Christian Ethics Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

L'article est une invitation à se saisir tout à nouveau de la doctrine de la résurrection du corps dans notre enseignement biblique et notre pastorale. Partant du constat que la résurrection est bien souvent compris dans nos communautés... more

L'article est une invitation à se saisir tout à nouveau de la doctrine de la résurrection du corps dans notre enseignement biblique et notre pastorale. Partant du constat que la résurrection est bien souvent compris dans nos communautés comme une simple survivance de l'âme après la mort, Thomas Poëtte invite à une relecture des Ecritures quant à la sortie du tombeau du Seigneur d'abord, puis quant à notre propre résurrection. Fort de ces convictions bibliques renouvelées, l'auteur nous amène à saisir l'impact d'une telle doctrine pour l'accompagnement pastoral et l'éthique, avec illustration marquante : une erreur dans la destination entrée dans le GPS conduit nécessairement à prendre les mauvaises routes. Autrement dit, une espérance chrétienne confuse produit une éthique chrétienne confuse...

This was a research paper for a course entitled Feminist and Multicultural Theologies. I unpack what gender complementarianism is, examine its history, and compare it to how Scripture and earlier Christian Tradition understood gender.... more

This was a research paper for a course entitled Feminist and Multicultural Theologies. I unpack what gender complementarianism is, examine its history, and compare it to how Scripture and earlier Christian Tradition understood gender. This allows me to establish that gender complementarianism is a recent innovation in secular and Christian thinking about gender, and that it can be described as a "trajectory" from Scripture and Tradition on gender, influenced by social, ideological, and intellectual developments in secular societies. I then pursue a critique of gender complementarianism, arguing that it is an "unsatisfactory trajectory" because it has troubling implications for orthodox theology, is not borne out by empirical experience and observation, and has harmful effects on human beings and societies and on ethical development.

Kierkegaard faces an apparent dilemma. On the one hand, he concurs with the biblical injunction: we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. He takes this to imply that self-love and neighbor-love should be roughly symmetrical, similar in... more

Kierkegaard faces an apparent dilemma. On the one hand, he concurs with the biblical injunction: we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. He takes this to imply that self-love and neighbor-love should be roughly symmetrical, similar in kind as well as degree. On the other hand, he recommends relating to others and to ourselves in disparate ways. We should be lenient, charitable, and forgiving when interacting with neighbors; the opposite when dealing with ourselves. The goal of my paper is to solve this puzzle. I first consider addressing it by appealing to Gene Outka’s idea that equal love does not entail identical treatment. After rejecting this solution, I offer my own: Asymmetry between the two loves is not a moral ideal for Kierkegaard but a rehabilitative strategy. He recommends being more latitudinarian with others than with ourselves to correct against a common tendency toward the opposite extreme.

A thesis on what advertising would be like if it shaped desire in ways that helped us flourish: the original goal of ethics. Combines a creative analysis of advertisements through history with an investigation of the concept of 'the... more

A thesis on what advertising would be like if it shaped desire in ways that helped us flourish: the original goal of ethics. Combines a creative analysis of advertisements through history with an investigation of the concept of 'the education of desire' developed by Plato and St. Augustine.

This review of my text, THE BEATITUDE OF MERCY, by Gerard Hall, appeared in AEJT 18:1 (April 2011)

“Human beings do the actions, and the results come according to the law of nature – the Lord has nothing to do with it. So when people are in trouble, they say: “Oh God, what have You done to me? What put this into Your mind?” But the... more

“Human beings do the actions, and the results come according to the law of nature – the Lord has nothing to do with it. So when people are in trouble, they say: “Oh God, what have You done to me? What put this into Your mind?” But the fact is that Náráyańa, God, has done nothing, and had nothing in His mind. You have done something and are suffering the consequences. You are in trouble and you are crying out. Many people are like this. But Náráyańa has done nothing. As you have sown, so you now reap. This is the plain truth,” explains Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti. “So before doing anything you should think carefully, because the action is in your hand, but not the result – that is in the hand of Prakrti (God’s Cosmic Operative Principle – the law of nature). Náráyańa neither performs the action nor administers the results. He simply gives Prakrti the opportunity to work within Her own limited sphere; Prakrti does Her duty accordingly. She does not aim to satisfy either your mind or the mind of anyone else. She only aims to please the mind of Náráyańa. Whatever work Náráyańa has given Her the right to do, that is what She does. She has no right to do more than that.” Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti (1921-1990) was a Tantric guru in the tradition of Shiva and Krishna. He introduced the empowered universal spiritual mantra “Baba Nam Kevalam”, composed a collection of 5018 spiritual songs called Prabháta Saḿgiita, and founded the socio-spiritual movement Ananda Marga (“the Path of Bliss”). – Richard Gauthier, Department of Chemistry and Physics, Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, California, USA, August 6, 2021.

