I have a friend who is looking for academic books on Christian ethics. He is looking for books that with ethical theory rather than applied ethics. Each book ought to be the best defense of a particular author or view. I thought some people here might have some good suggestions.

__________________
Scott Roper
Member, Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA): "A bunch of hippie Calvinists"
Winston-Salem, NC

The Doctirne Of The Christian Life by John Frame is online, and covers various ethical systems.
(ie. teleological, deontological, relativism, etc . ..)


http://www.monergism.com/thethreshol...ic/ethics.html

[Edited on 1-12-2006 by Saiph]

__________________
Misery induces despair, pride induces presumption. The Incarnation shows man the
greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he required.
~ Pascal, Pensees 526

I don't know if this book would qualify under academic, but as a representative book and at least somewhat theoretical, you might suggest R.L. Dabney, The Practical Philosophy

__________________
Rev. Bruce G. Buchanan
ChainOLakes Presbyterian Church, CentralLake, MI


When posting friends, kindly bear those words of earthly wisdom in mind:
Oh, that God the gift would give us
To see ourselves as others see us.
--Robert Burns, 1786 (modernized) ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions? --

Essays on Ethics and Politics by Gordon Clark.

__________________
Jeff Bartel
Mechanical Engineer
Member - Trinity Reformed Church - RPCNA

"To believe in the power of man in the work of regeneration is the great heresy of Rome, and from that error has come the ruin of the Church. Conversion proceeds from the grace of God alone, and the system which ascribes it partly to man and partly to God is worse than Pelagianism" (The Reformation in England (London, 1962), Vol. 1, p. 98)

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Carl Henry has one of the best books covering various ethical theories and another good one on social ethics
Christian Personal Ethics
Aspects of Social Ethics
books at abebooks.com

Of course I would differ at a few points here and there but these are good overviews.

Ditto to the John Frame book as well as his syllabus online.

__________________
Chris Rhoades -33
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church (PCA) Nashville, TN-Under Care

Vera theologia non theoretica, sed practica est; Finis siquidem eius agere est hoc est vitam vivere deiformem. - Martin Bucer
""True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is to live a godly life."

Theonomy in Christian Ethics by Greg Bahnsen

__________________
Tom Albrecht
Member, Covenant URCNA, New Holland, PA.

"I'm not a famous man. I'm just a simple country doctor with horse sense."

And for the record the book is titled Theonomy in Christian Ethics, not Theonomy is Christian Ethics. God's law deals with the normative aspect. There still needs to be wisdom as to applying God's law to the situation as well as with a pure heart in love for the glory of God(the situational and personal aspects of ethics).

Bahnsen addresses these other aspects briefly in his book and has taught courses on them as well.
(Tom, this was a general post and not directed at you...)

I would also check out Bahnsen's By This Standard as an easier intro to the above.

Also gotta recommend John Murray's Principles of Conduct as a standard Reformed treatment on ethics.

*scratches head*

I am shocked, Chris Rhoades did not recommend this.

__________________
--chRis
Psalm 115:1

Christopher Reeder
Husband to Kara, Father to Abigail (7), Caleb (6), Grace (4 1/2), Zoë (3), Elijah (1 1/2) and Hannah (born 8/8/2008)

Member: Pilgrim Presbyterian Church (OPC), Raleigh, NC

Never mind...


(I must have had the reply screen open for a long time before I actually submitted my reply and thus missed crhodes reply)

Try and throw a curve ball once and a while and...

Just trying to keep a balance and all. One of the cries of the reformation wasn't solus theonomus ya know? Bahnsen read and interacted widely with Murray and Henry as well as dozens of others. I'm afraid that too often theonomists don't read past Rushdoony, North, and Bahnsen and get rather ingrown and fiesty. The three names I just mentioned each had libraries that would make any of us drool.

Also,

John Jefferson Davis - Evangelical Ethics
J. Douma - Responsible Conduct: Principles of Christian Ethics
David Jones - Biblical Christian Ethics

If I had to pick in order it would be:
Henry
Murray
Bahnsen
Davis
Douma
Jones

and I would definitely pick up the top three.

I wouldn't look to Bahnsen's work for a good overall book on Christian ethics.

Did you even read Chris's post? Bahnsen had no intention of "a good overall" approach. It is theonomy in Christian ethics. It deals with the normativity of God's law (which everyone must deal with). You are critiquing it for not doing what it had no intention of doing.

I would recommend John Jefferson Davis's book. He uses much of Bahnsen's arguments against homosexuality, showing that in a Chrisitan society where real justice reigns, even though homosexuality would be a crime, homosexuals would have more judicial rights than Americans do today (due process of law, trial by jury, etc.).

Davis also masterfully defends the citizen's right to take up arms against a bloodthirsty, tyrannical magistrate. He defends, if you will, the Reformation teaching of imposition of lesser magistrates.

