Introducing Protestant Social Ethics , livre ebook

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168 pages

English

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Despite their rich tradition of social concern, Protestants have historically struggled to articulate why, whether, and how to challenge unethical social structures. This book introduces Protestants to the biblical and historical background of Christian social ethics, inviting them to understand the basis for social action and engage with the broader tradition. It embraces and explains long-standing Christian reflection on social ethics and shows how Scripture and Christian history connect to current social justice issues. Each chapter includes learning outcomes and chapter highlights.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Christian theology

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	14 mars 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781493406647
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	7 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0720€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 2017 by Brian Matz
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-0664-7
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NET are from the NET BIBLE®, copyright © 2003 by Biblical Studies Press, LLC. http://netbible.org . Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
For “The Cent Store”
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part 1: Social Ethics and Scripture
1. The Pentateuch
2. Historical, Poetical, and Wisdom Literature
3. Prophets
4. Jesus in the New Testament
5. The Early Decades of Christianity
Part 1 Summary
Part 2: Social Ethics in Christian History
6. Late Antiquity
7. Middle Ages
8. Reformations Era
9. Post-Reformations Era
10. Contemporary Catholic Social Ethics
Part 2 Summary
Part 3: Principles for Protestant Social Ethics
11. Human Dignity
12. Common Good
13. Justice
14. Solidarity
15. Subsidiarity
Part 3 Summary
Notes
Scripture Index
Subject Index
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
This book is the product of several years spent reflecting on and teaching principles of social ethics to students at Fontbonne University, Carroll College, Seattle University, and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. By no means am I finished. I got a late start, in fact. My undergraduate degree was in accounting, and the education that led me there was steeped in a worldview that gave little consideration to the questions that animate social ethics. So it is to my students, colleagues, and mentors at each of these institutions that I owe a great debt of gratitude. They have taught me far more than I once thought was needed, and they continue to remind me just how indispensable this is to our world, its people, and its cultures.
Among those many teachers and mentors is Prof. Dr. Johan Verstraeten. He was my first teacher in social ethics, and he was gracious enough to take me under his wing as a postdoc researcher at his Centrum voor Katholieke Sociale Denken / Center for Catholic Social Thought at the K. U. Leuven during 2005–9. Professor Verstraeten led me through the texts of Catholic social teaching, the extended literature of Catholic social thought, and the writings of critical thinkers such as John Rawls, Paul Ricoeur, Michael Hollenbach, and many others. Through him, I was introduced to a cadre of scholars in the field of social ethics that took me (seemingly) far outside my principal field of patristic studies. The rewards have been immensely personal as well as, I hope, beneficial to my students during the years since.
I also wish to thank colleagues and friends with whom I have shared, and occasionally debated, ideas in this book. Some of these individuals were helpful for things that they said in a conversation that seemed, even at the time, to be unrelated to this book. I thank Rev. Seth Dombach, Chris Fuller, Martha Gonzalez, Scott and Beth Haile, John Hannah, Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen, Brenda Ihssen, Helen Rhee, Rev. John Richardson, Julie Rubio, and Jim and Krista Slagle. Thanks are also due to my research assistant, Brittany Hanewinkel, for helping prepare the index. Finally, I thank the academic institutions with which I have been affiliated: Carroll College, which blessed me with appointment to the Raymond G. Hunthausen Professor of Social Ethics; and Fontbonne University, at which I hold an endowed chair in Catholic thought. The funding from those endowed chairs provided the necessary space for writing many of the chapters of this book.
Abbreviations
Old Testament Gen. Genesis Exod. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy Josh. Joshua Judg. Judges Ruth Ruth 1–2 Sam. 1–2 Samuel 1–2 Kings 1–2 Kings 1–2 Chron. 1–2 Chronicles Ezra Ezra Neh. Nehemiah Esther Esther Job Job Ps. (Pss.) Psalms Prov. Proverbs Eccles. Ecclesiastes Song of Sol. Song of Solomon Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Lam. Lamentations Ezek. Ezekiel Dan. Daniel Hosea Hosea Joel Joel Amos Amos Obad. Obadiah Jon. Jonah Mic. Micah Nah. Nahum Hab. Habakkuk Zeph. Zephaniah Hag. Haggai Zech. Zechariah Mal. Malachi