John Dury (1596-1680) grew up in England with connections to the heads of state, and was advised by an eminent chaplain that to reconcile the divisions of the protestant churches would be the greatest work of peacemaking (Matt 5:9) that... more

An analytical review of a key introductory text on the Christian contours of Kierkegaard's thought

This article submits that the confluence of language and power proliferate social strata and exacts violence on subaltern bodies in a punitive age of mass incarceration. I explore racialized social hierarchies in Judeo- Christian sacred... more

This article submits that the confluence of language and power proliferate social strata and exacts violence on subaltern bodies in a punitive age of mass incarceration. I explore racialized social hierarchies in Judeo- Christian sacred texts and its relationship to secular texts that mark subaltern bodies for punishment. I argue that hegemonic scriptural economies perpetuate discursive violence that is evident in the imperial use of jurisprudence to warehouse black bodies in a prison industrial complex. In response, proclamations of protest become the voice of victors to self-name, overcome silence and rewrite histories as authors of subaltern narratives of resistance.

Racism. Immigration. Gun violence. Sexuality. Health care. The number of ethical issues that demand a response from Christians today is almost dizzying. How can Christians navigate such matters? What are faithful responses to these... more

Racism. Immigration. Gun violence. Sexuality. Health care. The number of ethical issues that demand a response from Christians today is almost dizzying. How can Christians navigate such matters? What are faithful responses to these questions?

The Lutheran tradition places a pronounced emphasis on the universal aspects of theological ethics. The present article draws attention to particular aspects of the theological ethics of Martin Luther, which support the existence of a... more

The Lutheran tradition places a pronounced emphasis on the universal aspects of theological ethics. The present article draws attention to particular aspects of the theological ethics of Martin Luther, which support the existence of a Christian ethics in several meanings of this concept. It argues that a Christian ethics exists in the sense that it presupposes Christian faith, is only for Christians, is realized as a consequence of receiving the Christian faith, is shaped by the Christian faith, and leads to a distinct way of life. Moreover, it concludes that there exists a remarkable convergence between natural law and what is identified as a Christian ethics in the theology of Luther. But it is still possible to argue that, according to Luther, something special is demanded of Christians: They must be willing to endure suffering and persecution because of their Christian faith.

Introduction to August Adam's classic work of the same title.

Sustainability Ethics is a clarion call. This paper asserts an urgent appeal for people to go beyond words and act to help mitigate the environmental crisis. Spiritual persons are to produce spiritual households to resonate quality values... more

Sustainability Ethics is a clarion call. This paper asserts an urgent appeal for people to go beyond words and act to help mitigate the environmental crisis. Spiritual persons are to produce spiritual households to resonate quality values toward the human and nonhuman neighborhood. When goodness is brought about by households to the Natural World, morality emerges. Relationship, a key word of Sustainability Ethics, is established with the Creator, co-humans, creatures, and the children-yet-to-come. The lack, if not the absence, of relationship would lead Sustainability in peril. In return, the distortion of Sustainability lead people and other creatures to be unhealthy, if not their demise. The current pandemic called COVID19, for instance, is regarded as a fatal consequence of that distortion. Sustainability Ethics comes in to help mitigate the crisis. Sustainability is best understood when we learn from our Sustainability Teachers who, in their instincts, had Sustainability as their "way of life." Sustainability must be understood in its entirety, not just intellectually, but also spiritually, physically, and emotionally. The purpose of this paper is first, to clarify the holistic understanding of Sustainability. Second, to present the ethical value of relationship as the foundation of Sustainability Ethics. And third, to argue that spirituality is the cutting edge of Sustainability Ethics that can work together with both Indigenous and Western Science, the ethic of the household, and the virtue of frugality.

