Biblical Interpretation and Christian Ethics

The first comprehensive treatment of the relationship between biblical interpretation and Christian ethics.

J. I. H. McDonald (Author)

9780521430593, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 December 1993

320 pages
22.5 x 14.5 x 3 cm, 0.545 kg

"...scholarly and sophisticated work...." Religious Studies Review

Inter-disciplinary studies are emerging rapidly to meet the insistent demands of the modern age. Biblical interpretation is itself inter-disciplinary, drawing together the biblical traditions and others to address the problem of interpreting texts. Christian ethics is also multi-disciplinary and thus no stranger to this new ethos. To bring these two areas together is a potentially creative undertaking. It comes at a time when much attention is being paid to reading texts and the interpretive tradition. The author's principal aim is to read the Bible in the context of moral concern. Attention is paid to the liberal quest and to eschatology and ethics (each marking a distinct epoch in the relationship of Bible and ethics), before the post-critical age is studied under the rubric 'participation in meaning'. The final section deals with ethics and historical reading, and with ethics and contemporary reading. The book concludes with a discussion of selected practical topics.

General editor's preface
Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction - relating the Bible to Christian ethics
Part I. Liberal Principles and Practice: 1. Eternal values
2. The principles of social ethics
Part II. Eschatology and Ethics: 3. Interim ethics
4. Existential ethics
5. The ethics of covenant and command
6. The problem of Christian social ethics
Part III. Participation in Meaning: 7. The ethics of historical interpretation
8. The ethics of contemporary reading.

Subject Areas: Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ]