Here ten Lutheran theologians explore Lutheran emphases, themes, and approaches to offer their account of Christian 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 tradition's insights and oversights and show how it might illumine today's burning ethical issues, such as homosexuality.

Free in Deed serves as a primer in Lutheran ethics for faith and the church as the body of Christ. It captures the fruit of Craig L. Nessan's teaching of ethics and his research and reflection on Christian ethical existence over his entire career. The heart of Lutheran ethics, Nessan claims, involves serving neighbors. When Christ sets us "free indeed" (John 8:36), we are set free to serve others "in deed." Ethics involves intentional and disciplined reflection, together in community, on the choices we must make in living out our lives in the world. While the focus on loving the neighbor is not unique to Lutheran ethics, the author contends in this book that it is the most distinctive feature of ethics in the Lutheran perspective. To that end, Nessan explores biblical authority and Lutheran hermeneutics alongside the authority of the traditional elements of tradition, reason, and experience. He moves on to explore what gospel freedom looks like in the current American context. Nessan acknowledges the misinterpretation of Luther's two-kingdoms teaching, opting to describe Luther's two kingdoms as God's two strategies to bring forth the kingdom (shalom) of God. Also addressed are the themes of justification and sanctification, the vocation of the universal priesthood, the ethics of the cross, Lutheran ethics and political advocacy, and the ethics of forgiveness. The book is accessibly written with theology students, pastors, and interested lay readers in mind.

"Oswald Bayer is a major contemporary Lutheran theologian, most of whose work has appeared in German as collections of essays, but so far few of his writings have been translated into English. This volume represents a translation of the majority of the essays in one of those collections. The selection was made with the intention of indicating something of the depth and range of his thought on issues relating to theological ethics, bearing in mind the accessibility and potential interest of each chapter to the English-speaking reader. At the suggestion of Professor Bayer, a further chapter has been added on how Protestants view marriage and family." "At the heart of the present volume, as the title suggests, is a particularly reasoned exposition of freedom - as it is presented in the Bible and developed by such later theologians as Martin Luther - and how we are to respond. As Bayer says in his Introduction: 'The fundamental premise of these essays on theological ethics is that human freedom is the result of God's promise: "I am your God. And therefore you are my people." A promise of this sort opens to human beings a trustworthy community, where they can be free in the midst of all kinds of threats.'"--BOOK JACKET.

For a time of peril, world-renowned theologian Jürgen Moltmann offers an ethical framework for the future. Moltmann has shown how hope in the future decisively reconfigures the present and shapes our understanding of central Christian convictions, from creation to New Creation.

Equipped with a rich heritage detailing the content of human character, it would seem that Christianity is ideally positioned to address a culture where morality and personal character are set adrift. Contemporary Lutheranism has struggled with the place of morality and character formation, concerns often seen as at odds with the doctrine of justification. A Case for Character argues that Christian doctrine is altogether capable of encouraging character formation while maintaining a faithful expression of justification by grace alone.

James Childs's concise and compelling introduction is based on twenty years of teaching and writing in Christian ethics. Illuminating his case with examples from business, medicine, and public policy dilemmas, Childs constructs an original and comprehensive proposal for Christian ethics"dialogical ethics"one that resonates well with contemporary concern for character and virtue but is also animated and informed by Christian faith.