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Love and Christian Ethics
![]() 408 pp., 7 x 10 Hardcover ISBN: 9781626163669 (1626163669) 408 pp., 7 x 10 Paperback ISBN: 9781626163676 (1626163677) eBook ISBN: 9781626163683 E-Inspection Request E-Inspection December 2016 LC: 2016004715 Moral Traditions series EXPLORE THIS TITLE DescriptionTable of Contents Reviews Contributors |
Love and Christian Ethics
Tradition, Theory, and Society
Frederick V. Simmons, Editor
With Brian C. Sorrells
At the heart of Christian ethics is the biblical commandment to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself. But what is the meaning of love? Scholars have wrestled with this question since the recording of the Christian gospels, and in recent decades teachers and students of Christian ethics have engaged in vigorous debates about appropriate interpretations and implications of this critical norm.
In Love and Christian Ethics, nearly two dozen leading experts analyze and assess the meaning of love from a wide range of perspectives. Chapters are organized into three areas: influential sources and exponents of Western Christian thought about the ethical significance of love, perennial theoretical questions attending that consideration, and the implications of Christian love for important social realities. Contributors bring a richness of thought and experience to deliver unprecedentedly broad and rigorous analysis of this central tenet of Christian ethics and faith. William Werpehowski provides an afterword on future trajectories for this research. Love and Christian Ethics is sure to become a benchmark resource in the field. Frederick V. Simmons is the J. Houston Witherspoon Fellow in Theology and the Natural Sciences at the Center of Theological Inquiry. Previously an assistant professor of ethics at Yale Divinity School, he has also taught at Amherst College, La Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, and La Universidad Politécnica Salesiana. Brian C. Sorrells has taught courses on Christian ethics, world religions, human rights, biomedical ethics, and sexual ethics at Yale Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School, Brown University, and Amherst College. David Cloutier, Kristin Heyer, and Andrea Vicini, SJ, Series Editors
Reviews
"will undoubtedly become a reference for anyone in North America who wants to engage in dialogue with significant scholars in the field of Christian ethics."—Touchstone "Thoughtful essays that invite readers to rethink some fairly settled positions in Christian love ethics . . . The volume is certainly a useful stimulant to thinking about Christian love and deserves attention."—Studies in Christian Ethics "It not only lives up to its ambitions but also makes such an immediate contribution to the field that it might serve as the standard text on this topic for the foreseeable future. . . . The volume will be a welcome addition to anyone's shelf."—Political Theology "Simmons and Sorrells have given us a superb collection in Christian theology and ethics. Love and Christian Ethics includes contributions by many of today's leading thinkers, and the essays are intelligently organized from reflections on Biblical texts to contemporary interreligious dialogues. This is a landmark volume for students and scholars that will be a standard reference for years to come."—Robin W. Lovin, Cary M. Maguire University Professor of Ethics Emeritus, Southern Methodist University, Center of Theological Inquiry "Amidst the wealth of reflection on Christian love spawned by Anders Nygren's provocative Agape and Eros, Gene Outka's Agape still stands out for its conceptual rigor and insight. Love and Christian Ethics, in weaving together new studies on love by a highly distinguished set of authors, ably furthers, and thereby honors, Outka's legacy."—Jennifer A. Herdt, Yale University Divinity School Table of Contents Introduction: A Conjunctive Approach to Christian Love Frederick V. Simmons Part I: Tradition 1. Interpreting the Love Commands in Social Context: Deuteronomy and Jesus's Sermon on the Mount Thomas W. Ogletree 2. Conceptions of Love, Greek and Christian Terence Irwin 3. "Repellent Text": The Transition from Wisdom to Ethics in Augustine's Confessions 10 Oliver O'Donovan 4. The Desire for Happiness and the Virtues of the Will: Resolving a Paradox in Aquinas's Thought Jean Porter 5. Kant on Practical and Pathological Love John Hare 6. Kierkegaard and Kant on the "Duty to Love" M. Jamie Ferreira Part II: Theory 7. The Problematic Love for God: "Love the Lord, All You Saints" (Psalm 31:23) Edward Collins Vacek 8. Empathy, Compassion, and Love of Neighbor John P. Reeder Jr. 9. Forgiveness in the Service of Love Margaret A. Farley 10. Agape as Self-Sacrifice: The Internalist View Edmund N. Santurri 11. Eudaimonism and Christian Love Frederick V. Simmons 12. Christian Love as Friendship: Engaging the Thomistic Tradition Stephen J. Pope 13. Evolution, Agape, and the Image of God: A Reply to Various Naturalists Timothy P. Jackson Part III: Society 14. Love, Justice, and Law: The Strange Case of Watts v. Watts M. Cathleen Kaveny 15. Global Health Justice: Love as Transformative Political Action Lisa Sowle Cahill 16. Love in the Vocation of Christian Sexual Ethics: A Theologico-Political Meditation Mark D. Jordan 17. Meditations on Love and Violence Emilie M. Townes 18. Loving Nature: Christian Environmental Ethics Holmes Rolston III 19. The Double Love Command and the Ethics of Religious Pluarlism Eric Gregory 20. Neighbor Love in the Jewish Tradition Ronald M. Green 21. Neighbor Love in Muslim Discourse John Kelsay Afterword William Werpehowski Contributors Lisa Sowle CahillMargaret A. FarleyM. Jamie FerreiraRonald M. GreenEric GregoryJohn HareTerence IrwinTimothy P. JacksonMark D. JordanM. Cathleen KavenyJohn KelsayOliver O'DonovanThomas W. OgletreeStephen J. PopeJean PorterJohn P. Reeder Jr.Holmes Rolston IIIEdmund N. SanturriFrederick V. SimmonsEmilie M. TownesEdward Collins VacekWilliam Werpehowski |