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About
The Catholic Tradition requires the faithful to form and follow their conscience. This is the case even with the recognition that consciences can be malformed, and one can make errors in practical judgments. Water Shaping Stone examines various aspects of this tradition regarding conscience by using, among other sources, twentieth-century magisterial documents, theologians' works, and Scripture.
Kathryn Lilla Cox argues that while the Magisterium retains teaching authority, and a responsibility to help form consciences through its teaching, focusing only on the Magisterium leads to incomplete formation. A more holistic vision of conscience formation means considering the formation of the moral agent to be a multifaceted process that draws on, for example, teaching, prayer, rituals, Scripture, practices, and virtues, along with relationships with the Triune God and communities of accountability. This vision of conscience formation retains the magisterial teaching authority while acknowledging discipleship as the theological basis for making and assessing practical judgments of conscience.
Kathryn Lilla Cox argues that while the Magisterium retains teaching authority, and a responsibility to help form consciences through its teaching, focusing only on the Magisterium leads to incomplete formation. A more holistic vision of conscience formation means considering the formation of the moral agent to be a multifaceted process that draws on, for example, teaching, prayer, rituals, Scripture, practices, and virtues, along with relationships with the Triune God and communities of accountability. This vision of conscience formation retains the magisterial teaching authority while acknowledging discipleship as the theological basis for making and assessing practical judgments of conscience.
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Reviews
"Dr. Kathryn Lilla Cox's Water Shaping Stone is a greatly needed book. For too long, discussions of conscience have been couched in the tired debates of personal autonomy versus compliance to authority. Instead of rehashing the arguments or taking sides in them, Dr. Cox shifts the conversation by considering conscience in light of the Christian call to discipleship. Her perspective speaks to why f
Jason King, Associate Professor of Theology, Saint Vincent College Associate Editor
"This is a timely and superb book that very much needed to be written. Not only that, but its prose is both accessible and academically informed as well as inviting and compelling. Many persons, including Catholics and other Christians, may be conscious of conscience, but in an emaciated way that fails to interface robustly with the moral life or, for those of faith, the call to discipleship. Kath
Tobias Winright, Maeder Endowed Chair of Health Care Ethics, Saint Louis University
"The protest I have to follow my conscience' often is just a way to shut down conversation. Kathryn Lilla Cox uses the claim to open up a dialog with a rich Catholic history of reflection on conscience, dissent, and scandal. With exceptionally clear writing, extensively documented research, and carefully nuanced analysis, she makes an original contribution to the relational quality of conscience w
Edward Vacek, SJ, Stephen Duffy Chair of Catholic Studies Loyola University