Thirteen experts here explore the relationship between the Mosaic law and early Christian ethics, examining early Christian appropriation of the Torah and looking at ways in which the law continued to serve as an ethical reference point for Christ-believers - regardless of whether they thought Torah observance was essential or not. These noteworthy essays compare differences in interpretation and application of the law between Christians and non-Christian Jews, investigate ways in which Torah-inspired ethical practices helped Christ-believing communities articulate their distinct identities and social responsibilities, and look at how presentations of the law in early Christian literature might inform contemporary Christian social and ethical practices. Posing a unified set of questions to a diverse range of texts, Torah Ethics and Early Christian Identity will stimulate new thinking about a complex phenomenon commonly overlooked by scholars and church leaders alike.

In Commonwealth and Covenant Marcia Pally argues that in order to deal with current socioeconomic problems, we need not economic formulas but rather a better understanding of who we are, where we've come from, and how we interact with one another in our shared world. Pally describes the basic setup of human society as "separability-amid-situatedness" or "distinction-amid-relation." Though we are all unique individuals, we are also inextricably interconnected with the people and environments around us. Pally argues that our culture's overemphasis on "separability" - our individualism run amok - results in corporate greed, adversarial and deceitful political discourse, resource grabbing, broken relationships, and a host of other social ills. Arguing that separability and situatedness can and must be brought into greater balance, Pally draws upon intellectual history, philosophy, and - especially - historic Jewish and Christian theologies of relationality to construct a new framework for addressing our most serious economic and political problems. ADVANCE PRAISE "In her previous writing Marcia Pally has demonstrated keen insight into the American religious situation. In this well-crafted and highly readable book Pally takes a central principle in the American spiritual heritage -the covenant - and relates it with impressive skill to the psychological and political dimensions of our lives. This book advances the discussion in many ways and should not be missed" -- Harvey Cox, Harvard University

Rebirth and the Stream of Life explores the diversity as well as the ethical and religious significance of rebirth beliefs, focusing especially on Hindu and Buddhist traditions but also discussing indigenous religions and ancient Greek thought. Utilizing resources from religious studies, anthropology and theology, an expanded conception of philosophy of religion is exemplified, which takes seriously lived experience rather than treating religious beliefs in isolation from their place in believers' lives. Drawing upon his expertise in interdisciplinary working and Wittgenstein-influenced approaches, Mikel Burley examines several interrelated phenomena, including purported past-life memories, the relationship between metaphysics and ethics, efforts to 'demythologize' rebirth, and moral critiques of the doctrine of karma. This range of topics, with rebirth as a unifying theme, makes the book of value to anyone interested in philosophy, the study of religions, and what it means to believe that we undergo multiple lives.

Traditionally, Catholic moral theology has been based upon an approach that over-emphasized the role of normative ethics and subsequently associated moral responsibility with following or disobeying moral rules. Reframing Catholic Theological Ethics offers an alternative ethical method which, without destroying any of the valuable insights of normative ethics, reorients the discipline to consider human motivation and intention before investigating behavioural options for realizing one's end. Evidence from the New Testament warrants the formation of a teleological method for theological ethics which is further elaborated in the approach taken by Thomas Aquinas. Unfortunately, the insights of the latter were misinterpreted at the time of the counter-reformation. Joseph A. Selling's analysis of moral theological textbooks demonstrates the entrenchment of a normative method aimed at identifying sins in service to the practice of sacramental confession. With a firm basis in the teaching of Vatican II, the 'human person integrally and adequately considered' provides the fundamental criterion for approaching ethical issues in the contemporary world. The perspective then turns to the crucial question of describing the ends or goals of ethical living by providing a fresh approach to the concept of virtue. Selling concludes with suggestions about how to combine normative ethics with this alternative method in theological ethics that begins with the actual, ethical orientation of the human person toward virtuous living.

Church leaders and scholars have long wrestled with what should provide a guiding vision for Christian engagement in culture and politics. In this book Thomas Bushlack argues that a retrieval of Thomas Aquinas's understanding of civic virtue provides important resources for guiding this engagement today. Bushlack suggests that Aquinas's vision of the pilgrim church provides a fitting model for seeking the earthly common good of the political community, and he notes the features of a Thomistic account of justice and civic virtue that remain particularly salient for the twenty-first century. The book concludes with suggestions for cultivating a Christian rhetoric of the common good as an alternative to the predominant forms of discourse fostered within the culture wars that have been so divisive.

Prior to the late nineteenth century, classical Christianity developed no social ethics. Rather, it concerned itself with self-purification. Christians needed only to be `in a state of grace', unsullied and ready for the return of Christ. Muslims, in contrast, have always attempted to Islamicize the world. Today, many Christians and activist post-Christians are moving in that same direction. For them Christianity no longer entails a private practice of self-purification, but instead represents an ethical decision to struggle patiently and lovingly towards a new `reality' in this life. In Creative Faith, Don Cupitt argues that Christians need to replace a heaven-obsessed theology with a new theology of moral striving. No longer should they aim to conserve the self, preparing for eternity: they must simply expend it, by living generously.

