Original scientific paper

Bogoljubni nauk by Zoričić and its sources

Pavao Knezović ; Centre for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

The most comprehensive work of moral theology written in Croatian in the 18th century is Bogoljubni nauk (1784) by Fra Mate Zoričić. An impressive 1538 pages remain, addressing all the various casus conscientiae which were possible at the time of writing. Apart from providing a detailed insight into the moral state of Croatians of the period (a tendency to the occult, infanticide, various forms of adultery, the tendency of merchants to cheat their customers, the way the concept of “otherness” was understood), the work contains a wealth of Croatian scientific terminology (for instance, conscientia is grizodušje). It also provides an insight into how scientific works of the time were produced (156 expert authors were cited, in a total of 965 citations). This immense “learning” becomes considerably less impressive as a detailed analysis reveals that in the writing of Bogoljubni nauk Zoričić referred almost entirely to a single work – the Examen ecclesiasticum by Felice Potestà – and only marginally to Medulla theologiae moralis by Hermann Busenbaum and Istruzione e pratica pei confessori by St Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori.

Keywords

Mate Zoričić; Bogoljubni nauk; moral theology; casuistry

Hrčak ID:

107022

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/107022

Publication date:

19.7.2013.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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