This paper examines Martin Luther's interpretation of love in the gospel of John. It is part of a series that explores the meaning of love in Luther for the Christian life. Here Luther speaks of some expressions f love that are not... more

This paper examines Martin Luther's interpretation of love in the gospel of John. It is part of a series that explores the meaning of love in Luther for the Christian life. Here Luther speaks of some expressions f love that are not prominent in some of his other writings. For example, he writes on love and friendship, on love for Christ and love as the eschatological reality. His understanding of love in this text does not fit into the sharp opposition of eros and agape that Anders Nygren used to interpret Luther.

This book takes a distinctive approach to the same-sex-union debate by framing the issue as a matter of marriage. Darrin Snyder Belousek demonstrates that the interpretation of Scripture affects whether the church should revise its... more

This book takes a distinctive approach to the same-sex-union debate by framing the issue as a matter of marriage. Darrin Snyder Belousek demonstrates that the interpretation of Scripture affects whether the church should revise its doctrine of marriage for the sake of sanctioning same-sex union. Engaging charitably yet critically with opposing viewpoints, he delves deeply into what marriage is, what it is for, and what it means as presented in the biblical narrative and theological tradition, articulating a biblical-traditional theology of marriage for the contemporary church. Afterword by Wesley Hill.

Arguments made for and against affirming same-sex marriage in Christian communities rely on typical moral background precon-ceptions about immanent and transcendent goods identified by Charles Taylor in A Secular Age. Arguments made only... more

Arguments made for and against affirming same-sex marriage in Christian communities rely on typical moral background precon-ceptions about immanent and transcendent goods identified by Charles Taylor in A Secular Age. Arguments made only in terms of marriage's immanent goods have the potential to diminish the plausibility of a uniquely Adventist way of imagining the transcen-dent good: apocalyptic consciousness focused on the imminent-immanent restoration of Eden by Jesus Christ following the second coming. Comparing marriage to divergent sets of Sabbath-keeping practices-those that provide benefits exclusive to this world and those that aim at goods beyond this world-foregrounds the availability of a moral background for Seventh-day Adventist ethics that is closed to transcendent goods. However, practices that entail giving up immanent goods for the transcendent good of Eden-restored can be authentically sustained through communal recognition. Advent-ism should develop such practices of recognition both to alleviate losses incurred by gay, lesbian, and bisexual Adventists who make sacrifices for traditional marriage as a transcendent good and to reinforce the fuller sense of meaning found in self-denial for the sake of the soon-coming Savior.

Am I doing good? My purpose in this essay is to explore whether a person may find ethical absolutes without reference to God. My premise is that we ultimately need a transcendent source of values. Keep in mind, I am not saying that... more

Am I doing good? My purpose in this essay is to explore whether a person may find ethical absolutes without reference to God. My premise is that we ultimately need a transcendent source of values. Keep in mind, I am not saying that only theists do good things. In fact, many theists do bad things and many non-theists, including atheists, do a lot of good in the world. My point is that we need some standard that tells us what are the good things being done and what are the bad things. My contention is that we need God to tell us when people, even atheists, are doing good things and when people, even theists, are doing bad things.

Review of Wong and Rae's Business for the Common Good

Research findings have been equivocal as to the existence of gender difference in leadership across settings. However, some studies based on transformational leadership theory and employing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to... more

Research findings have been equivocal as to the existence of gender difference in leadership across settings. However, some studies based on transformational leadership theory and employing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to measure leadership behaviors have indicated a difference in the leadership styles of female and male leaders. This study sought to test whether there were gender differences in the use of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership behaviors by Senior Pastors in an Australian Christian Church. The study did not detect any significant gender differences in leadership behaviors.

