Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life: A New Conversation PDF
Preview Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life: A New Conversation
Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life A New Conversation BRUCE C. BIRCH, JACQUELINE E. LAPSLEY, CYNTHIA MOE-LOBEDA, AND LARRY L. RASMUSSEN FORTRESS PRESS MINNEAPOLIS BIBLE AND ETHICS IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE A New Conversation Copyright © 2018 Fortress Press. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Email [email protected] or write to Permissions, Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209. Cover image: Thinkstock / Abstract grunge of cityscape by Grandfailure Cover design: Lauren Williamson Print ISBN: 978-0-8006-9761-7 eBook ISBN: 978-1-4514-3854-3 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences — Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z329.48-1984. Manufactured in the U.S.A. Contents Figures vii Preface ix Introduction: A New Conversation xiii PartI.The Bible as Moral Witness 1. A Two-Part Consensus 3 2. Foundations of the Biblical Text in 13 Community Witness 3. Biblical Authority 39 4. Interpreting the Biblical Witness 61 PartII.Elements of the Moral Life 5. What Are Morality, Ethics, and 91 Christian Ethics? 6. Moral Formation 109 7. Moral Discernment and Action 151 PartIII.The Bible, Ethics, and the Moral Life 8. Witness and Practice 201 9. The Church and the Moral Life 227 10. Summary and Challenge 257 Bibliography 269 Name and Subject Index 283 Scripture Index 293 Figures Figure 5.1 Circle of human moral responsibility Figure 5.2 Circle of planetary moral responsibility Preface This volume has a history. In the early 1970s, Bruce Birch and Larry Rasmussen decided to teach a seminary class together on the Bible andethics atWesleyTheological Seminary. Initially, theywerecon- vinced that the processes used by Christians to discern the meaning and significance of the Bible for their lives and the processes Chris- tians used for moral discernment and decision-making had many similarities andoften overlapped orexercised mutual influence inthe Christian life. Theyalsoagreed,asapersonaldisciplinerelatedtothecourse,that they would try to write something for publication out of their work together. They imagined something like a journal article. However, in the actual preparation of the class, and somewhat to their surprise, they could find very few published resources to use for course read- ingortoplaceonthebibliographyofthesyllabus.Althoughethicists used biblical materials and Bible scholars sometimes drew implica- tionsfromtheirexegesisforcontemporarymoralissues,onlyahand- ful of scholars had systematically looked at the methodological issues of relationship between Scripture and ethics, either historically or in the contemporary life of the church. Instead of a journal article, they ended up writing a book entitled BibleandEthicsintheChristianLife(Augsburg,1976).Inthatvolume, they profiled in a single chapter the only six scholars who had pub- lished works systematically exploring the methodological issues of relationship between the Bible and Christian ethics. They ended up emphasizing the importance of the Bible for ethics both in charac- terformation(being,identity)andindecision-making/action(doing, conduct). This means that the Bible is significant not just as a source
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