Beginning with the story of his own daughter's coming out, Michael B. Regele uses current scientific findings and earnest scriptural inquiry to answer tough questions about same-sex love and Christianity. What does science and the Bible say about homosexuality? Regele offers thoughtful insight to tough questions like: Is sexual orientation a choice that individuals make? Is same sex attraction sinful in itself? Is it true that lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are more promiscuous than heterosexual people? Is it true that same-sex relationships do not last as long as hetero-sex relationships? Is abstinence for life the only choice for a Christian LGBT person? Or can they enter into intimate and sexual relationships and still be active participants in a Christian community? Is same-sex marriage acceptable from a Christian standpoint?

Don Cupitt's concern is not so much the science of global warming as it is the absence of a serious ethical and religious response to it. When all existing "reality" breaks down, ethics can no longer be based on nature or religious law. Cupitt advocates for an alternative inspired by the historical Jesus.

Just as it is impossible to understand the American religious landscape without some familiarity with evangelicalism, one cannot grasp the shape of contemporary Christian ethics without knowing the contributions of evangelical Protestants. This newest addition to the Library of Theological Ethics series begins by examining the core dynamic with which all evangelical ethics grapples: belief in an authoritative, inspired, and unchanging biblical text on the one hand, and engagement with a rapidly evolving and increasingly post-Christian culture on the other. It explores the different roles that scholars and popular figures have played in forming evangelicals' understandings of Christian ethics. And it draws together the contributions of both senior and emerging figures in painting a portrait of this diverse, vibrant, and challenging theological and ethical tradition. This book represents the breadth of evangelical ethical voices, demonstrating that evangelical ethics involves nuance and theological insight that far transcend any political agenda. Contributors include David P. Gushee, Carl F. H. Henry, Jennifer McBride, Stephen Charles Mott, William E. Pannell, John Perkins, Soong-Chan Rah, Gabriel Salguero, Francis Schaeffer, Ron Sider, Helene Slessarev-Jamir, Glen H. Stassen, Eldin Villafane, Allen Verhey, Jim Wallis, Nicholas Wolterstorff, and John Howard Yoder. The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important, and otherwise unavailable, texts-English-language texts and translations that have fallen out of print, new translations, and collections of significant statements about problems and themes of special importance-in an easily accessible form. This series enables sustained dialogue on new and classic works in the field.

In this thoughtful study, respected Old Testament scholar Patricia K. Tull explores the Scriptures for guidance on today's ecological crisis. Tull looks to the Bible for what it can tell us about our relationships, not just to the earth itself, but also to plant and animal life, to each other, to descendants who will inherit the planet from us, and to our Creator. She offers candid discussions on many current ecological problems that humans contribute to, such as the overuse of energy resources like gas and electricity, consumerism, food production systems--including land use and factory farming--and toxic waste. Each chapter concludes with discussion questions and a practical exercise, making it ideal for both group and individual study. This important book provides a biblical basis for thinking about our world differently and prompts us to consider changing our own actions. Visit inhabitingeden.org for links to additional resources and information.

How do Ghanaian Pentecostals resolve the contradictions of their own faith while remaining faithful to their religious identity? Bringing together the anthropology of Christianity and the anthropology of ethics, Girish Daswani's Looking Back, Moving Forward investigates the compromises with the past that members of Ghana's Church of Pentecost make in order to remain committed Christians. Even as church members embrace the break with the past that comes from being "born-again," many are less concerned with the boundaries of Christian practice than with interpersonal questions - the continuity of suffering after conversion, the causes of unhealthy relationships, the changes brought about by migration - and how to deal with them. By paying ethnographic attention to the embodied practices, interpersonal relationships, and moments of self-reflection in the lives of members of the Church of Pentecost in Ghana and amongst the Ghanaian diaspora in London, Looking Back, Moving Forward explores ethical practice as it emerges out of the questions that church members and other Ghanaian Pentecostals ask themselves.

This Is A New Release Of The Original 1905 Edition.

Founding father Thomas Jefferson believed that "religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God," but these days many people seem to have forgotten this ideal. Conservatives claim America is a "Christian nation" and urge that laws be structured around religious convictions. Hardcore atheists, meanwhile, seek to undermine and attack religion at all levels. Surely there must be a middle ground.
In "How to Be Secular," Jacques Berlinerblau issues a call to the moderates--those who are tired of the belligerence on the fringes--that we return to America's long tradition of secularism, which seeks to protect both freedom from and for religion. He looks at the roots of secularism and examines how it should be bolstered and strengthened so that Americans of all stripes can live together peacefully.
"Jacques Berlinerblau mounts a careful, judicious, and compelling argument that America needs more secularists . . . The author's argument merits a wide hearing and will change the way we think and talk about religious freedom." --Randall Balmer, author of "Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts Faith and Threatens America"