New Testament Matt. Matthew Mark Mark Luke Luke John John Acts Acts Rom. Romans 1–2 Cor. 1–2 Corinthians Gal. Galatians Eph. Ephesians Phil. Philippians Col. Colossians 1–2 Thess. 1–2 Thessalonians 1–2 Tim. 1–2 Timothy Titus Titus Philem. Philemon Heb. Hebrews James James 1–2 Pet. 1–2 Peter 1–3 John 1–3 John Jude Jude Rev. Revelation
General ANF Ante–Nicene Fathers AT author’s translation ca. circa cf. confer, compare chap(s). chapter(s) d. died esp. especially ET English translation et al. et alii, and others FC Fathers of the Church GNO Gregorii Nysseni Opera i.e. id est, that is LW Luther’s Works (American edition) LXX Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) NET New English Translation NIV New International Version NPNF 1 Nicene and Post–Nicene Fathers, Series 1 NPNF 2 Nicene and Post–Nicene Fathers, Series 2 NRSV New Revised Standard Version n.s. new series PG Patrologia Graeca repr. reprint SC Sources chrétiennes ST Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologicae, 61 vols. (Blackfriars edition)
Introduction
Near the end of my junior year of high school, my grandparents bought me a car. It was a used car, but only a year or so old. I had never owned anything so valuable in my life. I did what I could to protect the car from dents and scratches on the outside and from my friends’ dirt-crusted shoes on the inside. One day, witnessing how neurotic I must have been about the car, my pastor and friend Dale Swanson asked me, “Whose car is it?” I told him that it was mine, of course, to which he replied, “No. The car belongs to God. And God might need to give a ride to someone with dirty shoes.”
It wasn’t until years later that I grew to appreciate what Dale had said. Nothing we have belongs to us. It all belongs to God. Why did God provide me a car (arguably something I did not need) when so many others have no car at all? Maybe God gave me the car so that I might use it to bless other people. Or more generally, why has God allowed things to be distributed to people unequally? Some people have more than they need; others have less than they need. Some people have the capacity to earn more income than they need; others are unable to make ends meet no matter how many hours they work. Some people are nimble with technology; others find the constant changes, software updates, and ever-new social networking tools exhausting. Some people are accepted into just about every university and hired at just about every job to which they apply; others find the education and employment landscapes impenetrable. Schools are better in some neighborhoods than in others. Churches are nicer in some neighborhoods than in others. Roads and infrastructure are better in some regions than in others. Farmers in some parts of the world are paid not to grow certain crops; farmers in other parts of the world struggle to get their harvest to market before it spoils. In Western cultures food banks for the hungry are regularly stocked; in other parts of the world the hungry die from malnutrition and disease.
At some point, Christians need to ask themselves what might be responsible for these disparities. Few disparities can be traced to a strong versus a lagging work ethic of individuals. Few can be traced to a society’s topographic variations, climate differences, or geographic disparities. At some point, we must admit that we have built a society that produces disparity. We have done things that ensure that some will prosper at the expense of others, and we have given our tacit approval to the continuation of this disparity. If you have ever considered such disparities, you have wandered into the intellectually rich world of social ethics.
What Is (Protestant) Social Ethics?
The field of ethics may be divided into two branches. One is fundamental ethics, which studies the basic questions and terminology in the field. In fundamental ethics, one is interested in how to live the happy life—that is to say, how to live well. Understanding what does and does not contribute to living well falls within this branch of ethics. For this reason, fundamental ethicists study terms like the Greek word eudaimonia , which can be roughly translated as “happiness,” and concepts such as “person,” “virtue,” “law,” “justice,” and “rights.” Consider, for example, these questions: What constitutes personhood? What is it about persons that obliges everyone else to treat them with dignity? If persons are to be treated with dignity, then to what extent ought laws to be written to protect that dignity? To what virtues ought persons aspire in order to embrace their own dignity? These are the questions that animate fundamental ethics. It is a very exciting field, especially in our day, as technological advances in the field of artificial intelligence are quickly blurring the lines of what constitutes a person and what happiness means to beings (persons?) wh