Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World

by Dennis P. Hollinger

Publisher:

Baker Academic

, 2002

Overview

Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World begins with a survey of the ethical approaches that have been adopted by secular and Christian ethicists. Beyond the common consequentialist and principle-oriented perspectives, an alternative character/virtue approach has recently found wide acceptance, particularly in the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. Hollinger provides a critical analysis of these views and suggests that they overlook a critical element, which is the basis found in a uniquely Christian worldview.

Next, Hollinger reflects on the application of Christian ethics in what he calls the "complex world" of contemporary pluralism and postmodernism. He examines the complexities of secular society and how these complexities affect Christian ethics. He then explores the factors that influence how Christians make ethical decisions, including Scripture and empirical judgment. Finally, he surveys the questions of justice, pluralism, and Christian influence in the secular world. This volume has grown out of Hollinger's many years of experience in both academic and local church settings. His work is unique in that it surveys common approaches to ethics as well as contemporary issues of critical importance. Sure to find widespread use as a text in colleges and seminaries, it will also provide Christian lay readers with an excellent analysis of the subject.

Key Features

• Provides solid overview and application of Christian ethics
• Useful for students and the general reader
• Contains notes and index

Contents

Top Highlights

“The Christian worldview or theology is manifested in three ways: through a narrative component, a rational component, and a ritual component.” (Page 63)

“Ethics is the discipline that studies the moral life. If morality refers primarily to behavior and character, ethics is the discipline that tries to provide guidance and perspective in making decisions and forming character. Ethics can perhaps most easily be understood as the systematic study of standards of right and wrong, justice and injustice, virtue and vice, with a view toward applying those standards in the realities of our lives.” (Page 14)

“Consequentialists believe that the ultimate criterion or standard of right and wrong is ends or results.” (Page 28)

“Like ethical egoists, utilitarians believe that the moral good is rooted in consequences, but they look to a different set of consequences—namely, those that relate to the greatest number of people. The greatest good for the greatest number is the utilitarian mantra, and that good is calculated not on the basis of a moral virtue but on the nonmoral good of happiness or pleasure.” (Page 31)

“Generally speaking, the moral life is behavior in which we have a sense of oughtness and obligation. It involves those decisions in which we are aware that one choice may be better or worse than another, not from a functional or economic standpoint but from the sense that we feel obligation, right and wrong.” (Page 13)

Praise for the Print Edition

This is a book which will become recommended reading in many ethics courses and will be welcomed warmly by general readers who are looking for a reliable introduction to contemporary Christian ethics. . . . It is comprehensive, tightly written, very logical and fair, and well illustrated.

—Doug Fullerton, Colloquium

An outstanding resource-an ethics text that is deeply Christian, conceptually clear, personally engaging, and intellectually substantive! This is an exceptionally helpful book for Christians concerned about the moral life. Hollinger provides a clear map to guide readers through the rugged terrain of competing theoretical frameworks and complex practical questions.

—Christine Pohl, professor of social ethics, Asbury Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Choosing the Good: Christian Ethics in a Complex World
• Author: Dennis P. Hollinger
• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 304

About Dennis P. Hollinger

Dr. Hollinger joined Gordon-Conwell from Evangelical Theological Seminary (ETS) in PA, where he had served as President and Professor of Christian Ethics since 2004. He brings to his post at Gordon-Conwell extensive academic and administrative experience. Prior to assuming the presidency of ETS, he served for seven years as Vice Provost, College Pastor and Professor of Christian Ethics at Messiah College, Grantham, PA. He also served as Associate Professor of Church & Society and Preaching at Associated Mennonite Biblical Theological Seminary, Elkhart, IN, and as Assistant and Associate Professor of Church & Society at Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, NY. In addition, he has served as a visiting and adjunct professor at seminaries in the U.S. and in Ukraine, Russia and India. Dr. Hollinger has also served as a full-time pastor at several churches. He was pastor of Washington Community Fellowship, an urban church in the nation’s capital; pastor of the Evangelical Free Church of Blairstown, NJ; and youth pastor of the Congregational Bible Church, Marietta, PA. He held interim pastoral and preaching positions in Indiana and New York. extensively in the U.S. and internationally.