__________________
J. B. Atken
John Knox PCA
Layman, M.A. student at Louisiana College

There are too many gauntlets available to be thrown down on this message board. Firstly, yes, I read Chris's post. Secondly, I know Bahnsen had no intention of "a good overall" approach. Thirdly, I know the title of the book. Fourthly, I know what the book deals with, as I have read it. Fifthly, I am not critiquing the book for not being "a good overall" book on Christian ethics, I'm simply stating the fact (that I'm sure the late Greg Ph.D. would agree with) that the book is not helpful at all if the kind of book you are looking for (as the original poster of this thread asked) is "a good overall" book on Christian ethics. That isn't a critique, it is a fact. If you had asked me what I meant by my post, you could have found out my intentions without assuming them and criticizing what you thought I said.

Had you said all of the above beforehand I would not have jumped the gun. At best it seemed redundant to Chris's statement. At worse it seemed like "yet another reason why Bahnsen is wrong." My apologies for the misunderstanding.

Dabney has a chapter on Refutation Of Sensualistic Ethics in his other philosophy book, in print from Naphtali Press, The Sensualistic Philosophy of the 19th century Considered. Other chapters are: Positivism, Evolution Theory, Physiological Materialism, Spirituality Of The Mind, Evolution Theory Materialistic, And Therefore False, Validity Of À-Priori Notions, Origin Of À-Priori Notions, Philosophy And The Supernatural, The Evolution Of Human Souls
Dabney considered this book and Practical Philosophy to be his best works.

__________________
Chris Coldwell, Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Member
• Naphtali Press: Presbyterian & Reformed Books
• The Confessional Presbyterian Journal
• The Blue Banner Archive

The Regulative Principle: Samuel Miller gives a succinct statement of this principle when he writes that since the Scriptures are the “only infallible rule of faith and practice, no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of God, which is not warranted in Scripture, either by direct precept or example, or by good and sufficient inference.”

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions? Joining PB's Politics & Government Forum

While I haven't finished Dabney's book, this line is my favorite (each sentence is jam-packed with meaning):

p.394, Sprinkle Publishers, [reprint] 1984.

The man was prophetic, wasn't he?

Here's a Dabney snippet from Sensualistic Philosophy. Speaking of Evolution and Materialism, Dabney professes the following: Centuries hence, if man shall continue in his present state so long, when these groveling theories of unbelief shall have been assigned to that limbus where polytheism, alchemy, and judicial astrology lie contemned, Christianity will be still subduing the nations and blessing the world with its beneficent sway. The Sensualistic Philosophy of the 19th century Considered (NP, 2002) 143.

Rock on, Dabney!

Ok. Here's one more. Dabney was writing early still against evolution and may have been too optimistic in 1875 about the short life evolution might have had as serious science. But this quote is great (remember circa 1875):
[quote]
5. Rational objections have been now presented, which entirely break the force of any plausible appearances, and place the evolution theory out of the pale of science. The most that can be claimed for it is, that it is an ingenious fancy. The mind properly imbued with the humble and cautious methods of inductive science would be led to this conclusion by the contents of these writings themselves. Suppositions have to be added to suppositions, in order to arrive at their conclusions. Asserted probabilities are quietly exchanged into assumed certainties. Propositions introduced as conditional, are, after a little, made absolute without right. Many a "œmay be"� is transmuted into a "œmust be."� But, were all these yawning chasms closed up, the utmost which could be made of the evolution hypothesis would be, that it contained a curious possibility. Ibid. 141

When I was digging up that quote I saw where Dabney talks about political ethics. Now I am really interested. Volume four of his Discussions is superb on this issue.

"the book is not helpful at all if the kind of book you are looking for (as the original poster of this thread asked) is 'a good overall' book on Christian ethics."

Actually I asked that "each book ought to be the best defense of a particular author or view." So if you think that theonomy is a major viewpoint in Christian ethics (even if you don't agree with theonomy), then what is the most important book by a proponent of that view?

My friend is putting together a syllabus for a class on Christian ethics. I believe it is 200 level. He is limiting the scope to 20th and 21st century writers. However, he is taking the term Christian to be broad, so the views need not be Reformed.

Resurrection and Moral Order by Oliver O'Donovan

__________________
Fredrick T. Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

I was thinking, while not a book, this should whet your appetite. I am going through Course in Personal Holiness right now (it is an introduction to ethical reasoning).

Personal Holiness: Importance of Personal Ethics -- 1 of 19
Pitfalls in Moral Reasoning -- 2 of 19
What is Ethics? -- 3 of 19
Descriptive Ethics, Normative Ethics, Metaethics -- 4 of 19
Criteria for Good Works -- 5 of 19
Interdependence of Three Ethical Perspectives -- 6 of 19
Dispositional Ethics--Existentialism -- 7 of 19
Moral Responsibility -- 8 of 19
Moral Values--Cardinal Values -- 9 of 19
What is Holiness? -- 10 of 19
Definitive and Progressive Sanctification -- 11 of 19
The Goal, Agency and Means of Sanctification -- 12 of 19
God's and Man's Role in Sanctification -- 13 of 19
Aberrant Views: Rome, Plymouth Brethren, Perfectionism -- 14 of 1
Aberrant Views: Victorious Life and Keswick -- 15 of
Ethical Epistemology -- 16 of 19
Ethical Decision-Making -- 17 of 19
Conscience and Emotions in Sanctification -- 18 of 19
Motivations to Holiness -- 19 of 19