Christian ethics, writes theologian D. Stephen Long, is the pursuit of God's goodness by people …
I love the Very Short Introduction series and this year I want to read more of them. In grad school I had an opportunity to take two courses in theological ethics and I have since had an interest in Ethics more generally and religious ethics more particularly. Looking forward to brushing up a bit and learning more in 2025!
I wasn't going to respond but I'll bite - and I will probably regret it - but here we go. I'm taking your comment as mostly tongue-in-cheek but with a bit of an edge.
There is a very rich vein of thought from Christian ethics and theology that has had a big impact on how we think in the modern Western world. For example, the idea of an individual having inherent dignity of the person in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is inspired in large part from the concept of the Imago Dei in Judaism and Christianity.
I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book but it is interesting to see how Christianity tried to merge ethical thinking from the ancient Greek world (natural law and virtue ethics) and Judeo-Christian approaches (rules for a particular people situated in a social context). It would be stupid …
I wasn't going to respond but I'll bite - and I will probably regret it - but here we go. I'm taking your comment as mostly tongue-in-cheek but with a bit of an edge.
There is a very rich vein of thought from Christian ethics and theology that has had a big impact on how we think in the modern Western world. For example, the idea of an individual having inherent dignity of the person in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is inspired in large part from the concept of the Imago Dei in Judaism and Christianity.
I'm only about a quarter of the way through the book but it is interesting to see how Christianity tried to merge ethical thinking from the ancient Greek world (natural law and virtue ethics) and Judeo-Christian approaches (rules for a particular people situated in a social context). It would be stupid of us to close ourselves off from various strands of thought because of a very loud subsection of that community. Strands of thought that have a hidden impact on contemporary Western culture, society, and ethics.
Truth be told it is not possible to talk about "Christianity" in the singular but rather it should be talked about as "Christianities." All religions are very wide tents and contain a multitude of different approaches and theologies. It is the same in secular ideologies.
1. Simplification: The book, like your response, oversimplifies complex theological debates, sacrificing depth for brevity. 2. Eurocentrism: It focuses too heavily on Western Christian traditions 3. Lack of Critique: The text insufficiently critiques Judeo-Christianity's role in perpetuating historical injustices, such as colonialism and systemic oppression. 4. Overgeneralization: By attempting to encapsulate diverse traditions, the book portrays Christian ethics as monolithic.
