The Promise of Lutheran Ethics

by Bloomquist, Karen L.

• ISBN13: 9780800631321
• ISBN10: 0800631323
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: Lightning Source Inc

Summary

Is there a distinctive Lutheran ethical stance? What does this deep and robust religious tradition have to say to today's dilemmas in personal and social life, business, and public policy? Here ten Lutheran ethicists explore Lutheran emphases, themes, and approaches to offer their account of Lutheran ethics as a way of life in today's world. Writing in dialogue, they raise foundational concerns of biblical and theological sources and norms, of Christian freedom and responsibility, of call and social witness, of justice and formation in prayer. Then in a lively "Table Talk" the participants discuss and debate the traditions insights and oversights and show how it might illumine today's burning ethical issues, especially homosexuality.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
1. Introduction	1	(10)
A Tradition of Christian Ethics	1	(4)
John R. Stumme
In Today's Context	5	(6)
Karen L. Bloomquist
2. Lutheran Ethics: Perennial Themes and Contemporary Challenges	11	(20)
Robert Benne
Introduction	11	(1)
The Christian's Calling in the World	12	(5)
The Church's Calling in Public Life	17	(10)
Contemporary Challenges	27	(4)
3. The Twofold Center of Lutheran Ethics: Christian Freedom and God's Commandments	31	(24)
Reinbard Hutter
Introduction	31	(2)
The Modern Theological Impoverishment of Protestant Ethics	33	(5)
Three Twentieth-Century Movements in Protestant Ethics: Overcoming the Protestant Fallacy by Deconstructing the Modern Concept of Ethics	38	(2)
Christian Freedom and God's Commandment: Remembering Luther's Theology of Christian Freedom	40	(4)
Christian Freedom: On the Path of God's Commandments	44	(4)
God's Commandments and the "Natural Law"	48	(4)
Law and Gospel--or Redeemed Life "Already and Not Yet"	52	(1)
The End	53	(2)
4. Practicing Christians: Prayer as Formation	55	(20)
Martha Ellen Stortz
Introduction	55	(1)
Practices of "Practicing Christians"	55	(3)
Formation	58	(4)
Practices of Formation: Luther's Three-Legged Stool	62	(1)
Luther on Individual Prayer: Instruction on a Practice	63	(5)
Contours of the Christian Life: Composing a Way of Life	68	(1)
Prayer and Action	69	(6)
5. African American Lutheran Ethical Action: The Will to Build	75	(22)
Richard J. Perry Jr.
History and Social Location	76	(1)
Elements of Ethical Action	77	(2)
The African American Ethical Tradition	79	(4)
African American Lutheran Ethical Action	83	(7)
A Lutheran Response to Racism	90	(2)
Implications for a Contemporary Lutheran Ethic	92	(4)
Conclusion	96	(1)
6. Ethics and the Promise of God: Moral Authority and the Church's Witness	97	(18)
James M. Childs Jr.
Ethical Witness and the Vocation of the Church	98	(6)
By What Authority and by What Criteria?	104	(4)
Facing Our Conflicts: Courage and Confidence in Decision and Action	108	(6)
In Conclusion	114	(1)
7. Pauline Ethics: Congregations as Communities of Moral Deliberation	115	(16)
David Fredrickson
Introduction	115	(1)
Free Speech and the Letter/Spirit Distinction in 2 Corinthians 3	116	(4)
Moral Action Means Extending Freedom: Philippians 1:27--2:18	120	(4)
Bearing Difference to the World: Romans 12-15	124	(4)
Paul and Lutheran Ethics	128	(3)
8. The Reform Dynamic: Addressing New Issues in Uncertain Times	131	(20)
Larry Rasmussen
Cynthia Moe-Lobeda
Where We Are, Perhaps	131	(1)
What the Tradition Offers, Perhaps	132	(2)
Some Theological-Ethical Resources, Perhaps	134	(14)
Conclusion, Perhaps	148	(3)
9. A Table Talk on Lutheran Ethics	151	(25)
Our Social Location Makes a Difference	151	(3)
The Distinctiveness of Lutheran Ethics	154	(4)
On Retrieving, Teaching, and Critiquing a Tradition	158	(3)
The Role of Scripture in Lutheran Ethics	161	(3)
In Addition to Scripture	164	(4)
Continuing Deliberations Regarding Homosexuality	168	(5)
The Church as a Community of Moral Deliberation	173	(3)
Abbreviations	176	(1)
Notes	177	(31)
Bibliography of Lutheran Ethics	208	(33)
Index	241