Take & read: New books in ethics
What does hope look like in the face of racism?
justice
Of the many absurdities around race and hatred that still exist in our culture, Trump may be the least of them.
Is forbearance amid disagreement a Christian virtue?
We should forebear one another—not to ensure church unity, but because God forebears us.
Love is always vulnerable and yet will never be trumped.
Are open borders the most ethical approach to immigration?
David Miller’s book doesn’t offer policy solutions. It does help us think clearly.
Why we need anger
Martha Nussbaum says we don't. She's wrong.
Need to confess
The whole church needs to encounter the courage and truthfulness of the fact that God created us good, to love and be loved.
American Christianity has faced theological-political crises before. Repeatedly, visions of what is possible for the nation have fallen short of reality. In the past, periods of change pushed faithful people to reconsider what they believed, not only about the nation but also about the meaning of God’s call to justice. In each critical moment, for good or ill, Americans altered their religious views, and the horizon of what was possible expanded or contracted. In revolutionary America, disunity resulted from debates over whether faith required obedience to the king or a revolt.
Can hunger end?
The binding constraint on progress against hunger and malnutrition is weak political commitment.
Transformed by Spirit-Chi
The Spirit’s loving, life-giving, transformative power—Divine Eros—connects us, moves within us, and can heal the wounds of our division.
Immanuel is the agenda
What humankind needs is a love that sticks around, a love that stays put, a love that hangs on. That’s what the cross is.
Shaping Public Theology, by Max L. Stackhouse
The essays in this volume provide an accessible and comprehensive introduction to Max Stackhouse's thought, and they raise provocative questions about how we are constructing public theology today.
“Those who enact unjust policies are as good as dead, those who are always instituting unfair regulations, to keep the poor from getting fair treatment. . ."
Journey toward Justice, by Nicholas P. Wolterstorff
After describing encounters with the oppressed in South Africa and Honduras, Nicholas Wolterstorff offers a carefully honed analysis of justice within a Christian framework.