In the last forty years, Roman Catholic moral theology has been experiencing revolutionary tension and change. In this compelling exposition, distinguished Jesuit moral theologian John Mahoney examines the events, personalities, and conflicts that have contributed, from New Testament times to the present, to the Roman Catholic moral tradition and its contemporary crisis, and interprets the fundamental changes taking place in the subject today. He surveys a wide range of topics, including papal infallibility, confession as a sacrament, the legacy of Augustine, the dramatic change in attitude to "salvation outside the Church," and the continuing impact on moral theology of the 1968 papal encyclical on birth control and of the Second Vatican Council.