Why are human embryos so important to many Christians? What does theology say concerning the moral status of these embryos? Answers to these questions can only be obtained by considering the manner in which Christian theology understands the great theme of the image of God. This book examines the most important aspects in which this image, and the related Christian notion of personhood, can be used in the context of theological arguments relating to the moral status of the human embryo. Thoughtful in approach and ecumenical in perspective, the author combines a thorough knowledge of the science of embryology with a broad knowledge of the theological implications.

This enlightening book steers readers through the challenges and moral issues, providing a clear and decisive history of the main figures and texts in Christian ethics.
A short and lively history of Christian ethics, exploring how Christianity has always had to grapple with complex moral problems - from questions about the status of early Christians who renounced their religion under Roman torture, through to current debates about euthanasia
Engages with the main texts and figures in Christian ethics, including Augustine, Benedict, Aquinas, Luther and Barth
Considers questions such as human will, the proper form of Christian life, natural law, and whether human nature is at odds with Christian ethics
Concludes with a thought-provoking chapter considering the role that Christian ethics can play in contemporary moral debates and ethical dilemmas

Struggling in the Life of Celibacy? Finding It Hard to Fight Sexual Temptation?

Not Tonight helps to guide you through your journey of Celibacy, Sexual Addictions, and Temptation.
Giving you biblical insight, dating tips, and instruction to help you remain pure in your walk. Not Tonight deals with sexual frustrations and how to have victory over them. How to date the right way without compromising your beliefs. The dangers of sexual activities such as pornography & sexual addictions. Scriptures of Encouragement. Questions from Single Ladies on how to deal with pressure from relationships and peer pressure. How to guard your heart & mind from the sexual influence of the world & media. .....and much more
This is a much needed eye opener to any Adult, Young Adult and Teen who is single, dating, or in a relationship.

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

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.

Reason, Revelation, and Devotion argues that immersion in religious reading traditions and their associated spiritual practices significantly shapes our emotions, desires, intuitions, and volitional commitments; these in turn affect our construction and assessments of arguments for religious conclusions. But far from distorting the reasoning process, these emotions and volitional and cognitive dispositions can be essential for sound reasoning on religious and other value-laden subject matters. And so western philosophy must rethink its traditional antagonism toward rhetoric. The book concludes with discussions of the implications of the earlier chapters for the relation between reason and revelation, and for the role that the concept of mystery should play in philosophy in general, and in the philosophy of religion and philosophical theology in particular.

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.

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.

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?

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.

A leading biblical scholar places charity back at the heart of the Judeo-Christian tradition, arguing for its biblical roots It has long been acknowledged that Jews and Christians distinguished themselves through charity to the poor. Though ancient Greeks and Romans were also generous, they funded theaters and baths rather than poorhouses and orphanages. How might we explain this difference? In this significant reappraisal of charity in the biblical tradition, Gary Anderson argues that the poor constituted the privileged place where Jews and Christians met God. Though concerns for social justice were not unknown to early Jews and Christians, the poor achieved the importance they did primarily because they were thought to be "living altars," a place to make a sacrifice, a loan to God that he, as the ultimate guarantor, could be trusted to repay in turn. Contrary to the assertions of Reformation and modern critiques, belief in a heavenly treasury was not just about self-interest. Sifting through biblical and postbiblical texts, Anderson shows how charity affirms the goodness of the created order; the world was created through charity and therefore rewards it.