Christian Ethics as Witness: Barth's Ethics for a World at Risk - Softcover

Haddorff, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0227173740 ISBN 13: 9780227173749

Publisher: James Clarke / Cascade Books, 2011

Synopsis

Christian ethics is less a system of principles, rules, or even virtues, and more of a free and open-ended responsible witness to God's gracious action to be with and for others and the world. Postmodernity has left us with the risky uncertainty of knowing and doing the good. It also leaves us with the global risks of political violence and terrorism, economic globalization and financial crisis, and environmental destruction and global climate change. How should Christians respond to these problems? Haddorf creatively explores how Christian ethics is best understood as a witness to God's action, bringing together two of his interests, Christian social ethics and social theory, and the theology and ethics of Karl Barth. Although demanding and sometimes uncertain after postmodern changes, christian ethics enable humankind to remain God's witnesses of love and care for the future, even in a world at risk.

About this title

About the Author

About the Author: David Haddorff is Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics at St. John's University, New York. His previous works include Dependence and Freedom: The Moral Thought of Horace Bushnell and a lengthy introduction on Barth's political theology in the reprint of State, Community, and Church.

Review

...I finally put this book down with a sense of satisfaction and gratitude. It makes serious demands on the reader and is, in every sense, a big project. Ambitious in its scope, wide-ranging in its concerns, unashamedly intellectual yet also pastoral in its concern to integrate theology, ethics and witness in a distinctive and hopeful way in tumultuous times. [...] ... Professor Haddorff has done a fine job here in not only introducing us to the fertile landscape of Barth's ethics but also alerting us to the inconvenient truth that in a world at risk, Christian witness is neither pure not simple... (Rod Garner Reviews in Religion & Theology, Volume 20, Issue 2, March 2013)

"...The volume of material covered in this book is substantial, covering a vast range of sources and commentators and engaging in a huge variety of conversations and controversies. That Haddorff is able to attempt this task, let alone accomplish it with both competent assurance and creative flair, is deeply impressive...[...] What Haddorff's work has achieved is to advance the kind of constructive reception of and advance upon Barth's ethics which will undoubtedly sustain further interest in the topic in the seasons ahead. His work is both unceasingly realistic and relentlessly hopeful, and is a welcome addition to the field..." (Paul T. Nimmo Studies in Christian Ethics, Vol. 26(2), May 2013)

Edition details

• Publisher: James Clarke / Cascade Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0227173740
• ISBN 13: 9780227173749
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 494