In this inspiring yet eruditely crafted vision of a Pentecostal public theology, Daniela Augustine delineates a theological ethic and practice of imaging God’s face for the “common good,” in manners robustly counter to contemporary... more

In this inspiring yet eruditely crafted vision of a Pentecostal public theology, Daniela Augustine delineates a theological ethic and practice of imaging God’s face for the “common good,” in manners robustly counter to contemporary de-humanizing violence against “ethnic, religious, political, cultural” human alterity (4, 11, 15). Coupled with her “Prologue” that biographically grounds the book’s major themes within her 2011-2012 field research in Eastern Slavonia (where much of the violent ethnic-religious rooted 1990s Balkan conflicts transpired, leading to the break-up of the former Yugoslavia), Augustine beautifully explicates this vision through four chapters and a concluding “Epilogue.”

A number of Christian theologians and philosophers have been critical of overly moralizing approaches to the doctrine of sin, but nearly all Christian thinkers maintain that moral fault is necessary or sufficient for sin to obtain. Call... more

A number of Christian theologians and philosophers have been critical of overly moralizing approaches to the doctrine of sin, but nearly all Christian thinkers maintain that moral fault is necessary or sufficient for sin to obtain. Call this the “Moral Consensus.” I begin by clarifying the relevance of impurities to the biblical cataloguing of sins. I then present four extensional problems for the Moral Consensus on sin, based on the biblical catalogue of sins: (1) moral over-demandingness, (2) agential unfairness, (3) moral repugnance, and (4) moral atrocity. Next, I survey several partial solutions to these problems, suggested by the recent philosophical literature. Then I evaluate two largely unexplored solutions: (a) genuine sin dilemmas and (b) defeasible sinfulness. I argue that (a) creates more problems than it solves and that, while (b) is well-motivated and solves or eases each of the above problems, (b) leaves many biblical ordinances about sin morally misleading, creating (5) a pedagogical problem of evil. I conclude by arguing that (5) places hefty explanatory burdens on those who would appeal to (b) to resolve the four extensional problems discussed in this paper. So Christian thinkers may need to consider a more radical separation of sin and moral fault.

‎“...Gelin, Tanrı'nın zatına dair bizi şimdiye kadar kördüğümün ötesine götürmemiş eski sorularımızı terk edelim. İnsana, ‎insanın görev ve sorumluluklarına dönelim. Zaten bu görev ve sorumluluklar, Tanrı'nın istediklerinden başka bir şey... more

‎“...Gelin, Tanrı'nın zatına dair bizi şimdiye kadar kördüğümün ötesine götürmemiş eski sorularımızı terk edelim. İnsana, ‎insanın görev ve sorumluluklarına dönelim. Zaten bu görev ve sorumluluklar, Tanrı'nın istediklerinden başka bir şey ‎değildir. Bırakalım, kim olmak istediğine, Tanrı kendisi karar versin! Bütün insanların öncelikle ilahi iradeyi yerine getirmede ‎birleşmesi mümkün, hatta gerekli değil midir?”‎
‎ “...Şimdi soruyoruz: Hıristiyan dünyası İslam dünyası ile bu rasyonel temele dayalı olarak iletişim kurma davetini kabul ‎edecek midir? Hıristiyanlar, Tanrı'nın iradesinin dünyada egemen olmasını sağlama uğruna, sürekli bir epoche içinde, ‎kendi dogmatik teolojisinin öğretilerini askıya almaya hazır mıdır? Müslümanların ahlak yasaları çerçevesinde evrensel bir ‎kardeşlik kurma çabasına karşılık vermeye istekli midir?”‎

In A Spirituality of Character Formation, Ribera presented four affirmations to frame the discussion about character education: 1) Character formation is the responsibility of the home, the church, and the state, 2) Character formation... more

In A Spirituality of Character Formation, Ribera presented four affirmations to frame the
discussion about character education: 1) Character formation is the responsibility of the home,
the church, and the state, 2) Character formation is a spiritual endeavor, 3) Character formation
addresses standards, motives, and ends, and 4) Character formation makes room for ambiguity,
tension, and paradox. In the course of the discussion Ribera interacted with several prominent
voices in the field of character education, namely Alfie Kohn, David Purpel, and Glenn Tinder.
In addition, Ribera made use of a triadic framework of prophet, priest, and king, and integrated
the ethical work of thinkers like: C. S. Lewis, Cornelius Van Til, and Louis P. Pojman.