Servais Pinckaers, O.P., is one of the preeminent Catholic moral theologians of his generation. His highly acclaimed works, among them The Sources of Christian Ethics, offer a thoroughly Thomistic and contemporary vision of the Christian moral life. They reflect the philosophical and spiritual prowess of a moral theologian who is estranged neither from philosophical ethics nor from dogmatic theology, neither from Scripture nor from spirituality.
The first collection of its kind available in any language, this volume features the twenty most significant essays written by Pinckaers since his highly praised Sources. The essays offer profound reflections that are only possible by a contemporary moral theologian who knows the thought of Aquinas from lifelong study. Rather than taking a simply historical approach to Aquinas, Pinckaers seeks the basis of the intelligibility of the moral life, providing rich spiritual and theological insights along the way. He plumbs the depths of fundamental moral theology in these essays, where he treats Thomistic method and the renewal of moral theology, beatitude and Christian anthropology, moral agency, and passions and virtues, as well as law and grace. Such a detailed treatment of key issues in fundamental moral theology and Christian philosophical anthropology will certainly demand attention from every theologian and advanced student interested in Aquinas and in a virtue approach to Christian ethics.
Pinckaers's work has been an important source for the revival of interest in virtue-oriented moral theology in recent years and will continue to be a major source for debates over the place of Scripture and the Holy Spirit in moraltheology.
John Berkman is Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Area Director of Moral Theology/Ethics at The Catholic University of America. Craig Steven Titus is Research Fellow and Lecturer in the Department of Ethics and Moral Theology at the University of Fribourg and Visiting Professor at the Institute for the Psychological Sciences. The essays are translated by Sr. Mary Thomas Noble, O.P., Craig Steven Titus, Michael Sherwin, O.P., and Hugh Connelly.

"Stanley Hauerwas is "the" theological ethicist of our times. Those who disagree with him need to know why they do and those who agree, as do I, need his splendid case made clear. This reader, the best of his work, is the way for either sort to come to terms with this American master."--James W. McClendon, Jr., Distinguished Scholar in Residence, Fuller Theological Seminary
"If you don't know Hauerwas yet, this fine collection is the way to begin, along with its wonderful introductions and guides to Hauerwas's work. If you do know him, well, then, you already know that each reading and re-reading will bring surprises. And blessings."--Peter Ochs, Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia
"It would be hard to overestimate the value of Stanley Hauerwas's contributions to theological conversation and religious life in today's world. Alternately brilliant and exasperating, his work is indispensable in helping us find our way in a dark time. This wonderful reader is the best introduction to Hauerwas currently available."--Robert N. Bellah, coauthor of "Habits of the Heart"

"Texans and Christians are troublesome. At odds with enlightened liberal cosmopolitan pretensions, they embrace particularity. One cannot deduce either Texas or Christianity from reason or from human nature. Hauerwas as a Texan Christian has for three decades reminded us forcefully of the importance of taking the troublesome particularity of Christianity seriously. These essays provoke, engage, and instruct. They are a superb selection from the work of one of the most important theologians of our time. Everyone, whether Christian or non-Christian, believer or atheist, should readthese essays; they are key to understanding the religious, moral, and metaphysical struggles of our age."--H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Ph.D., M.D., Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine
"Stanley Hauerwas challenges, informs, provokes, and inspires anyone who reflects seriously on faith and life. "The Hauerwas Reader" is an invitation to accompany one of today's most provocative and creative thinkers on a transforming theological journey beyond our comfortable idolatries."--Bishop Kenneth L. Carder, Mississippi Episcopal Area, The United Methodist Church

