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How Rigid Moralism Undermines True Christian Justice

How Rigid Moralism Undermines True Christian Justice

Last updated on: July 3, 2026 at 1:58 am by Henry Karlson

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How Rigid Moralism Undermines True Christian Justice 2026-07-03T01:58:45-05:00 Henry Karlson

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André Thevet: Tertullian, whose extreme moralism encourages the Novatians / Wikimedia Commons

When Moralism Becomes Schism

One of the things I have noticed from my study of Christian history is the way many ideas repeat themselves, not always in exactly the same way (as the time and place in which they repeat differ), but in ways which can be said to rhyme. Sometimes, these are good ideas, but often, they come from gravely mistaken ideologies which should be rejected by Christians. One such problematic ideology is moralism; people are interested in promoting moral principles and concerns, but the way they do it is extreme. They are unbending in their expectations; their moral reasoning is purely objective, ignoring or denying the subjective dimension of moral engagement. They think anyone who is concerned about subjectivity denies moral principles; this leads them to deny pastoral flexibility when dealing with the moral quandaries of the faithful, because they suggest such flexibility ultimately denies objective truth. They also suggest this leads the church to end up promoting and supporting sin. There are many examples of this way of thinking throughout church history; each time it appears, it causes problems, and when not properly addressed, such extremists end up either creating a schism in the church or, worse, establishing a heresy. For example, the Novatians (who said the church could not forgive the lapsed) are said to have established a schism, and the Donatists (who denied sinful clergy their sacramental authority) ended up creating a heresy. I have felt that the spirit behind the Novatian schism is seen coming from many right-wing and “traditionalistic” Catholic influencers, causing problems which the church must not ignore if the church wants to help direct the faithful in a healthy spiritual direction.

Justice Without Mercy Is Not Justice

Reading various spiritual manuals, like Unseen Warfare, a text which comes to us and combines wisdom from both Western and Eastern Christian wisdom, because the text was first written by the Latin priest Lorenzo Scupoli, before it was translated into Greek by Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (who added his own insight into the text), and then into Russian by Theophan the Recluse (who added even more of his insight to the text), I have learned how moralistic rigidity follows the worst kinds of insights from Pelagianism because it promotes a moralism without grace. Proper moral reflection, which is lost with such moralism, requires us to seek after justice, a justice which is merciful because justice without mercy, without an ability to deal with the subjective dimension, ends up being the letter which kills the spirit. This is why, when such moralists complain about such mercy, about pastoral sensitivity being engaged by the church, they show how imperfect their moral reflection is because they only accept “objective morality.” It is, at best, a partial good, and like all partial goods, it is deficient and leads to evil. While I can understand the argument they make, up to a point, as we must not deny the objective dimension underlying our moral principles, it is because it is an incomplete examination of morality, where the subject of morality is denied, I find such so-called moralism must be properly rejected as with any other heresy which uses a partial truth to deny the fullness of the truth. It is important to keep pointing out how such moralism denies the proper presentation of Christian morality, of justice; justice without mercy is fundamentally unjust. Christians should have learned this from Jesus and the pastoral approach he took when dealing with sinners. He showed love, showing them compassion and understanding, when they came to him in need, especially when their lives were being undermined by those in positions of power, where they were turned into outcasts who found it difficult to live a proper moral life. And, just like the church today is accused of promoting immorality when it deals with people as subjects who should be loved and shown mercy, Jesus was accused of promoting sin, and violating the law, by his pastoral approach to those in need of his grace.

