Reflecting the Divine Image: Christian Ethics in Wesleyan Perspective

by Dunning, H. R.

• ISBN13: 9781592443765
• ISBN10: 1592443761
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-10-01
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Publishers

Summary

John Wesley strived for a theology--a theology both written and lived--that delicately balanced sanctification and justification. He hoped to uphold both faith alone and holy living. Sadly, says theologian H. Ray Dunning, many of Wesley's followers have not maintained that balance. Some have tended toward legalism, some toward a preoccupation with personal holiness, and others toward social activism with little theological grounding.Dunning believes Wesleyanism possesses the resources to help all Christians reflect the divine image, and to do so holistically, in all aspects of life. His book incisively examines issues of ethical methodology and then shows how an ethic based on the Imago Dei shapes our relation to God, to one another and to the earth.This introduction to and overview of ethics will enlighten and benefit Christians in all traditions, not despite but especially because it is written in the true Wesleyan tradition--passionate, profoundly faithful and plainspoken.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 7
Factors That Affect Moral Seriousness	p. 11
The Need for a Theological Ethic	p. 17
Important Concepts for Ethical Reflection	p. 27
Image of God: Destiny and Disaster	p. 41
Salvation as Restoration	p. 55
Christian Ethics: For the People of God	p. 63
The Image as Relation to God	p. 77
The Image as Relation to Others	p. 85
The Church as Context for Christian Ethics	p. 97
The Image as Relation to the Earth	p. 109
The Image as Relation to Self	p. 115
The Church and Ethical Action	p. 123
Creation Ethics and the Image of God	p. 129
Notes	p. 139
Bibliography	p. 149
Subject and Person Index	p. 153
Scripture Index	p. 155
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