Spirit Ethics

By Paul Jersild

Book Overview

How can Christians responsibly derive moral guidance from the Bible on pressing issues of personal and social morality today?Jersild's book sets the context for a study of Scripture and the moral life in a postmodern, pluralist society with its impact on biblical studies. The ethical contents and authority of Scripture are addressed, and a "Spirit ethics" is proposed as a way of developing a biblically based Christian ethics. Christians cannot simply adopt a once-and-for-all set of rules nor simply cite Bible verses against the latest sins. "Absolutely essential," says Jersild, "is the ongoing engagement of the church with the moral environment of society and the issues that this raises for the church." Jersild applies his model fruitfully and persuasively to three pressing and perplexing issues: assisted suicide, homosexuality, and genetic programs.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 080063232X
• ISBN13: 9780800632328
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

A Balanced Perspective

H. Richard Niebuhr once likened his task as a moral theologian to riding a bicycle. One constantly shifts weight, usually slightly and subtlly, to maintain balance. Paul Jersild's SPIRIT ETHICS meets that challenge well. The reader gleans much wisdom on the central but qualified role that scripture plays in moral decision making and formation. His clear exposition of the postmodern context of contemporary Christian thought and practice places his discussion in a frame that sharpens the outlines of issues raised even before postmodernism became a widely acknowledged phenomenon. Jersild touches on a variety of key ethical themes, while maintaining his focus. While he struggles a bit to state the meaning of "spirit ethics" with practical specificity, he effectively counterposes it to the conservative biblicism that most commonly distorts Christian perspectives on the Bible and morality. He works out the implications of his approach with specific discussions on euthanasia and assisted suicide, homosexuality, and genetics. In part, this book strikes me as a summary of his perspective gained from decades of teaching Christian ethics at the seminary level, and he makes it accessible to seminarians and to laypersons who wish to dig deeper than most.