LETTING REALITY BECOME REAL: On Mystery and Reality in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Ethics

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Ethics the notion of reality plays a central role. The present article focuses on the ethical implications of the Chalcedonian Christology underlying this concept. This approach is tied to the debate on the relationship between the universal and specific identity of Christian social ethics in public discourse. In the opening section the article outlines the pertinence of this debate with regard to Bonhoeffer's Christological ethic. In the following section the article analyzes Bonhoeffer's concept of reality and the implied Chalcedonian traits. With this foundation established the article raises the question about its social ethical implications. The final part of the article argues that Bonhoeffer's ethics and ecclesiology cannot be separated from each other, explaining why Bonhoeffer's notion of reality leads to an assertion of the church's role in letting reality become real. In the light of Bonhoeffer's notion of reality the last section argues for the reconciliation of Christian witness and participation in public discourse.     

Emerging Tapestry: An Evangelical Lutheran Social Ethic

This article argues that an identifiable social ethic is emerging in the social teaching documents of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Reading across the body of teaching and policy it becomes evident how conscientious attention to Lutheran themes and commitments at the interface with contemporary social analysis and questions has produced a coherent ethic. That is, it is relatively comprehensive, responsibly consistent, and remarkably cogent with an identifiable moral imperative and mode of reasoning. The paper delineates the character of this responsibility ethic across the five dimensions of ethics.     

Christ‐Centered Concreteness: The Christian Activism of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr. were both pastors and theologians who wrestled with the meaning of Christ‐centered faithfulness for their time. They were advocates of social justice and human rights who resisted the temptation towards a secularizing two‐realms split that makes Christianity a private life religion; they defied contemporary laws and cultural norms, and they faced opposition to their work from many of their fellow Christians. We may learn from their prophetic witness for Christian faithfulness in our contexts by paying attention to their respective interpretations of the way of Jesus.     

Navigating Moral Struggle: Toward a Social Model of Exemplarity

Exemplars have the power to help people navigate various levels of moral struggle, from the relatively straightforward problem of lacking motivation to the much deeper problem of failing to see the moral realities that surround us. But there are also serious moral risks in the appeal to exemplars: we romanticize them, we make use of them in authoritarian ways, and we tend to forget how our choice of exemplars is conditioned by oppressive cultural formations. I argue that we need to develop a social model of exemplarity, attuned to social contexts of our exemplars themselves as well as the social processes of constructing and appealing to exemplars. More particularly, I argue that we need to develop space for thinking about exemplary groups, not just exemplary individuals, in order to develop the strengths and avoid the weaknesses in exemplarist moral theories.     

“The Only Safe Guide is Love”: Models of Engaging Luther's Ethical Hermeneutic for Theological Responses to the Affirmation of Same‐Sex Sexuality

Lutheran theological discussions over the morality of same‐sex sexuality not only raise “ethical” questions, but point to deeper interpretive tensions that arise when resources of the tradition are interpreted in new contexts. Responding to these debates, in this article I propose that Luther's application of the law to challenging ethical situations provides a historically situated hermeneutic that can redirect theological discussions on same‐sex sexuality. Drawing upon feminist Lutheran and queer theological work, I consider how we may reengage with Luther in a way that is both faithful to his commitments, and also takes queer people seriously as moral subjects.     

Coram Mundo: A Lutheran Feminist Theological Anthropology of Hope1

Abstract : Human life coram mundo, in relationship to the world, is complex and challenging. Third wave feminist resources provide a lens for reading Martin Luther's ontology of the human person because the two share a commitment to seeing human life at the intersections. A Lutheran feminist theological anthropology of hope responds to unique anxieties produced by a more subversive patriarchy, bound to racism, classism, homophobia and multinational corporate structures in the twenty‐first century.     

Challenges and Gifts of Teaching Luther in a Lutheran College1

This article examines what can be learned from teaching Luther to American college students. It reviews several ways in which college students benefit from studying Luther. The article suggests that identifying the “operating principles” in Luther's thought can help students more carefully discern the contemporary significance of his thought. After discussing some challenges encountered when teaching Luther to college students, the article ends with reflections on the theological significance of the college context. While Luther's discovery of a gracious God remains central, the college setting promotes a retrieval of several broader themes in Luther's thinking that have often been neglected by Lutherans: ongoing creation, wisdom, the Bible as “torah,” the suffering of God, and societal reform.     

