Kingdom Ethics, 2nd ed.
Following Jesus in Contemporary Context
Author David P. Gushee & Glen H. Stassen ISBN 9780802876119 Binding Trade Cloth Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date June 26, 2017 Size 152 x 229 mm"Kingdom Ethics is arguably the most significant and comprehensive Christian ethics textbook of our time.” — Michelle A. Clifton-Soderstrom, North Park Theological Seminary
Christian churches across the spectrum, and Christian ethics as an academic discipline, are often guilty of evading what Jesus actually said about moral life, focusing instead on other biblical texts or traditions. This evasion of Jesus has seriously malformed Christian moral witness—which Jesus said is tested by whether we put his words “into practice.”
David Gushee and Glen Stassen’s Kingdom Ethics is the leading Christian introductory ethics textbook for the twenty-first century. Solidly rooted in Scripture—and uniquely focusing on Jesus’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount—the book has offered students, pastors, and other readers a comprehensive and challenging framework for Christian ethical thought. Writing to recenter Christian ethics in Jesus Christ, Gushee and Stassen focus on the meaning of the Kingdom of God, perennial themes of moral authority and moral norms, and all the issues raised by the Sermon on the Mount—such as life and death, sexual and gender ethics, love and justice, truth telling, and politics.
This second edition of Kingdom Ethics is substantially revised by Gushee and features enhanced and updated treatments of all major contemporary ethical issues—including updated data and examples, a more global perspective, gender-inclusive language, a clearer focus on methodology, discussion questions for every chapter, and a detailed new glossary.
Kingdom Ethics is for readers anywhere wanting a robust, comprehensive understanding of Christian ethics that is founded on the concrete teachings of Jesus and will equip them for further exploration into the field.
— Rubén Rosario Rodríguez
Saint Louis University
“Freshly conceived, newly organized, carefully explicit about both method and the complexity of concrete moral judgments, this book exemplifies what we all want evangelical Christian ethics to be — centered on Jesus, deeply grounded in Scripture, and attentive to emerging issues and new concerns as God’s people seek to discern the shape of a life lived in faithful response to the in-breaking kingdom.”
— Sondra Wheeler
Wesley Theological Seminary
“A more-than-worthy successor to the first edition of Kingdom Ethics and a wonderful contribution to the community of Jesus’s disciples. . . . In this new edition Gushee sharpens the argument and intensifies the prophetic voice. The result is an even more powerful work that forms readers in Christlikeness in community and empowers the disciple community and its leaders to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.”
— Jonathan R. Wilson
Carey Theological College
“This clarion call to participate in the ongoing reign of God is christocentric, clear, and compelling. It is also a complete introduction to Christian ethics. Updated and timely, Kingdom Ethics connects the way of Jesus to our Christian past and present and lights our way in the ongoing struggle. An accessible masterpiece for all who would follow Jesus.”
— Darryl M. Trimiew
past president of the Society of Christian Ethics
“Kingdom Ethics is arguably the most significant and comprehensive Christian ethics textbook of our time. While such updates as a glossary make the book even more accessible, the real treasure of this edition is Gushee and Stassen’s deepened examination of critical topics such as racism, criminal justice, human sexuality, and peacemaking. Kingdom Ethics in this second edition will expand the hearts and minds of all those who desire to be formed by faithful scholarship in conversation with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
— Michelle A. Clifton-Soderstrom
North Park Theological Seminary
“In Kingdom Ethics David Gushee and the late Glen Stassen have served an entire generation of students in Christian ethics. This second edition continues to challenge our thinking about many of the enduring social issues of our time. It remains focused on an ethics of Jesus based primarily on the Sermon on the Mount and trace out the implications of Jesus’s teaching for our contemporary setting. In this substantial revision Gushee tackles these issues in ways that will challenge some conventional Christian thinking. The text, in places, will prove controversial to some readers. This edition of Kingdom Ethics will nonetheless drive all who read it to pursue greater depths of theological reflection and faithfulness in Christian discipleship on important matters facing our world."
— Patrick T. Smith
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
“Kingdom Ethics does indeed ‘reclaim Jesus Christ for Christian ethics and for the moral life of the churches,’ allowing his teachings and practices — in particular the Sermon on the Mount — to set the agenda and structure. This second edition pays even more attention to global Christianity and well deserves to be used across cultural boundaries as a compelling model to construct a faithful and relevant Christian ethic.”
— Joon-Sik Park
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/IBTS. One of the world's leading Christian ethicists, he is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including Changing Our Mind, After Evangelicalism, Kingdom Ethics, Still Christian, Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, and The Sacredness of Human Life. Gushee is also a frequent speaker, Kingdom Ethics podcaster, and activist. He and his wife, Jeanie, live in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit davidpgushee.com or @dpgushee on social media.
Glen H. Stassen served as the Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. His other books include Living the Sermon on the Mount and Just Peacemaking.