND MULTIVALENCE:
ON THE INTERACTION BETWEEN
SPIRITUALITY AND MORAL THEOLOGY
The recent interest in the relationship between spirituality
and moral theology has already given rise to a substantial body
of literature. 1 This material has gone far in defining the limits of
each discipline and in providing the general contours of their
ongoing historical interaction. A subtle assumption supported
by this literature, however, is the “singular” (as opposed to
“multivalent”) nature of that relationship. Rather than looking
at what different and, at times, even conflicting models of
interaction might contribute to their knowledge of the two
fields, authors have tended to focus on studying the relationship
within the boundaries of preset categories of one-to-one
1
The more significant works include: TULLO GOFFI, Etico spirituale:
Dissonanze nell’unitaria armonia (Bologna: Edizioni Dehoniane Bologna,
1984); SERGIO BASTIANEL, La preghiera nella vita morale cristiana (Casale
Monferrato: Edizioni Piemme, 1986); MAURICE ZUNDEL, Morale et mystique
(Quebec: Editions Anne Sigier, 1986); MICHAEL K. DUFFY, Be Blessed in What
You Do: The Unity of Christian Ethics and Spirituality New York/Mahwah, NJ:
Paulist Press, 1988); NEIL BROWN, Spirit of the World: The Moral Basis of
Christian Spirituality (Manly, New South Wales, Australia: Catholic Institute
of Sydney, 1990); MARK O’KEEFE, Becoming Good, Becoming Holy: On the
Relationship of Christian Ethics and Spirituality (New York/Mahwah, NJ:
Paulist Press, 1995); DENNIS J. BILLY and DONNA L. ORSUTO, eds., Spirituality
and Morality: Integrating Prayer and Action (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist
Press, 1996); MARCIANO VIDAL, Moral y espiritualidad: De la separación a la
convergencia (Madrid: Editorial El Perpetuo Socorro, 1997); RICHARD GULA,
The Good Life: Where Morality and Spirituality Converge (New York/Mahwah,
NJ: Paulist Press, 1999); See also WILLIAM C. SPOHN, “Spirituality and Ethics:
Exploring the Connections,” Theological Studies 58(1997): 109-23, as well as
the issues dedicated to spirituality and ethics in The Way Supplement, 88
(Spring, 1997) and Listening 34 (Fall, 1999).