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Talking about ethics tends to involve talking about what we should or, more often, shouldn’t do. We talk about setting limits on actions that, for whatever reason, we think are either wrong or somehow harmful to ourselves or others. The aim off this book, however, is to explore Christian ethics within a wider, more positive framework – one that that views Christianity’s moral resources as part of the good news that it proclaims to all creation.
Ethics, says Craig Hovey, need not be characterized primarily by negative prohibitions, limits, and tiresome hand-wringing. Rather, it’s about a joyful and worshipful way of living, which flows naturally out of the abundant goodness God’s life and character, as revealed in Jesus.
Contents
Introduction
Part 1 What Makes Christian Ethics Christian?
1. The Bible
2. Following Jesus
3. Some Key Theological Themes
Part 2 What Makes Christian Ethics Ethics?
4. Classical Roots
5. Modern Options
6. Contemporary Challenges
Part 3 The Stuff of Christian Ethics
7. Baptism and Identity
8. Mercy and Peace
9. Justice from Above (Order)
10. Justice from Below (Liberation)
11. Sexuality
12. Vulnerable Life
13. Challenges Posed by Science and Technology
Craig Hovey is Associate Professor of Religion and Director of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence at Ashland University Ohio. He is the author of What Makes Us Moral? and Bearing True Witness: Truthfulness in Christian Practice, and is co-editor of An Eerdmans Reader in Contemporary Political Theology.
