Ethics After Easter
By (author) Stephen Holmgren
Publication date:
25 March 2000Length of book:
208 pagesPublisher
Cowley PublicationsISBN-13: 9781561011766
In this volume of The New Church's Teaching Series, Stephen Holmgren introduces us to the world of Anglican ethics and moral theology. He focuses on questions all people of faith must ask: How will I keep my baptismal promises? How am I meant to live “after Easter?”
In developing a distinctively Anglican approach to ethics, with its emphasis on holiness, sanctification, and the need for spiritual disciplines, Holmgren identifies clear axioms for Anglican moral theology and the ethos required for moral decision-making on the part of individuals and church bodies. He explains why ethical reflection is not the same as church governance, and why the institution cannot “make” its moral theology.
Holmgren also discusses the role of conscience and reason, the work of moral discernment, the difference between moral knowledge and saving knowledge, the meaning of natural law, and the high value Anglicans place on consensus. The final chapter provides a methodology for building a moral case in Christian ethics, specifically on Christian involvement with war and violence.
As with each book in The New Church's Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.
In developing a distinctively Anglican approach to ethics, with its emphasis on holiness, sanctification, and the need for spiritual disciplines, Holmgren identifies clear axioms for Anglican moral theology and the ethos required for moral decision-making on the part of individuals and church bodies. He explains why ethical reflection is not the same as church governance, and why the institution cannot “make” its moral theology.
Holmgren also discusses the role of conscience and reason, the work of moral discernment, the difference between moral knowledge and saving knowledge, the meaning of natural law, and the high value Anglicans place on consensus. The final chapter provides a methodology for building a moral case in Christian ethics, specifically on Christian involvement with war and violence.
As with each book in The New Church's Teaching Series, recommended resources for further reading and questions for discussion are included.
The eight chapters in this book begin with ‘The Walk from the Font' and end with ‘Building a Case in Christian Ethics.' In between the reader is systematically lead through the logic of how we, as followers of Christ, can faithfully respond to our desire to fully live out our Baptismal Covenant. Serious stuff, but so well presented that I could barely put the book down.