In this comprehensive anthology, twenty-seven outstanding scholars from North America and Europe address every major aspect of Thomas Aquinas's understanding of morality and comment on his remarkable legacy. While there has been a revival of interest in recent years in the ethics of St. Thomas, no single work has yet fully examined the basic moral arguments and content of Aquinas' major moral work, the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae. This work fills that lacuna.The first chapt...

In a single convenient resource, this revised and updated edition of a classic text organizes and presents clearly the documents of the Catholic Church pertaining to medical ethics. Introductory chapters provide the context for interpreting the Church's teachings and theological values, guiding the reader in how to apply the teachings to particular ethical dilemmas and helping the reader to understand the role of conscience within the Catholic tradition.The teaching of the Church i...

Baruch Spinoza's "Ethics" is a pivotal work in Western philosophy, blending rigorous analytical rigor with a deep metaphysical exploration of reality. Fueled by a radical departure from Cartesian dualism, Spinoza introduces a geometrical method that elucidates complex ideas through clear axioms and propositions. The content delves into the nature of God, the universe, and human emotion, asserting that everything stems from a single substance—God or nature—and marks a foundational moment in...

Ancient Christians invoked sin to account for an astonishing range of things, from the death of God's son to the politics of the Roman Empire that worshipped him. In this book, award-winning historian of religion Paula Fredriksen tells the surprising story of early Christian concepts of sin, exploring the ways that sin came to shape ideas about God no less than about humanity.Long before Christianity, of course, cultures had articulated the idea that human wrongdoing violated relat...

A masterful basic text on Catholic moral theologyWhether in the cafeteria, classroom, or dorm lounge, questions abound on college campuses. Not only do students grapple with existential issues but they also struggle with ethical ones such as "Why be moral?"In Introducing Moral Theology, William Mattison addresses this question as well as grapples with the impact that religious belief has on day-to-day living.Structured in two parts, this un...

It is only in the past 20 years that the concept of 'recovery' from mental health has been more widely considered and researched. Before then, it was generally considered that 'stability' was the best that anyone suffering from a mental disorder could hope for. But now it is recognised that, throughout their mental illness, many patients develop new beliefs, feelings, values, attitudes, and ways of dealing with their disorder. The notion of recovery from mental illness is thus rapidly bein...

Jake is celebrating his tenth birthday. That’s a remarkable feat, because at birth he was given only three years to live. Miriam Edelson is his mother, a dedicated fighter for Jake and families in similar situations.Edelson poses some tough questions: How do parents cope with a child who has special needs? Are we failing, as a society, to care for children with disabilities? Whatever happened to the federal government’s promise of a “Children’s Agenda”?My...

In 1951, theologian H. Richard Niebuhr published Christ and Culture, a hugely influential book that set the agenda for the church and cultural engagement for the next several decades. But Niebuhr's model was devised in and for a predominantly Christian cultural setting. How do we best understand the church and its writers in a world that is less and less Christian? Craig Carter critiques Niebuhr's still pervasive models and proposes a typology better suited to mission after Christ...

Classic theories of Aristotle, Kant, and Mill have influenced Christian thought in morality and ethics for centuries. But they can go only so far, Wyndy Corbin Reuschling writes in Reviving Evangelical Ethics. While the philosophers' approach to three key elements--virtue, duty, and utility--have been used widely in forming ethical and moral practices, Corbin Reuschling sees spiritual danger in their limitations. She probes deeply to deconstruct each philosophy, then reconstructs ...

How engineers and clinicians developed the ultrasound diagnostic scanner and how its use in obstetrics became controversial.To its proponents, the ultrasound scanner is a safe, reliable, and indispensable aid to diagnosis. Its detractors, on the other hand, argue that its development and use are driven by the technological enthusiasms of doctors and engineers (and the commercial interests of manufacturers) and not by concern to improve the clinical care of women. I...

At a time when economics, banking and commerce are never out of the headlines, Theonomics asks if theology is capable of informing, shaping and penetrating all aspects of life, and especially economic life. Theonomics argues for the recovery of the classic virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice and humility as animators of a lively and Godly economy.Six key principles are offered to help those interested in integrating Christian ideas into the economic sphere: communit...

Medicine and health care generate many bioethical problems and dilemmas that are of great academic, professional and public interest. This comprehensive resource is designed as a succinct yet authoritative text and reference for clinicians, bioethicists, and advanced students seeking a better understanding of ethics problems in the clinical setting. Each chapter illustrates an ethical problem that might be encountered in everyday practice; defines the concepts at issue; examines their impl...