Thus, in summary, I think a major problem, the problem which causes such inhumane moralism, is that many people are not led to understand all the dimensions necessary for a proper moral reflection. They especially do not understand justice except in a very legalistic fashion. But justice is not justice if it cannot and will not contain mercy with it. The church, since its beginning, understood this, because those who were brought into it, and became its leaders, all received such mercy from Christ. Paul was constantly confronting extreme legalists, and for this reason, he ended up saying we are not saved by works of the law but by grace. He showed us that love and grace was greater than such moralism, with the foundation of his reasoning being that while were still sinners, Christ died for us, showing us God’s infinite love for us, and willingness to engage us where we are at. And just like God, Christians following Christ should begin their engagement with others by looking to them with love: “We hate, not the man, but the sin; not the vicious, but the vice, detesting the disease rather than the sick man.”[1]

No One Was a Saint Overnight

Sometimes, as a response to those who point to the the mercy the church shows sinners, extremists point to the saints, telling us that we should aim to be just like them, embracing heroic virtues, accepting nothing less than perfection. While it is true we are all called to become saints, such exhortations ignore the process by which we become saints. Except for a few exceptions, they did not start out with such holiness, but rather, they slowly engaged Christ and Christ’s grace. They slowly became holy; if they had been rejected and cast away for their moral imperfections, and so shown no mercy by the church, when they were starting out their spiritual journey, many of them might not have become saints. The saints themselves, when we read what they say, similarly warn us against judging ourselves and our progress by looking to the saints and thinking we should be just like them. They said if we try to imitate the saints when we are not ready, when we are still in the process of spiritual formation, we were likely to fall into all kinds of grave sin and end up despairing our salvation. They suggest what leads many to hold to such position is pride, because they are led to believe they are equals to the saints, while ignoring the process which the saints went through to become so holy. And so, I’ve read many times how such pride leads us to despair and self-hatred, for when we think we can and should be like the saints but find ourselves far from being able to do so today, we blame ourselves and turn our backs on grace. We think we can and should be able to do it by ourselves, when we cannot. Most of the saints understood this, and even if they didn’t initially, they eventually did, which is why they did not let their sins, their mistakes, have them despair; they embraced mercy, and the grace which came from it, and moved on, and this flexibility is what allowed them to become saints. Even after they had seen how greatly they had progressed, when they saw themselves engaging extraordinary or heroic acts of virtue, they understood the need to remain humble, and not judge others based upon their extraordinary actions, for if they did, their pride would destroy them:

It can happen, therefore, that someone avoid real sins, and be conscious of real virtues in himself, and give thanks for them to the Father of lights, from whom every good gift and every perfect gift comes, yet be damned because of the vice of pride if in his superiority he despises the other sinners, especially those who confess their sins in prayer, or even only in thought, since this is evident to God. Such sinners, indeed, deserve not an arrogant upbraiding, but mercy untouched by despair.[2]

Yes, we should desire to do good. But, to be good, Christianity teaches us we must transcend simple, moralistic legalism. It teaches us mercy. It teaches us humility. It teaches us that we must not be judgmental, using moralism as an excuse to judge others. The church welcomes sinners, showing them grace, meeting them where they are at. Not everyone is at the same place in their spiritual journey, and expecting everyone to be so, means the church will not be able to perform her function. The church knows itself as a hospital for the spiritually sick, for those who struggle in life, those who might not be perfect, and it gives them the medicine it needs to attain that perfection. And, as it is a sickness which we are dealing with, we must expect the healing process to take some time, perhaps beyond our temporal lives. After all, save for a few counter-examples, not even the saints were instant saints! They were shown mercy, they received grace. When the church was kind to them, showing them mercy and love, she was not denying her own moral principles, but rather, she was following her chief principle, the principle of love. Moralism, with its judgmental mentality, with its legalism, removes love from the equation, which is why it does not know how to embrace the subjective or personal dimension of morality. The saints, often pointed to by such moralism, far from proving such moralism right, proves them wrong, for without mercy, without grace, without pastoral sensitivity, they would not have become saints. When morality is no longer personal, when it no longer has room for grace, the church can only become a Pelagian society doomed to failure. And that is why the church, whenever such moralism arises, must deny it, in no uncertain terms.

[1] St. Caesarius of Arles, Semons. Volume II (81-186). Trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, OSF (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 1963), 317 [Sermon 148].

[2] St. Augustine, “Holy Virginity” in Treatises on Marriage and Other Subjects. Trans. John McQuade. Ed. Roy J. Defarrari (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1955), 181.

* This Is Another Post From My Personal (Informal) Reflections And Speculations Series

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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