First published in 1985 as Les sources de la morale chretienne by University Press Fribourg, this work has been recognized by scholars worldwide as one of the most important books in the field of moral theology. Already its acclaim has warranted translations into Spanish, Italian, and Polish. Now it is available for the first time in an English translation, which includes a new preface. Writing in a tone that is reconciliatory rather than polemical, Servais Pinckaers returns Christian ethics to its sources, the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. After discussing the complementary domains of morality and the behavioral and natural sciences, he traces the scriptural themes particularly in the Sermon on the Mount and the writings of St. Paul that most influence moral instruction. He then examines in depth the history of moral theology from the patristic period to the present day. This history includes a discussion of the relation of Protestant and Catholic views of Christian ethics. The unique feature of Pinckaers's contemporary Thomistic view is its emphasis on the virtues, gifts, and evangelical Beatitudes as the heart of the Christian moral life. His approach to morality results in what he calls the freedom for excellence, a notion of freedom that he contrasts with the nominalist concept of the freedom of indifference, which has dominated moral theology since the fourteenth century. As a complete handbook of moral theology, this book will serve the needs of both beginning and advanced students in seminary and university courses in moral theology and ethics. For Catholic readers in particular, it will provide the background and perspective needed to achieve a fuller understanding of the moral teaching of the Catechism and of the encyclical Veritatis splendor.

Servais Pinckaers, O.P., is one of the preeminent Catholic moral theologians of his generation. His highly acclaimed works, among them The Sources of Christian Ethics, offer a thoroughly Thomistic and contemporary vision of the Christian moral life. They reflect the philosophical and spiritual prowess of a moral theologian who is estranged neither from philosophical ethics nor from dogmatic theology, neither from Scripture nor from spirituality.
The first collection of its kind available in any language, this volume features the twenty most significant essays written by Pinckaers since his highly praised Sources. The essays offer profound reflections that are only possible by a contemporary moral theologian who knows the thought of Aquinas from lifelong study. Rather than taking a simply historical approach to Aquinas, Pinckaers seeks the basis of the intelligibility of the moral life, providing rich spiritual and theological insights along the way. He plumbs the depths of fundamental moral theology in these essays, where he treats Thomistic method and the renewal of moral theology, beatitude and Christian anthropology, moral agency, and passions and virtues, as well as law and grace. Such a detailed treatment of key issues in fundamental moral theology and Christian philosophical anthropology will certainly demand attention from every theologian and advanced student interested in Aquinas and in a virtue approach to Christian ethics.
Pinckaers's work has been an important source for the revival of interest in virtue-oriented moral theology in recent years and will continue to be a major source for debates over the place of Scripture and the Holy Spirit in moraltheology.
John Berkman is Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Area Director of Moral Theology/Ethics at The Catholic University of America. Craig Steven Titus is Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Ethics and Moral Theology at the University of Fribourg and Visiting Professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. The essays are translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble, O.P., Craig Steven Titus, Michael Sherwin, O.P., and Hugh Connelly.

"This magnificent work has all the beauty of a late career book written by a master who speaks about his area of expertise simply and wisely. This is not a heavily detailed and footnoted argument. It is a book about the virtues and passions by someone so steeped in the thought of Aquinas that he can approach his topic creatively and boldly, and yet still be firmly rooted in the Angelic Doctor's thought." - Theological Studies "This was the last book written by the respected Belgian Dominican moral theologian Servais Pinckaers before his death in 2008will be of interest to the libraries of major seminaries and to academic libraries with moral theology collections." - Catholic Library World "This is an accessible treatment of a complex subject from an undisputed master of the field. Less a scholarly work than a profound, personal reflection on a topic of perennial significance. Recommended." - Choice "[Passions and Virtue] is brief, and printed in a small format. Each short chapter is divided into smaller sections, and given a subtitle. This means that it is read profitably in shorter sections, interspersed with longer periods of reflection on the content, keeping an eye on the overall thread of the bookan important addition to the Pinckaers English-language canon. One can hope that it will be read by a wider audience, and will serve as a means of introducing his other works to the uninitiated, and that his thought will become accepted as essential reading in seminaries and places where Catholic theology is taught and studied. To this end, the more material available in English the better." - New Blackfriars