Ethics beyond Rules: How Christ's Call to Love Informs Our Moral Choices

A reintroduction to ethics for the Christian church.How should Christians live? How should they approach today's difficult moral questions? In Ethics beyond Rules, Keith Stanglin answers those questions with: What does love require?Ethics beyond Rules is a clear and accessible introduction for thoughtful Christians who want to lead moral lives. Stanglin's easy-to-understand Christian ethical system doesn't have a long list of rules to follow but instead bases moral decision-making on love. This resource does not attempt to answer every ethical question and social issue present in today's culture but provides a model to use when reasoning through concrete issues, including:abortionsexual ethicsconsumerismtechnologypoliticsStanglin's love-based framework for moral decision-making engages Scripture and the historic Christian faith, giving Christians the tools to consider the ethical problems of today and the foundation to confront new issues in the years to come."Engagingly written, persuasively argued, and decisively relevant. Every Christian should purchase two copies, one to read, and one to give to a friend, because this book is that good."--TIMOTHY C. TENNENT, president, Asbury Theological Seminary Review 'Stanglin in Ethics beyond Rules lays bare all the pseudo-foundations of the moral relativism that has gripped our culture. Tragically, even the church has been caught in the quicksand of this moral malaise and needs a fresh vision and renewed understanding of biblical ethics. Stanglin provides it in a refreshing and compelling way, focusing on many of the most pressing issues of our day. It is engagingly written, persuasively argued, and decisively relevant. Every Christian should purchase two copies, one to read, and one to give to a friend, because this book is that good.' -- Timothy C. Tennent, president and professor of world Christianity, Asbury Theological Seminary 'Ethics beyond Rules is the product of wide reading and careful Christian thinking. Readers will find in it both the sorts of considerations that matter in moral reasoning and a discussion of many of the ethical issues that are central to human life--all of this done in a way that takes seriously not only natural reason but also Christian Scripture and tradition. Stanglin approaches disputed moral problems in thoughtful, often imaginative ways that will be accessible to many sorts of readers.' -- Gilbert Meilaender, senior research professor of theology, Valparaiso University 'Kudos to Keith Stanglin for the courage, intelligence, and love it took to write this crucial tract for the times. It is full of Christian wisdom about how we ought to live and interact with one another in nearly every sphere of life. I applaud the way it orients our ethical reflection in relation to the question, 'What does real love require?' If more of us attended to that question more regularly, deeply, and honestly, our world would be a much better place.' -- Douglas A. Sweeney, dean and professor of divinity, Beeson Divinity School 'Ethics beyond Rules is exactly the right book in exactly the right moment for every Christian, especially in a world increasingly untethered from biblical faith. Beautifully written and intensely engaging, it examines the contentious issues of our time through the only lens that matters: What does Christian love require? Here is a book for every man and woman of faith--but also for those of no faith, because its decency and compassion refute once and for all the anti-Christian caricatures of our time.' -- Mary Eberstadt, Panula Chair in Christian Culture, Catholic Information Center, Washington, DC, author of Primal Screams and How the West Really Lost God 'Ethics beyond Rules is a clarion call to wake up a sleepy Church and to exhort Christians to become 'loving resistance fighters.' Drawing from Scripture, tradition, history, science, and human experience, Stanglin offers an articulate