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Is there a special relation between religious beliefs and moral behavior? In particular, is there a distinctive Christian moral character and how is this manifested in moral actions? The influential theologian James M. Gustafson probes these questions and offers an analysis of the distinctively religious reasons of the "heart and mind" which constitute the basis for a Christian ethics. Professor Gustafson grounds his discussion in a concrete example of moral conduct which deeply impressed him. The incident--narrated in detail at the start and referred to throughout--concerns a nonreligious colleague who came to the aid of an intoxicated soldier. Although seemingly trivial, this incident, in the author's view, approximates the normal sorts of experiences in which individuals have to make moral decisions every day; it becomes a touchstone to investigate the logical, social, and religious elements in moral decision making.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface
• 1 Moral Dimensions of Experience
• 2 The ""Sort of Person"" One Is
• 3 Christian Faith and the ""Sort of Person"" One Becomes
• 4 Christian Faith and the Reasons of Mind and Heart for Being Moral
• 5 Theological Interpretation of the Significance of Circumstances
• 6 Religious Beliefs and the Determination of Conduct
• 7 Can Ethics Be Christian? Some
• Conclusions
• Notes
• Index

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

James M. Gustafson grew up in what he has called "an immigrant sectarian community" in Michigan. He served in Burma and India during World War II and received a B.S. from Northwestern University (1948), a B.D. from the University of Chicago (1951), and a Ph.D. from Yale University (1955). After serving as a pastor of a Congregational church, he taught at Yale from 1955 to 1972 and at the University of Chicago Divinity School from 1972 to 1987. Since then he has been Henry R. Luce Professor of Humanities and Comparative Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

In his work, Ethics from a Theocentric Perspectiv (1981), Gustafson expresses his belief that the leitmotif of a theocentric ethics is that "we are to conduct life so as to relate all things in a manner appropriate to their relations to God." While his theological critics have argued that he pays more attention to philosophy, science, and experience than to Christian tradition, his philosophical critics might find that his religiosity escapes the standard criticisms of religious thought, for Gustafson takes modern science very seriously.

(Bowker Author Biography)