John Rziha is professor of theology at Benedictine College and author of Perfecting Human Actions: St. Thomas Aquinas on Human Participation in Eternal Law.
“The Christian Moral Life provides a necessary corrective to the
popular misperception of Christian morality as nothing more than a
system of oppressive rules that impair human freedom. He
methodically sets forth the Christian moral life in all its
splendor as nothing less than our grace-filled journey to personal
fulfillment and eternal happiness, drawing upon scripture and the
timeless wisdom of the saints. We used an earlier version of this
text in our permanent diaconate program, and the students found it
eminently readable and enlightening.” —Leon Suprenant, Archdiocese
of Kansas City, Kansas
"John Rziha's book satisfies the long-awaited hope for a suitable
textbook for students and professors of moral theology that is both
robustly Catholic and rigorously academic from cover to cover. His
copious work provides the framework and principles for a study that
is both soundly Thomistic and refreshingly personalistic. This
delightful text, laudably unencumbered by needless technical
jargon, leads the reader to a fruitful contemplation and critical
apprehension of the way toward genuine human beatitude in Christ by
way of grace, virtue, and law. More than merely a suitable
textbook, Dr. Rziha's book exemplifies true Christian and Catholic
humanism at its finest. As such, this text ought to be standard
fare for all students and professors of Catholic theology—not only
those whose work directly treats of the moral life in Christ."
—Michael G. Sirilla, Franciscan University of Steubenville
“What is unique about The Christian Moral Life is that it at once
offers a comprehensive treatment of moral theology with the
necessary background in theological anthropology, takes an approach
based in the virtues, beatitudes, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and
also treats the numerous elements of the law pertinent to the
virtues.” —Christopher J. Malloy, University of Dallas
“Rziha always writes in accessible language to convey deep
philosophical and theological ideas to the uninitiated. . . . The
Christian Moral Life is a sound introductory textbook on the
complexities of moral theology.” —Catholic Library World
“A welcome offering and an excellent resource for anyone teaching
moral theology at the undergraduate level. The book’s subtitle,
Directions for the Journey to Happiness, suggests the guiding
analogy for the content and structure of the text, namely that of a
pilgrim on a journey. Using this analogy Rziha presents the
Thomistic synthesis of law, virtues, and grace as perfective of the
human desire for happiness and corrective of the theological
history of human nature.” —Reading Religion
“Rziha offers an extremely detailed, and laudably systematic, look
at the connection points within moral theology.” —Journal of
Interdisciplinary Studies
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