Now in its second printing, Volume II of Prof. Grisez's projected four-part moral theology series "treats the specific moral responsibilities common to all or most lay people and those common to clerics, religious, and lay people. It aims to treat its subject matter in accord with Catholic doctrine as it has been developed by the Second Vatican Council and recent papal teaching" (xi).The moral theology that developed after the Council of Trent and persisted until very recently concentrated on clarifying for individual Catholics the outer limits: mortal sin and its avoidance. Vatican II called for a renewed moral theology that would deal more adequately with affirmative responsibilities. While Scripture, tradition, and Church teaching, taken together, contain everything Catholics need to shape their lives, the wealth of material must be gathered up and synthesized.Living a Christian Life is the second of Grisez's four-volume series, under the general title The Way of the Lord Jesus, responding to Vatican II's call for renewal and attempting the necessary synthesis. Whereas Volume I, Christian Moral Principles, treated the foundations of Christian morality, Living a Christian Life deals with the specific questions that concern all or most Catholics.

In Living a Christian Life, many more affirmative responsibilities than negative ones are examined, and Grisez never neglects the communal character of Christian life. He treats all the specific moral norms that are now being questioned. The Church's teaching not only is presented accurately but explained, so that its truth is clarified in the light of Gospel values and a profoundly Christian humanism.