Theological Foundations new file

222 Theological Foundations understand this, however, and remember that, as a representative of a particular period of history, he gave in to its tastes and adhered to the accepted forms of expression. Moreover, the times in which he lived, were a period of reaction to the shock that the Church, including the Church in Poland, experienced with the Reformation. In consequence, all spheres of life were pervaded with a religious spirit, which made a specific mark on the feelings and the mentality of the people of that time. 51 To a certain extent, Father Papczynski was a co-creator of this epoch. No wonder, then, that he was influenced and conditioned by its tendencies. Father Matulaitis-Matulewicz’s teaching, however, is free from such deficiencies. His thought was usually more ahead of his times, which is richly evidenced in his writings and his activity. A contemporary theologian may reproach our authors for treating the matters of the interior life in an oversimplified manner and neglecting to present their reasoning in a more systematic way. The severity of this reproach would probably be far lesser if all of Father Papczynski’s writ- ings survived to this day. Among his lost works were those that dealt with strictly theological 52 or spiritual 53 issues. We may wish that this body of work had been more comprehensive and more polished from the methodological point of view. However, what matters is that the two authors dealt with issues which were very important in their times. The very fact that they even raised some of them merits our appreciation. We must also remember that they were more priests than theologians, there- fore, their approach to some issues is more practical, geared towards achieving a concrete goal. Today some of the issues discussed by our authors have lost some of their edge, and some of them may be completely out of date. The latter refers more to Father Papczynski who discussed, among other things, such matters as the moral aspects of dancing and overindulgence in food and drink. His teaching, however, was dictated by the need of the moment, and it is to his credit that he was able to see those needs. It would be advisable that the contemporary moral theology not shun cer- tain moral issues discussed by the theologians of the past centuries.