Prophecy, Polemic and Piety: Reflections on Responses to Gustafson's "Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective"

James Gustafson's "Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective" has been criticized very sharply by reviewers from both the theological and scholarly communities. This article examines the reception of this work, and analyzes two aspects of it that are responsible for the critical reaction: 1) its prophetic message and the strategies used to deliver that message; and 2) the understanding of tradition presented and embodied in the text. In conclusion I point to a radical implication of his theory of tradition not pursued by Gustafson in ETP.