"For decades now Stanley Hauerwas has been the most eloquent voice proclaiming the morality of particularism and the immorality of universalism. In a liberal culture that voice is heard as both alien and unreasonable, accusations Hauerwas no doubt cherishes."--Stanley Fish, author of "The Trouble with Principle
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"This one-volume Hauerwas reader provides us with a rounded view of one of the greatest theological minds, who is equally one of the greatest ecclesial forces, of the postmodern era."--John Milbank
"Stanley Hauerwas is an unparalleled force for courage and generative thinking across the spectrum of Christian thought. Sometimes he heals and energizes, sometimes he (deliberately) infuriates. Always he claims attention and redefines the theological task. For his allies as well as his adversaries, the publication of his papers is a welcome resource. It makes available much that is needed for continuing work. Hauerwas draws us into the contemporary theological emergency and points us in fresh ways through it."--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"Covering a range of ethical concerns fromhealthcare to warfare, these essays show again how Stanley Hauerwas brings together Evangelical and Catholic foundations for an ethics based on faith. The articles ring true, which is to say they speak first of Christ and only then of life in Him."--Francis Cardinal George, Archbishop of Chicago
"Stanley Hauerwas is the most prolific and provocative theological ethicist writing in the U.S. I dissent strongly from many, perhaps most, of his conclusions. His arguments and scholarship often strike me as unsound. It is not easy to know whether he is raising or lowering the standards of debate over the ethical significance of Christian commitments. But Hauerwas is too important to be ignored. This volume puts a representative sample of his most interesting and challenging writings between the covers of a single book. The next time I teach my introductory course on Christian ethics, it will be required reading."--Jeffrey Stout, Princeton University
"For many years Stanley Hauerwas has been lobbing peaceable bombs into the moral theologians' playground, awakening them from their undogmatic slumbers to the importance of truthful action. The best of these bombs are here, in a wonderful arsenal of Hauerwas's essays. Beware! Hauerwas is always challenging, provocative, illuminating, exasperating, disturbing, and fresh."--Duncan Forrester, New College, The University of Edinburgh
""The Hauerwas Reader" is of specific importance for the ethical discourses in the European context. Hauerwas forcefully presents a church-oriented social ethics in ways that help to rediscover the critical impact of a forgotten tradition on mainstream protestant ethics. Because of his innovative theologicalrevision of the moral issues in the ethical discourse of our present time, the serious engagement of Hauerwas's work is a "must" for European ethicists."--Hans G. Ulrich, Institut fur Systematische Theologie, University Erlangen-Nuernberg
"The God met through the Jewish and Christian scriptures is always good but rarely safe. No other living theologian--and not many throughout history--has grasped that truth more excitingly than Stanley Hauerwas. This invaluable guide will help varied readers see the Christian tradition through Hauerwas's eyes and discover it is a treasure chest spiked with political, social, and spiritual dynamite."--Rodney Clapp, author of "Border Crossings" and "A Peculiar People
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"If Kierkegaard knew Hauerwas, he would have seen that it is possible, after all, for one person to be a close friend of Jesus and of Socrates' at the same time. On behalf of all of us in the Abrahamite traditions, Hauerwas cracks open modern society's lazy moral speech and lets us see, lying neglected inside it, God's commanding word. In this way, he helps clear a space in contemporary America for Jews, and I trust Muslims, as well as Christians to narrate their stories of what God wants of us. If you don't know Hauerwas yet, this fine collection is the way to begin, along with its wonderful introductions and guides to Hauerwas' work. If you do know him, well, then, you already know that each reading and re-reading will bring surprises. And blessings."--Peter Ochs, Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia
"This book might be called 'The Essential Hauerwas, ' in both meanings of the term: It captures the gist of the person and enterprise, and understanding Hauerwas is necessary to understanding theological ethics in our time. Nobody writing today offers a more bracing mix of piquancy, outrageousness, erudition, and intellectual intensity in proposing that we get serious about being Christians."--(The Rev.) Richard John Neuhaus, Editor-in-chief," First Things
""The editors have made a happy and extensive selection from the mercurial essayist-theologian, which allows us to come to grips with his thought on a broad front. Stanley Hauerwas could not and would not accommodate himself to the ponderous demands of a Systematic Ethics; but if we think that we can see here a possible shape for that impossible book, it is a measure of how closely the editors have come to their author and discerned the ordered structures of his apparently disorderly mind. If somebody asks you why this man has been important to the moral thinking of a generation, thrust this collection at him. Then he will understand."--The Reverend Oliver O'Donovan, Canon of Christ Church
"This collection is obviously a labor of love. Fortunately, it is also a labor of editorial care and precision. In addition to first-rate introductory material, the writings of a master provocateur are gathered here in a fresh, synthetic format. Re-reading these essays was humbling."--Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, University of Chicago

The best contemporary English-language resource on pursuing a universal ethics In this volume twenty-three major scholars comment on and critically evaluate In Search of a Universal Ethic, the 2009 document written by the International Theological Commission (ITC) of the Catholic Church. That historic document represents an official Church contribution both to a more adequate understanding of a universal ethic and to Catholicism's own tradition of reflection on natural law. The essays in this book reflect the ITC document's complementary emphases of dialogue across traditions (universal ethic) and reflection on broadly applicable ethical guidance within the Christian tradition (natural law). Among other things, the document situates the natural law ethical tradition within the larger search for a universal ethic. Along with its insightful essays, Searching for a Universal Ethic offers -- for the first time in published form -- the Vatican's official English translation of In Search of a Universal Ethic.Contributors: John BerkmanSerge-Thomas Bonino, O.P.David Burrell, C.S.C.Lisa Sowle CahillJoseph E. CapizziDavid CloutierAnver M. EmonRobert P. GeorgeSherif GirgisJennifer A. HerdtRussell HittingerM. Cathleen KavenyAnthony J. Kelly, C.Ss.R.Fergus Kerr, O.P.Steven A. LongWilliam C. Mattison IIIGilbert MeilaenderLivio MelinaMichael S. NorthcottDavid NovakJean PorterMartin RhonheimerTracey Rowland