James M Gustafson S Theocentric Ethics

"Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective will surprise some, shock others, and unleash a flood of speculation about what has happened to James Gustafson. The answer quite simply is nothing has happened to Gustafson except that he has now turned his attention to developing his constructive theological position, and we should all be very glad. . . . In this, the first of two volumes, Gustafson displays his colors as a constructive theologian, and they are indeed brilliant and splendid. . . . Though Gustafson is a theologian who works in the Christian tradition, he reminds us that the God Christians worship is not merely the Christian God. For Gustafson the kind of God who is the object of the theologians's reflection eludes or surpasses the inevitably confessional activity of Christian theological reflection. Thus Gustafson, the constructive theologian, is also Gustafson the revisionist theologian who takes as his task nothing less than challenging the anthropocentrism that he alleges characterizes mainstream Western Christian theology."—Stanley Hauerwas, Journal of Religion

Gustafson's two-volume work has been hailed as a major contribution to Christian ethics. In this second volume, Gustafson considers marriage, suicide, and the allocation of resources in famine and in biomedical research to develop an ethical outlook in which divine purpose is the basis of moral activity. "Breadth and subtlety, wisdom and insight . . . Gustafson is a first-rate theologian."—Commonweal "The two-volume work, now complete, will be a benchmark for discussions of Christian ethics for years to come. With it Gustafson becomes one of the thinkers by whom others can, by agreement or divergence, define their own ethics."—Roger L. Shinn, Christianity and Crisis "Gustafson's theocentrism is an original and creative contribution to modern ethical discussion."—Douglas Sturm, Ethics

James M. Gustafson has been a leading and formative figure in the field of Christian ethics over the past fifty years. His many contributions to theological ethics have helped to define and shape ethical thinking by Christians who reflect on great moral issues. Gustafson's work must be dealt with by all students in this discipline, and his perceptive insights have given clarity and guidance to the process of moral discernment. The essays collected here are ones that have had a significant impact on discussions and debates over recent decades. 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.

In this work, originally published in 1968, the distinguished theologian James M. Gustafson asks the fundamental question, "What is the significance of Jesus Christ for the moral life?" His answer is in the form of an ethical map, showing the ways in which theological affirmations about Christ relate to moral life in the writings of a number of important Christian thinkers.