This dictionary breaks new ground by combining articles on Christian ethics and pastoral theology in one volume. It seeks to integrate moral, pastoral and practical theology in a way not attempted before in a single work of reference. Instead of the usual A-Z listing throughout, it is arranged in two parts. Part One consists of eighteen extended articles, arranged in theological order, introducing users to the main themes of Christian ethics and pastoral theology. Part Two contains articles, alphabetically arranged, which stem from the main themes. An easy-to-use reference system enables quick transition from the first to the second part and vice versa. Articles address a wide range of topics: reproductive technologies and transplant surgery, health and health care; issues of economic and social justice; prison and prison reform; psychotherapy and family therapy; business ethics and data protection; as well as such traditional subjects as atonement, the kingdom of God, suffering, death and dying, and heaven and hell. This dictionary will therefore appeal to many groups: pastors, counsellors, medical practitioners, people employed in the caring services, Christians in professional or commercial life, and indeed to all who want to live out their faith meaningfully and ethically in today's complex and challenging world. Its spacious layout, superb design and clear print make this volume a delight to use, and its carefully drawn-up bibliographies will help readers to deepen their knowledge of particular subject.

With over 60,000 copies in print since its original publication in 1984, 'Ethics' has served numerous generations of students as a classic introduction to philosophical ethics from a Christian perspective. Over the years the philosophical landscape has changed somewhat, and in this new edition Arthur Holmes adjusts the argument and information throughout, completely rewriting the earlier chapter on virtue ethics and adding a new chapter on the moral agent. The book addresses the questions: What is good? What is right? How can we know? In doing so it also surveys a variety of approaches to ethics, including cultural relativism, emotivism, ethical egoism and utilitarianism - all with an acknowledgment of the new postmodern environment.

With over 60,000 copies in print since its original publication in 1984, Ethics has served numerous generations of students as a classic introduction to philosophical ethics from a Christian perspective. Over the years the philosophical landscape has changed somewhat, and in this second edition Arthur Holmes adjusts the argument and information throughout, completely rewriting the original chapter on virtue ethics and adding a new chapter on the moral agent. Holmes addresses the questions: What is good? What is right? How can we know? In doing so he also surveys a variety of approaches to ethics, including cultural relativism, emotivism, ethical egoism and utilitarianism--all with an acknowledgment of the new postmodern environment.

The Christian academic tradition has long played a major role in Western intellectual history. Over the last one hundred years, however, we have witnessed the progressive secularization of higher education. In this volume Arthur Holmes shows precisely what in the Christian tradition of learning has now been lost and explains what we should know about this tradition as a condition of practical wisdom for the present.

Holmes focuses on seven formative episodes in history that pertain to building and maintaining a strong Christian academy today. His fascinating treatment is set within the history of ideas -- the early church in pagan culture, Augustine's formative influence on monastery and cathedral schools, the rise and decline of scholasticism, Renaissance humanism's contribution to the Protestant Reformation, the utilitarian view of education that accompanied the scientific revolution, and struggles with Enlightenment secularization -- and incorporates the educational thought of Plato and Socrates, Clement and Origen, Abelard and Hugh of St. Victor, Aquinas and Bonaventure, Erasmus and the Reformers, Francis Bacon and John Milton, and John Henry Newman.

For each historical period considered, Holmes asks what problems educators faced and what major concerns guided educational thought and practice. He identifies four recurring emphases at the heart of the Christian academy: the care of the soul, the unity of truth, contemplative (or doxological) learning, and the usefulness of liberal arts as preparation for service to both church and society. This book, then, is about the philosophy of higher education and the outworking of these four emphases in key historical contexts. In theconcluding chapter Holmes discusses the Christian academy in the twentieth century and affirms the need to reclaim for our day the four traditional emphases and the theological foundations of learning.

Philosopher Arthur F. Holmes surveys the historical ways of grounding moral values objectively in the nature of reality, pausing along the way to consider such major landmarks in Western thought as Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Ockham, the Reformers, Kant, Hegel, and Nietzsche. Holmes is not convinced that we live in a value-free universe, that fact and value are ultimately unrelated, or that we have to create all our own values rather than discovering the good. He explores the fact-value connection in the larger context of metaphysical and theological views. What emerges is a pervasive-and convincing-link between religious and moral beliefs.

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. The teaching of ethics and the transmission of values once performed an integrative function in the Christian college curriculum; however, they have gradually become relegated to a subspecialty status within the philosophy or religion department. Arguing that ethics is everybody's business, Arthur Holmes presents in this book a concise survey of moral education -- its goals and methods -- in the Christian college. Arising out of a three-year Christian College Consortium project, Shaping Character reflects the insights of a rich variety of experts, writers, and faculty members. Holmes first orients his readers to the present ethical climate, to theological dimensions and distinctive in ethics, and to moral development theory. He then poses three overall objectives of ethics education -- forming the conscience, making moral decisions, and developing character -- and fleshes out each objective with particular goals. Throughout the book Holmes makes suggestions about the role of faculty and staff, paying special attention to teaching methods and noting the context and dynamics of college life in general. The final chapter summarizes how the Bible functions in ethics. Shaping Character is meant for all Christian college teachers, professors, and administrators concerned about student values and the moral condition of our society. The book will serve as a valuable and practical guide for teaching ethics in every department.

Just war, pacifism, weapons of mass destruction, war on terror, preemptive war. These phrases highlight recent world events that have brought questions about the morality of war into sharp relief. Instead of advocating a particular approach to war, War and Christian Ethics offers a variety of Christian perspectives, enabling readers to make up their own minds about what they believe.
This collection of primary source materials contains texts from many influential classic and contemporary writers that are crucial to the development of Christian thought on war. From Plato to Augustine, Thomas Aquinas to Martin Luther, Reinhold Niebuhr to Paul Ramsey, the book covers a broad range of writers. The second edition includes new selections from Rowan Williams, George Weigel, and Duane Friesen.