
Whoever recognises the existence of the objective moral order will not easily make peace with the attempt to adjust moral commandments and moral theology to the demands of the times. He or she will hold fast to the true principle that people of our time are obliged to bring their lives in accordance with the moral law and not vice versa. The task of moral theology is to justify and explain this principle to people of our time and to demonstrate argumentatively that the moral order precedes the human being and that it is there for his/her own good. Moral theology also needs to demonstrate that its goal is not to rule over the human being, but to contribute to the successful and humane life. In order to be able to achieve this goal, a theologian needs to be well familiarised with the contemporary reality. Morality is, by its nature, in service to the good life, because it helps the human being in his/her search for orientation in life and in the selection of ends and means. However, wrongly understood and wrongly applied morality can arrest the successful development of the human being towards the good and happiness and it can even destroy a life. The mentality and consciousness of the contemporary human being do not suffer commandments and resist instruction and prohibition from any side or authority – including God’s or Church’s – without a prior free agreement of those to whom the commandment or prohibition is directed. More concretely said: a human being ought not to rule over another human being without mutual agreement.