Peak Manualism!

In the Great Crusade Against Rigidity which followed the Council, one of the first things to go were the dread theology manuals.

You see, in the old days, priests learned dogmatic and moral theology through compilations in in multi-volume sets of authoritative manuals. So, of course, they had to go. 

But if you are like me, you just might suspect that the Vatican II generation went overboard or were even operating from wrong premises. 

And if you do, you just might be interested in one of those old manuals.

So let me suggest you take a look at the remarkable work of Jesuit Father Kenneth Baker. 

All he did was translate Sacrae Theologiae Summa, a 4 volume work of dogmatic theology authored by Spanish Jesuits in the 1950s, from Latin into English. 

Have I finished it?

Um...no. Of course not. 

But every time I have consulted it, I have been astonished by the clarity and depth of the answers. Which is not to say that every conclusion is firm or indisputable. But the authors are up front as to the level dogmatic certainty of the issue at hand. And in an age of intensifying theological bafflegab, that kind of clarity and candor are welcome.