Ecclesiology and the doctrine of creation: a Scandinavian theological perspective

With a view to the present challenges facing the traditional folk churches in Scandinavia, this article aims to present the interconnectedness of creation theology and ecclesiology, as this has been understood in Scandinavian ‘folk church Lutheranism’. While theologies of the Church often seem unrelated to a theology of creation, Bonhoeffer and de Lubac represent two different ways of connecting the two. This article shows how the theological tradition to which Grundtvig and Wingren belong, corresponds to and differs from these continental theologians. The specific character of the Scandinavian tradition is interpreted as stemming from an amalgam of Luther and Irenaeus. In conclusion, the article offers some critical comments on this tradition, and some reflections on how to negotiate between the all-inclusive nature of the Church, her catholicity, and the limited character of any actual local church. It is suggested that a reconsideration of the ecclesiological implications of the first article of faith (the doctrine of creation) is required for coming to terms with this challenge.     

伦理道德在社会管理中的价值

社会管理方式的历史变迁是伦理道德价值日益凸显的过程 ,社会管理在总体上必然要体现某种伦理价值取向 ,伦理道德以其特有的方式规范着社会管理双方的行为 ,深刻地影响着社会管理的进行 ,我们应该努力实现伦理道德在社会管理中的价值。     

Spirit and truth: Reckoning with the crises of Covid-19 for the Church

The Covid-19 pandemic forces North American churches to reckon with long-standing crises and questions surrounding online community, access to worship, decline in membership, the struggle of small congregations, and the reality of our global communion. This article describes a response grounded in faith defined as confidence in our liberation from pride and despair through Jesus Christ. There is need for clarity of doctrine and spiritual courage to fulfill the church's twofold mission to sustain and grow the body of Christ; both these tasks require courage to approach and speak from the Gospel in ever-new contexts and ages.     

生命科学家的社会伦理责任

生命科学的发展导致了复杂的伦理道德问题,对传统的社会道德观念形成了强烈的冲击.为了最大限度地避免和消除生命科学技术的负面效应,必须制定相应的科技政策和强有力的社会伦理道德规范来约束生命科学家的行为,增强生命科学家的社会责任感,使生命科学更好地为人类造福.     

Mou Zongsan and Martin Heidegger: Reopening a Debate on Ontology and Ethics

In this paper I investigate differences and similarities in the definitions of human being and human essence as proposed by two of the most influential thinkers of 20th-century world philosophy, namely Mou Zongsan and Martin Heidegger. I first examine a number of interpretations put forth by scholars that assess the philosophical compatibility of the thought of the two philosophers. Each of these assessments tend to agree that they are incompatible with each other based on what they perceive as an absolute distance between Mou’s and Heidegger’s ways of thinking. Although these studies are pioneering and show an in-depth understanding of Mou’s thought, none demonstrate a correct understanding of Heidegger’s philosophy. Therefore, I will attempt to demonstrate that, despite their differences, the ontological and ethical theses of Mou and Heidegger have several striking points of contact. I will also put forth the claim that Heidegger’s post-turn philosophy is more compatible with Mou’s philosophy than Kant’s system.     

Believers and Skeptics: Where Social Worker Situate Themselves Regarding the Code of Ethics

Based on individual and focus-group interviews, this article describes how social workers in a variety of settings and geographical areas within Ontario approached ethical issues in their daily practices. Two primary approaches to professional ethics emerge from the data: principle based and virtue based, reflecting the orientation of groups we label believers and skeptics, respectively. The code of ethics appears to be the fulcrum from which our participants swing. The believers show faith in the code of ethics and the skeptics are dubious that codes are necessarily in the best interests of clients. The article describes the thinking behind the actions of the believers and skeptics and explores possibilities for future practice and research with respect to decision-making regarding ethical issues in the social work profession.     

Naturalizing Ethics: the Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency

Moral agency is a central feature of both religious and secular conceptions of human beings. In this paper I outline a scientific naturalistic model of moral agency making use of current findings and theories in sociobiology,developmental psychology, and social cognitive theory. The model provides answers to four central questions about moral agency: (1) what it is, (2) how it is acquired, (3) how it is put to work, and (4) how it is justified. I suggest that this model can provide religious and secular moral theories with a basis for a common understanding of moral agency.     

