Stanley Hauerwas presents an overall introduction to the themes and method that have distinguished his vision of Christian ethics. Emphasizing the significance of Jesus’ life and teaching in shaping moral life, The Peaceable Kingdom stresses the narrative character of moral rationality and the necessity of a historic community and tradition for morality. Hauerwas systematically develops the importance of character and virtue as elements of decision making and spirituality and stresses nonviolence as critical for shaping our understanding of Christian ethics.
Christian vision -- Procreation versus reproduction -- Abortion -- Genetic advance -- Prenatal screening -- Suicide and euthanasia -- Refusing treatment -- Who decides? -- Gifts of the body: organ donation -- Gifts of the body: human experimentation -- Embryos: the smallest of research subjects -- Sickness and health.
Amid continuing advances in medical research and treatment, Gilbert Meilaender’s Bioethics has long provided thoughtful guidance on many of society’s most difficult moral problems—including abortion, assisted reproduction, genetic experimentation, euthanasia, and much more. In this fourth edition, Meilaender updates much of the data referenced in the book and responds directly to recent developments, such as the CRISPR/Cas9 method of gene editing. Christians seeking discernment in this new decade will appreciate Meilaender’s circumspect writing and his ability to address the nuances of each issue while maintaining strong and clearly stated moral convictions.
Robin W. Lovin achieves a balance between the questions and issues which form the core of the study of ethics, and the life situations from which those questions arise.
An introduction to Christian ethics that provides a new, constructive framework for Christian moral and political thought. It draws on and integrates classic sources and approaches with contemporary liberationist and critical voices while making the ethical relationship between human and nonhuman life a central concern.
How does Christian belief and practice relate to living well amid the difficulties of everyday life and the catastrophes and injustices that afflict so many today? In his introduction to Christian ethics, Bretherton provides a new, constructive framework for addressing this question. Connecting the theory and practice of Christian moral thought to contemporary existential concerns, this book integrates classic approaches to the pursuit of wisdom with contemporary liberationist and critical voices. The relationship between human and nonhuman life provides a central focus to the work, foregrounding environmental justice. As well as addressing a broad range of ethical questions, Bretherton situates moral formation and the pursuit of human and nonhuman flourishing alongside a concern for spirituality, pastoral care, and political struggles to survive and thrive in the contemporary context. Written for those seeking a place to start, as well as those seasoned in the field, Bretherton's book provides an innovative ethical framework that moves beyond many of the impasses that shape current moral and political debates.
Introducing Christian Ethics helps Christians form a sound basis for making ethical decisions in today's complex postmodern world. Raising 14 key ethical questions on today's most pressing issues including abortion, war, sexual ethics, capital punishment, and more, Scott Rae guides his readers in making moral choices wisely. Based on the best-selling college and seminary ethics textbook Moral Choices, this book distills nearly two decades of teaching and study into a succinct and user-friendly volume. It is an ideal primer for pastors, students, and everyday Christians who desire engagement with the world around them in an intelligent and informed manner. Teaching and study resources for the book, including additional video clips based on the questions corresponding to each chapter, make it ideal for use in the classroom as well as for pastors and for teaching settings within the church. Resources are available through ZondervanAcademic.com.
War: A Primer for Christians provides a concise introduction to the main approaches that Christians have taken toward war and examines each approach critically. Some Christians have supported their country's wars as crusades of good against evil. Others, as pacifists, have rejected participation in or support for any war. Still others have followed the just-war tradition in holding that it can be justifiable under some conditions to resort to war, but that then Christian love must limit the conduct of war. In an updated preface and new afterword, Allen explores aspects of current international relations that have a special bearing on the context of war. “Joseph Allen’s War: A Primer for Christians is just that: a succinct, fair-minded, wonderfully reasoned, and accessible account of the major Christian traditions on war—Just War, Holy War, and the Pacifist renunciation of violence. His book is also a primer in the further sense, that it will prime the pump for further discussion and debate as to when wars are just and how a nation might keep the means employed under restraints.”—William F. May
Christian ethics has addressed moral agency and culture from the start, and Christian social ethics increasingly acknowledges the power of social structures. However, neither has made sufficient use of the discipline that specializes in understanding structures and culture: sociology. In Moral Agency within Social Structures and Culture, editor and contributor Daniel K. Finn proposes a field-changing critical realist sociology that puts Christian ethics into conversation with modern discourses on human agency and social transformation. Catholic social teaching mischaracterizes social evil as being little more than the sum of individual choices, remedied through individual conversion. Liberation theology points to the power of social structures but without specifying how structures affect moral agency. Critical realist sociology provides a solution to both shortcomings. This collection shows how sociological insights can deepen and extend Catholic social thought by enabling ethicists to analyze more precisely how structures and culture impact human decisions. The book demonstrates how this sociological framework has applications for the study of the ecological crisis, economic life, and virtue ethics. Moral Agency within Social Structures and Culture is a valuable tool for Christian ethicists who seek systemic change in accord with the Gospel.
CHRISTIAN ETHICS CHRISTIAN ETHICS AN INTRODUCTORY READER “The selection of readings is excellent and I’d happily have my students devour them.” Esther Reed, University of Exeter “Clear, sharply focused, and precisely what is needed. This book is enlightening and potentially transformative. It presents Christian ethics as an exciting theological enterprise and offers a rich, deep, and accessible way of practicing ethics.” John Swinton, University of Aberdeen “Wells and Quash have put together a wonderfully comprehensive survey of Christian ethics while at the same time offering a distinctive and fresh perspective … With the array of primary texts and judicious and very well-informed commentary that the two volumes represent, they have succeeded in constructing an extremely valuable resource for teachers and students of Christian ethics.” Michael S. Northcott, University of Edinburgh (of Introducing Christian Ethics and Christian Ethics: An Introductory Reader) Christian Ethics: An Introductory Reader provides a comprehensive anthology of primary documents and materials relating to the emergence and study of key approaches to Christian ethics. The volume seeks to encompass the entire canon of Christian ethics, including first-hand accounts from major figures in the theological and ecclesial tradition. Readers are introduced to foundational figures such as Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and Barth, as well as contemporary voices including Rosemary Radford Ruether, James Cone, Jürgen Moltmann, Stanley Hauerwas, Oliver O’Donovan, Wendell Berry, and many others. Other notable figures not usually associated with the study of formal theoretical ethics, such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., are also represented. The significance of each extract is summarized through useful introductory sections, placing the author or text in the context of broader developments in Christian ethical theory. Whether it is used independently or alongside the accompanying textbook, Introducing Christian Ethics, this engaging and informative volume offers students a window into the fascinating evolution of Christian ethical thought.
