Avant-propos - Studia Moralia

THE BASIC GOODS THEORY AND REVISIONISM 181
um’s work that there was virtually no room for them to propose
views which the magisterium could not at once accept and approve.”
35 Revisionism would certainly agree with this statement.
Furthermore, revisionism would posit the statements of Humani
Generis used by GRISEZ to defend his juridical model as both a reflection
and confirmation of this unhealthy relationship.
Finally, material for debate in this model presumes issues
open to discussion. The reliance upon, and authority granted to,
PIUS XII’s Humani Generis substantially limits this material. PIUS
XII declares, “but if the Supreme Pontiffs in their acts, after due
consideration, express an opinion on a hitherto controversial
matter, it is clear to all that this matter, according to the mind
and will of the same Pontiffs, cannot any longer be considered a
question of free discussion among the theologians.” 36 This statement
applies to noninfallible pronouncements and is sometimes
expressed in the Latin aphorism, Roma locuta, causa finita. As
we shall see below, this last premise is intimately linked to the
debate over what belongs to the secondary object of infallibility.
Revisionism and the Dialogical Model
Revisionism qualifies or rejects these premises, rejecting also
the BGT’s high court or juridical model. Instead, revisionism
posits a dialogical model for the relationship between theologians
and the magisterium. Revisionism’s response to the BGT’s
premises focuses first on the term “respect.” “Respect” should entail
not only allowing theologians to present their arguments, but
also the magisterium’s seriously and accurately considering the
content and meaning of those arguments without an inherent
bias in favor of those theologians who merely support a traditional,
non-infallible, position. As it stands, and as Veritatis Splendor’s
misrepresentation of proportionalism made evident, 37 there
35
GRISEZ, “How to Deal with Theological Dissent” 456-57.
36
DENZINGER, 2313.
37 See, for example, JOSEPH SELLING and JAN JANS (eds.), The Splendour of
Accuracy: An Examination of the Assertions made by Veritatis Splendor
(Kampen, Netherlands: Kok Pharos Publishing House, 1994); and a number
of articles written by revisionist moral theologians in The Tablet 247 (1993)
published shortly after the encyclical.