Vol. XXXVIII / 1 - Studia Moralia

60 DENNIS J. BILLY
one another, they are capable of emphasizing the complexity of
the relationship by bringing to the fore obvious, latent, and even
contradictory themes.
2. The insights gained by the juxtaposition of the various
models are the “mental threads” that constitute the vast “logical
web” of sensibilities needed for describing the changing
contours of the interaction between the two disciplines. These
insights are singular in character, but relate to each other in a
variety of ways and different degrees of intensity. Those
belonging to the same model and the same moment of
interfacing have the most in common and are the most closely
related. Next, come those sharing the same model but different
moments of interfacing. These, in turn, are followed by those
coming from complementary models sharing the same moment
of interfacing, which in turn are followed by complementary
models sharing different moments of interfacing. The weakest
links in the web come respectively from conflicting models
sharing first the same and then different moments of interfacing.
The complex web resulting from the juxtaposition of models
provides a great number of perspectives from which to study the
interaction between the two disciplines. The pattern formed by
this vast web relations is open to the contributions of still other
models and constitutes a tightly bound ball of “logical” string
which wraps (and therefore ties together) the interface of the
two disciplines at it center.
3. In addition to looking to models and moments of
interfacing, the various levels of spirituality and moral theology
must also be taken into account when determining the variety of
ways and the differing intensities with which the two disciplines
interact. That is to say that the logical web covering the
interaction between the two disciplines must pay attention to
the experiential, instructional, and analytical dimensions of the
interface. When doing so, the circular relationship among these
relationships must also be averted to, since the experiential level
leads to the instructional and analytical levels, which in turn
combine to foster new experiences of the sacred. What is more,
the relationship between the two disciplines necessarily requires
an examination of how the various dimensions of each
discipline interact with those of the other. The result makes for
an even tighter web of logical insights from which to examine