Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning

by Wayne Grudem

Publisher:

Crossway

, 2018

Overview

Best-selling author and professor Wayne Grudem distills over forty years of teaching experience into a single volume aimed at helping readers apply a biblical worldview to difficult ethical issues, including wealth and poverty, marriage and divorce, birth control, abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, business practices, environmental stewardship, telling the truth, knowing God’s will, understanding Old Testament laws, and more.

Key Features

• Seek to teach what Bible says about how to live in today’s world
• Organized around the Ten Commandment
• Confronts complex and difficult topics head on

Contents

• Part 1: Introduction
  • Introduction to Christian Ethics
  • The Ultimate Basis for Ethics: The Moral Character of God
  • Our Source of Ethical Standards: The Bible
  • The Goal of Ethics: Living for the Glory of God
  • The Joys and Blessings of Obedience to God and the Harmful Consequences of Sin
  • How to Know God’s Will: Factors to Consider in Making Ethical Decisions
  • Christians Will Never Have to Choose the “Lesser Sin”
  • How Should Christians Use the Old Testament for Ethical Guidance?
• Part 2: Protecting God's Honor
  • No Other Gods
  • No Carved Images
  • Purity of Speech
  • Lying and Telling the Truth
  • The Sabbath Commandment
• Part 3: Protecting Human Authority
  • Authority of Parents
  • Equality and Leadership in Marriage
  • Civil Government
  • Other Authorities
• Part 4: Protecting Human Life
  • Capital Punishment
  • War
  • Self-Defense
  • Abortion
  • Euthanasia
  • Suicide
  • Aging and Death
  • Racial Discrimination
  • Health
  • Alcohol and Drugs
• Part 5: Protecting Marriage
  • Marriage
  • Birth Control
  • Infertility, Reproductive Technology, and Adoption
  • Pornography
  • Divorce and Remarriage
  • Homosexuality and Transgenderism
• Part 6: Protecting Property
  • Property: The Goodness and Necessity of Private Ownership of Property
  • Work, Rest, Vacations, and Retirement
  • Increasing Prosperity: Is More Prosperity a Good Thing?
  • Poverty and Wealth
  • Personal Financial Stewardship
  • Borrowing, Lending, and the Question of Debt
  • Business Ethics
  • Stewardship of the Environment
• Part 7: Protecting Purity of Heart
  • Purity of Heart
• Appendix A: Should We Move Beyond the New Testament to a Better Ethic? An Analysis of William J. Webb's Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis
• Appendix B: Scripture Versions Cited

Top Highlights

“Wisdom is the skill of understanding and applying the Bible rightly to each situation.” (Page 163)

“this procedure can easily be adapted to promote a form of eugenics” (Page 774)

“Finally, the teachings of the various passages should be summarized into one or more points that the Bible affirms about that subject.” (Page 60)

“Lying is affirming in speech or writing something you believe to be false.” (Page 311)

“What is the overall goal of studying ethics? It should be to fulfill our ultimate purpose, which is to glorify God.” (Page 106)

Praise for the Print Edition

Insightful, encyclopedic, biblical, and distinctively evangelical, this new book from Wayne Grudem is a massive contribution to Christian ethics. It will stand as one of the most important and definitive works of this generation. Readers should engage it chapter by chapter, and then keep it close at hand for continuing consultation.

—R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Wayne Grudem and I have always been on the same page, both in theology and in theological method. Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning has all the excellent features of his Systematic Theology: biblical fidelity, comprehensiveness, clarity, practical application, and interaction with other writers. His exhortations drive the reader to worship the triune God. I hope the book gets the wide distribution and enthusiastic response that it deserves.

—John M. Frame, professor of Systematic Theology and Philosophy Emeritus, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando

This work by Wayne Grudem is the best text yet composed in biblical Christian ethics, and I mean that in several ways. It is more comprehensive, more insightful, and more applicable than any comparable work, and is sure to be a classroom classic. But what I like most is how Grudem unites a scholar’s mind with a disciple’s heart more committed to pleasing Christ than contemporaries and more zealous for strengthening the church than impressing the world.

— Daniel R. Heimbach, senior professor of Christian Ethics, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Product Details

• Title: Christian Ethics: An Introduction to Biblical Moral Reasoning
• Author: Wayne Grudem
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2018
• Pages: 1,296
• Christian Group: Evangelicals
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Topic: Ethics

About Wayne Grudem

Wayne Grudem is a New Testament scholar turned theologian, author, and research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary, Arizona. He earned a BA from Harvard University, an MDiv from Westminster Theological Seminary, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. In 2001 Grudem moved to Phoenix Seminary after having taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for more than twenty years where he was also the chairman of the Department of Biblical and Systematic Theology.