The Evolution of Social Ethics: Using Economic History to Understand Economic Ethics

In the development of Roman Catholic social thought from the teachings of the scholastics to the modern social encyclicals, changes in normative economics reflect the transformation of an economic terrain from its feudal roots to the modern industrial economy. The preeminence accorded by the modern market to the allocative over the distributive function of price broke the convenient convergence of commutative and distributive justice in scholastic just price theory. Furthermore, the loss of custom, law, and usage in defining the boundaries of economic behavior led to a depersonalization of economic relationships that had previously provided effective informal means of protecting individual well-being. Hence, recent economic ethics has had to look for nonprice, nonmarket mechanisms for distributive justice. This is reflected, for example, in the shift in attitude from the medieval antipathy toward unions to the contemporary defense of organized labor on moral grounds.     

The precarious power of a strongly worded letter: Political correspondence,Lutheran theology,and civic participation

Facing political decisions involving local issues or systemic injustice, we sometimes decide to write a letter. Opinion pieces in the town newspaper, online posts about current events, and letters sent to elected officials all share the presumption that putting words on a page can make the political community a better place. This article examines these practices and the reasoning that supports them by connecting Martin Luther's theology of good works with insights from political theory and current debates about civic participation. Luther claims that good works are needed to discipline the body and serve the neighbor in love. This theological framework is offered as a guide for assessing the value and functions of political correspondence. It contends that writing letters serves to discipline individual and collective political bodies, developing needed skills for sharing and receiving the claims we make while resisting temptations that pull us towards indifference, cynicism, or self-righteous assurance. Letters should be seen as invitations of service and neighbor love that display our competence and commitment to others. Letter writing, as a good work, is risky in that the goodness of our labors remains an open question. The analysis here offers guidance for assessing our better and worse reasons for political postings, whether on the church door or elsewhere.     

THE POLITICS OF YHWH: John Howard Yoder's Old Testament Narration and Its Implications for Social Ethics

The apparent tension between the moral codes of the Old and New Testaments constitutes a perennial problem for Christian ethics. Scholars who have taken this problem seriously have often done so in ways that presume sharp discontinuity between the Testaments. They then proceed to devise a system for identifying what is or is not relevant today, or what pertains to this or that particular social sphere. John Howard Yoder brings fresh perspectives to this perennial problem by refuting the presumption of intratestamental discontinuity. Throughout multiple scattered works on the Old Testament, Yoder offers a coherent and provocative narration that culminates in the way of Christ and establishes the ethical continuity of the entire biblical canon. This essay presents the basic parameters of Yoder's Old Testament narration, suggests points where revision is needed, and highlights several implications for social ethics.     

Religion,Politics and Ethics: Towards a Global Theory of Social Transformation

In this paper I set out a phenomenology of social transformation, based on an analysis of the distinctively religious form of communication which underlies the trans-generational and trans-cultural transmission of world traditions, taking Confucianism and Christianity as their representatives. A phenomenological analysis of their communicative structure allows the possibility of a better understanding of what can be learnt from them in the context of contemporary debates in both China and the West on the relations between religion, ethics and politics. This analysis suggests that the ethical consistency of belief and act, which is the necessary condition for the engendering of long-term solidarity in religious community, has significant implications for ethics in politics, and especially for the legitimacy of representational leadership as a focal point for change in society. The paper concludes that the historical experience of world religions can offer new insights into the nature of political leadership and representation in today’s globalised world and that the appropriate locus for this inquiry is the present negotiation and re-negotiation of relations between China and the West.     

Love is Better than Knowledge: Paul,Luther and a Theology of Being Human

It is said in several contemporary theologies that in acting on their proclivities, homosexuals act as a law unto themselves rather than subordinate their desires to God's law. In linking homosexuality with the notion of a selfish individualism, these theologies cast homosexuals as incapable of exercising community-building love. They sustain a reductive model of the human person that issues from an anxiety about the presence of the “secular” ideology of individualism in theology. I suggest that we rehabilitate a vision of love based on a re-reading of the Apostle Paul's understanding of love as God-given and life-giving in 1 Corinthians and Romans, and use it as the basis for a revitalized vision of being human. Guided by Martin Luther's hermeneutic and contemporary thought, this vision recognizes the interdependent relationship between self- and other-concern, and proposes that we prioritize love over reductive knowledge claims in our theologies.