About the Book
"A comprehensive one-stop manual on what it means to live Christianly."
Peter Enns, author of The Bible Tells Me So
What does it mean to be a Christian in today's turbulent world? After every disillusionment and debate, what convictions survive? Dr. David P. Gushee is an influential voice in American religious life as an ethicist, pastor, and activist. He's advocated on issues ranging from torture and climate change to truth in politics and LGBTQ inclusion. He co-authored the pivotal Kingdom Ethics, a Jesus-based ethics textbook, and has written numerous books and hundreds of opinion pieces on what Christianity has to say about how we should live. Now, in this ambitious new book, Gushee sums up his many years of teaching and experience to provide a definitive, comprehensive vision of the Christian moral life.
With twenty-five easy-to-digest chapters, plus audio and video versions that readers can access from links in each chapter, Introducing Christian Ethics offers readers a way to understand how to situate moral reasoning not only in scripture, but also in tradition and human reasoning. It offers a focus on Jesus and the disinherited, and a nuanced rethinking of the kingdom of God and its meaning for Christian ethics. Drawing on Gushee's own work and life story but also a richly diverse set of sources, it covers general principles like virtues, truthfulness, love, and justice. And it discusses issues like creation, patriarchy, white supremacy, abortion, sexuality, marriage, politics, crime, and more.
This new book is groundbreaking in its breadth. Written for seminary students, educators, pastors, small groups, and Christians everywhere, this is the first time in his long publishing career that Gushee has offered both audio and video versions along with each copy of the book. The multimedia elements were recorded at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, where Gushee is the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics. The book also includes a complete discussion guide with questions conveniently organized by chapter.
Early reviewers around the world are describing Introducing Christian Ethics as an inspiring guide to finding core Christian convictions in a post-evangelical world.
"Gushee has distilled a lifetime of learning, thinking, and teaching Christian ethics in universities, seminaries, churches, and other settings into a comprehensive yet very readable book," writes Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, Professor of Systematic Theology at Saint Louis University, in the book's Foreword. "Drawing on his own extraordinary journey as a practicing Christian and professional ethicist who has engaged all the major moral dilemmas confronting the Christian faith in the postmodern world, Introducing Christian Ethics serves as both a practical manual for how one ought to live the Christian life and an encyclopedic introduction to the academic discipline of Christian ethics. Throughout the text Gushee's considerable genius manages to interject a pastoral focus without sacrificing intellectual rigor, explore contemporary challenges to Christian faith without disregarding the vast resources of the Christian tradition, and give preference to marginalized and silenced voices ... without losing sight of the fact that Jesus's good news of liberation extends to both the oppressed and their oppressors."
About the Author :
Dr. David P. Gushee (Ph.D., Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Senior Research Fellow at International Baptist Theological Study Centre. Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics, signaling his role as one of America's leading Christian ethicists. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of over 25 books and approximately 175 book chapters, journal articles, and reviews. His most recognized works include Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Kingdom Ethics, and The Sacredness of Human Life, and more recently, Changing Our Mind, Still Christian and After Evangelicalism. Over a 28-year career, he's been a devoted teacher, scholar, and activist on such issues as climate, torture, and LGBTQ inclusion. Dr. Gushee and his wife Jeanie live in Atlanta. You can connect with him and subscribe to his newsletter at davidpgushee.com or follow @dpgushee on social media.
Review :
"A masterpiece! One of our best Christian ethicists synthesizes a lifetime of careful reflection in this superb survey of Christian ethics. A must read."
Ronald J. Sider, founder of Evangelicals for Social Action
"David Gushee not only has outdone himself, but also has raised the bar for the field of Christian social ethics. Introducing Christian Ethics is a standard bearer that should serve as required reading for all core courses in theological ethics, a reflective guide for every scholar in the field, and a path forward for thinking people of faith who are searching for ultimate meaning."
Stacey Floyd-Thomas, Associate Professor of Ethics and Society, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
"Introducing Christian Ethics is an inspiring take on Christian life and thought, by an ecumenical scholar with a biblical vision and a passion for justice. Readers will appreciate David Gushee's broad and deep theological knowledge and his acute exploration of social and political challenges."
Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan, S.J. Professor of Theology, Boston College
"Gushee has distilled a lifetime of learning, thinking, and teaching Christian ethics...into a comprehensive yet very readable book...Introducing Christian Ethics serves as both a practical manual for how one ought to live the Christian life and an encyclopedic introduction to the academic discipline of Christian ethics."
Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, Saint Louis University
"Introducing Christian Ethics is not just a new book, but an urgent prophetic and pastoral call to the American churches right now! It is a must read for anyone at the intersection of faith and public life."
Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners
"This is the book on Christian ethics that many of us have been waiting for. This is a book...for those who are willing to learn, to be challenged about long-held views and assumptions, and to have their vision enlarged as to what it means to follow Jesus in the world today."
Reverend Tony Peck, General Secretary, European Baptist Federation, 2004-2021
