Abstract
The contributors to this volume are motivated by two concerns. First, we want to clarify the relationship between religious ethics and Christian ethics. Second, we want to specify the contributions that Christian ethics makes to religious ethics. Apart from this Introduction, however, our respective contributions are not methodological essays. Some of us directly address these concerns. For others, these concerns are part of the intellectual landscape that informs our implicit background assumptions. But for all of us, our primary aim is to show, rather than say, what normative Christian ethics is and why it matters for contemporary religious ethics.
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Notes
- 1.
Despite its widespread use, debates about what is and isn’t “religious ethics” continue. For two sustained efforts at defining religious ethics, see Reeder (1998) and Miller (2016). Reflecting on the first 25 years of the JRE , Reeder is concerned with defining what a “religion” is, a definition about which we must come to some agreement in order to prosecute questions under the aegis of “religious ethics.” Writing nearly 20 years after Reeder, Miller draws upon Wittgenstein’s notion of “family resemblances” to think through the interrelation of religion and ethics.
- 2.
For an analogy, consider the engagement between the contributors to Hick and Knitter (1987) and (especially) those to D’Costa (1990). Focusing on the theology and philosophy of religion, these volumes examined exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism with regard to religious truth and salvation. While D’Costa (1990) positioned itself as offering a direct and exclusivist response to the inclusivist and pluralist challenges posed in Hick and Knitter, not all of the contributors to the D’Costa volume engaged with the proposals found in Hick and Knitter. Moreover, not all of the contributors to D’Costa offered strictly exclusivist responses. Nonetheless, all the contributors did engage with the problems (and language) associated with exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism. See our later discussion about how our volume complements Bucar and Stalnaker (2012).
- 3.
For the phrasing “religious ethics (in the plural),” see Bucar and Stalnaker (2012).
- 4.
For a far more critical view about the relationship between Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic thought, see Milbank (1990).
- 5.
For a recent overview about the ways in which “authority” has been contested in Christian thought, see Carnes (2014).
- 6.
- 7.
For an overview of this conference series, see Bantly (1990).
- 8.
Consider, for example, the changing evaluations regarding the interpretation and application of the “traveling” rule in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The basic rule has long been that the player with the ball gets two steps continuing his motion after receiving a pass or picking up his dribble. On earlier interpretations, moves like the “jump stop” (i.e., taking the first step off one foot but landing on both) and the “Euro-Step” (taking two steps in different—usually lateral—directions) were viewed as violations. Now they are commonplace. Even more recently, the “step back” (i.e., taking two steps in opposite directions—forward then back or forward then sideways) has become accepted. On the (laxity concerning) interpretation and application of rules, Stu Lantz, the longtime color commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers, often lamented that “if something is a foul in the first two minutes, it’s a foul in the last two minutes!” On the rules of the game and soccer, see Stout (2004, 272); on the rules of the game and baseball, see Rawls (2008).
- 9.
To borrow from Gene Outka: “normative disagreements do not issue in accusations of personal disloyalty or betrayal.” Rather, in this endeavor and in our other collaborations, we have worked to “sustain[] a joint commitment to standing up for one’s views and to friendship” (2015, 24).
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Ranganathan, B., Woodard-Lehman, D.A. (2019). Normative Dimensions in Christian Ethics. In: Ranganathan, B., Woodard-Lehman, D. (eds) Scripture, Tradition, and Reason in Christian Ethics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25193-2_1
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