An Introduction to Christian Ethics
History, Movements, People
By Harry J. Huebner
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Subjects: All Ethics , All Theology |
In this pedagogically astute introduction, Harry Huebner approaches Christian ethics as theology embodied in the lives of real people. And he maintains that matters of justice, poverty, power, and violence too often go without the appropriate Christian response—of the "Word becoming Flesh." In this comprehensive volume, Huebner skillfully addresses the ethical challenges raised by social philosophers as well as Latin American, African American, Aboriginal, feminist, and peace theologians. An Introduction to Christian Ethics spans the centuries—from Athens to contemporary America and beyond—and collects some of the most influential voices in Christian ethics on both classical theories and contemporary moral issues. Huebner's careful presentation allows each of these voices—and their distinctive cultural settings—to ring through history and across social boundaries. Huebner provides teachers and students with a solid foundation upon which to build a faithful approach to ethical thought and practice.
Preface
Introduction: What Is Christian Ethics?
PART I: RENARRATING CHRISTIAN THOUGHT AND PRACTICE
1 Greek Ethics
2 Biblical Ethics
3 Early Church Ethics
4 Medieval Church Ethics I
5 Medieval Church Ethics II
6 Renaissance and Reformation Ethics
7 Enlightenment Ethics
8 Post-Enlightenment Ethics
Excursus Part I
PART II: A DISCIPLINED INTERLUDE
9 Philosophy and Ethics
10 Sociology and Ethics
11 Psychology and Ethics
12 Theology and Ethics
Excursus Part II
PART III: SELECTED TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHRISTIAN ETHICISTS
SECTION A: Early Responses to the Nineteenth Century
13 Ernst Troeltsch (1865–1923)
14 Karl Barth (1886–1968)
15 Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)
16 Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905–1988)
17 Dorothee Sölle (1929–2003)
Excursus Part III–A
SECTION B: Formative, Contemporary, Christian Ethicists
18 Walter Rauschenbusch (1861–1918)
19 James Shaver Woodsworth (1874–1942)
20 Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971)
21 Helmut Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962)
22 Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968)
23 James Moody Gustafson (1925–)
Excursus Part III–B
PART IV: CRITICAL RESPONSES TO TWENTIETH-CENTURY CHRISTIAN ETHICS
SECTION A: Christian Social Philosophers
24 George Parkin Grant (1918–1988)
25 Alasdair Chalmers MacIntyre (1929–)
Excursus Part IV–A
SECTION B: Liberation Theologians
26 Gustavo Gutiérrez (1928–)
27 James Hal Cone (1938–)
28 George E. “Tink” Tinker
Excursus Part IV–B
SECTION C: Feminist Theologians
29 Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936–)
30 Sharon D. Welch
31 Mercy Amba Oduyoye (1933–)
Excursus Part IV–C
SECTION D: Peace Theologians
32 John Howard Yoder (1927–1997)
33 James William McClendon Jr. (1924–2000)
34 Stanley Hauerwas (1940–)
Excursus Part IV–D
Conclusion: On Putting Christian Ethics in Its Place
Index
"By placing the great figures of Christian tradition historically and biographically, Huebner illumines both their unique particularity and the ways in which they are models for today. Readers will be rewarded with new insights into 'thinkers' who come alive as 'believers' and 'practitioners.'"
—Lisa Sowle Cahill, Monan Professor of Theology, Boston College
"Huebner's introduction presents an accurate, reliable, and comprehensive historical argument. Truly impressive in scope, it offers a recovery of Jesus in Christian ethics that is ecclesiologically engaged. I can only celebrate this huge accomplishment!"
—Glen Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary
"This book does the impossible—it brings together a breadth of histories, persons and movements who constitute the core of Christian ethics in antiquity, modernity and post-modernity without sacrificing substance. An Introduction to Christian Ethics is clear, profound and a thoroughly enjoyable read and now sets the standard as the reference book for the discipline."
—D. Stephen Long, Professor of Systematic Theology, Marquette University
"A strength of this text's approach to Christian ethics is Huebner's conviction that 'discipleship learning is more than mere head learning.' Such learning involves observation of Christian mentors' lives along with their ethical discourse, and appropriation of their teaching as students deepen practice of the form of life and community that has grown from God's work in Jesus Christ. In this text, valuable both for college and seminary students, Huebner selects a variety of 19th and 20th century ethicists for this kind of careful examination and inspiration."
—Gayle Gerber Koontz, Professor of Theology and Ethics, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary
Harry J. Huebner is Professor Emeritus of Theology and Philosophy at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the author of Echoes of the Word: Theological Ethics as Rhetorical Practice. He lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
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