Although the two great commandments to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves are central to Christianity, few theologians or spiritual writers have undertaken an extensive account of the meaning and forms of these loves. Most accounts, in fact, make love of God and love of self either impossible or immoral. Integrating these two commandments, Edward Vacek, SJ, develops an original account of love as the theological foundation for Christian ethics. Vacek criticizes common understandings of agape, eros, and philia, examining the arguments of Aquinas, Nygren, Outka, Rahner, Scheler, and other theologians and philosophers. He defines love as an emotional, affirmative participation in the beloved's real and ideal goodness, and he extends this definition to the love between God and self. Vacek proposes that the heart of Christian moral life is loving cooperation with God in a mutually perfecting friendship.

At the heart of Christian ethics is the biblical commandment to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself. But what is the meaning of love? Scholars have wrestled with this question since the recording of the Christian gospels, and in recent decades teachers and students of Christian ethics have engaged in vigorous debates about appropriate interpretations and implications of this critical norm. In Love and Christian Ethics, nearly two dozen leading experts analyze and assess the meaning of love from a wide range of perspectives. Chapters are organized into three areas: influential sources and exponents of Western Christian thought about the ethical significance of love, perennial theoretical questions attending that consideration, and the implications of Christian love for important social realities. Contributors bring a richness of thought and experience to deliver unprecedentedly broad and rigorous analysis of this central tenet of Christian ethics and faith. William Werpehowski provides an afterword on future trajectories for this research. Love and Christian Ethics is sure to become a benchmark resource in the field.

Winner of the 2008 Grawemeyer Award in Religion This long-awaited book by one of American Christianity's foremost ethicists proposes a framework for sexual ethics whereby justice is the criterion for all loving, including love that is related to sexual activity and relationships. It begins with historical and cross-cultural explorations, then addresses the large questions of embodiment, gender, and sexuality, and finally delineates the justice framework for sexual ethics. Though Just Love's particular focus is Christian sexual ethics, Farley's framework is broad enough to have relevance for multiple traditions. Also covered are specific issues in sexual ethics, including same-sex relationships, marriage and family, divorce and second marriage.

This well-researched and accessible book explores the experience of unrequited love in light of the biblical witness to God's love for humanity.

An introduction to ethics that will help Christians rediscover a moral reasoning rooted in Scripture and navigate the ethical crises of our time. How should Christians live? How should we interact with one another? Why do we think the way we do about right and wrong? How should we approach today's complex moral questions? Keith Stanglin realigns our ethical thinking around the central question: What does real love require? applying it to our ethical reasoning on many of the social issues present in today's culture: abortion sexual ethics consumerism technology race and politics Moral evaluation must be based on more than our subjective feelings or the received wisdom or majority opinion of our community. But thinking objectively and reasonably about our ethical commitments is a process that's rarely taught in contemporary education or even in churches. Ethics Beyond Rules is a clear and accessible introduction for thoughtful Christians who want to lead moral lives—who want to define their moral code by firm biblical standards while acknowledging the complex nature of the issues at hand. Stanglin's love-based framework for moral decision-making engages Scripture and the historic Christian faith, giving Christians the tools to clear-mindedly consider the ethical problems of today and the foundation to confront new issues in the years to come.

At the heart of Christian ethics is the biblical commandment to love God and to love one's neighbor as oneself. But what is the meaning of love? Scholars have wrestled with this question since the recording of the Christian gospels, and in recent decades teachers and students of Christian ethics have engaged in vigorous debates about appropriate interpretations and implications of this critical norm. In Love and Christian Ethics, nearly two dozen leading experts analyze and assess the meaning of love from a wide range of perspectives. Chapters are organized into three areas: influential sources and exponents of Western Christian thought about the ethical significance of love, perennial theoretical questions attending that consideration, and the implications of Christian love for important social realities. Contributors bring a richness of thought and experience to deliver unprecedentedly broad and rigorous analysis of this central tenet of Christian ethics and faith. William Werpehowski provides an afterword on future trajectories for this research. Love and Christian Ethics is sure to become a benchmark resource in the field.

**Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love has been submitted to the Subcommittee on the Catechism, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Declarations of conformity with both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age are pending. Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love Students face countless choices and challenges in their daily lives. This course addresses how a relationship with Christ and the Church can lead to choices that are in accord with God's plan. The students learn what it means to live as a disciple of Christ and how the Church strengthens this discipleship. The Living in Christ Series * Makes the most of the wisdom and experience of Catholic high school teachers as they empower and guide students to participate in their own learning. * Engages students' intellect and responds to their natural desire to know God. * Encourages faith in action through carefully-crafted learning objectives, lessons, activities, active learning, and summative projects that address multiple learning styles. What you will find . . . * Each Living in Christ student book is developed in line with the U.S. Bishops' High School Curriculum Framework and provides key doctrine essential to the course in a clear and accessible way, making it relevant to the students and how they live their lives. * Each Living in Christ teacher guide carefully crafts the lessons, based on the key principles of Understanding by Design, to guide the students' understanding of key concepts. * Living in Christ offers an innovative, online learning environment featuring flexible and customizable resources to enrich and empower the teacher to respond to the diverse learning needs of the students. * The Living in Christ series is available to you in traditional full-color text and in digital textbook format, offering you options to meet your preferences and needs.