Summaries / Resúmenes - Studia Moralia

250 MARTIN MCKEEVERproponent of a putative Alphonsian tradition. There is indeed adefinite déjà vu effect when we do so. How are we to construeHäring’s moral-theological proposal in the light of what has justbeen said about the Alphonsian tradition? It seems to me thatthere is at least the danger of making the same mistake withHäring as is sometimes made with Alphonsus. This wouldinvolve concluding that because he proposes an alternative tothe dominant legalistic model of moral theology of his day hecan be understood as proposing a new theological system. Thealternative, perhaps more realistic, approach would be to seeHäring as recovering elements from a tradition (or traditions)which predates casuistry and combining them with inspirationsof his own time. Thus his theological stance would be betterdescribed as a variation or a branch of the Thomistic traditionin that it does not put into question the essentials of that traditionbut modifies them so as to adopt to changed circumstances.Construing and presenting both Bernhard Häring andSt. Alphonsus in this light might go some way toward bridgingthe sterile and historically facile polarization between ‘liberals’and ‘conservatives’ within (moral) theology.