Here Niebuhr probes the fundamental character of the moral life. He finds the key in the concept of responsibility, which implies not only the freedom and flexibility of responsiveness to others but also a guiding ideal of unlimited concern that goes beyond vague norms and narrow codes.

The book is based on lectures delivered by Niebuhr at Glasgow University. James M. Gustafson, who was Niebuhr's colleague at Yale Divinity School, provides a brilliant...

Offering a host of classic and new essays surveying the scholarly ethical and biblical debate surrounding the Ten Commandments, William Brown organizes his volume into three parts: the history of interpretation, contemporary reflections on the Decalogue as a whole, and contemporary reflections on individual commandments. A useful addition to ethics as well as Old Testament and Hebrew Bible courses, Brown's The Ten Commandments will be a standard reference for all Decalogue research, as it facilitates a helpful balance between moral, theological, and biblical study.

The Library...

Walter Rauschenbusch was the primary architect of the Social Gospel, a movement that responded to the changing social and industrial conditions in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this book, he presents his path-breaking and prophetic interpretation of Jesus and the kingdom and his understanding of troubling conditions that call the church to faithful witness and to work toward meaningful political and economic reforms.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a...

Reinhold Niebuhr is renowned for his unflinching honesty concerning issues of social ethics, specifically, love and justice. Humans, Niebuhr says, are incapable of perfect love. Therefore, their struggle against evil and injustice is doomed to only relative victory, although they strive to live in the ideal world. Niebuhr's concern with this paradox gave rise to numerous writings over the years in which he explored the many angles, subtleties, heights, and depths of the problems of humanity and society. Now sixty-four of these important pieces are compiled in a single volume, providing...

This anthology by Christian ethicists and ecclesial groups is concerned with the justice of war in the twentieth century. Included are writings from Pope Pius XII, the Niebuhrs, the Calhoun Commission, John Ford, Elizabeth Anscombe, Paul Ramsey, Ralph Potter, the U.S. Catholic bishops, and the U.S. Methodist bishops. These authors, whose ideas reflect diverse trends in Roman Catholic and Protestant ethics, have sought to sharpen our moral literacy about the ethics of war and address ethical issues relevant to modern warfare--obliteration bombing, selective conscientious objection, and...

A comprehensive work in the field of Christian ethics, Basic Christian Ethics remains, more than fifty years after its original publication, an engaging and important work.

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 in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

This rare volume provides a concise statement of the major ideas of one of the greatest Protestant thinkers of the twentieth century, Karl Barth. Divided into three parts, it presents Barth's lecture, "The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life." This work emphasizes Barth's focus on the Trinitarian character of God's self-revelation. Barth insists there is no way to get behind or beyond the fact that God is revealed to us in three distinct ways, yet with a unity that cannot be divided. He claims that we can finally look only to God's self-disclosure as the reliable basis for Christian...

This reissue of a classic work of H. Richard Niebuhr, one of the most influential and creative theological ethicists of the twentieth century, highlights his mature thinking. By using path-breaking interpretations of faith as a basic dimension of human life and culture as an arena of faith in conflict, Niebuhr encourages further thought. This volume should be required reading for anyone interested in recent perspectives on theology and ethics.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important...

This volume considers the task of changing society's assumptions about women, analyses ways to challenge our culture's tradition, and explores ways in which we can live together in the modern world. A variety of issues, from reproduction to war, are discussed from an array of perspectives, including womanist and ecofeminist. The book is ideal for feminist theology and feminist ethics classes, and is sure to become an instant classic.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and...

John Courtney Murray is renowned for his contributions to American ethical debates and well known for his defense of civil religious freedom. He strongly felt that religion should be taught in public schools and universities. Murray had a decisive influence on juridical, political, and social theories. This intriguing volume includes, in addition to two of Murray's most important statements on religious freedom, two essays newly made available to the reading public. This fascinating collection will help readers look back at past struggles over religious liberty and forward to dilemmas...