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Title: Christian Ethics by Norman L. Geisler ISBN: 0-8010-3832-4 Publisher: Baker Academic Pub. Date: 01 August, 1989 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (7 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Decent introduction to Christian Ethics
Comment: This book is a decent introduction to Christian Ethics. Geisler starts with survey's of various approaches to Christian ethics, and then moves into various ethical issues such as abortion, war, ecology, and other major ethical topics. In each chapter, Geisler reviews what different positions on various topics are: for, against, and somewhere-in-between. He offers Biblical and philosophical criticisms of each surveyed position. The end of each chapter contains some suggested books for further reading.
There are some draw backs to this book though. Firstly, this book sometimes seems to read more like a stero manual, especially early on. Secondly, though this book tries to be objective in its survey of various views, Geisler tends to make it very evident what he believes the proper view is, and usually reserves his personal views for the end of each chapter. Thirdly, after the first 8 or 9 chapters or so, I tended to find myself simply skimming the book, as it became pretty easy to anticipate what he was going to say... which made the book rather dry to read. Forthly, I think it would have been nice if Geisler included a chapter on birth control. Finally, I think this book is a little out of date, and probably could use more interaction with more influencial theologians on each side of the various debates.
This book makes for a good introduction to Christian ethics, though it is not exactly a page turner. Ideal perhaps for Bible college text- which is why I read it.
Rating: 2
Summary: Good Intro but everything else stinks
Comment: Geisler builds the best straw man models that I have ver seen. He presents a general explanation of each of the models of ethical decision making. The problem is that he makes sure to highlight the weaknesses in all of the models except for Graded Absolutism. There are weaknesses in that model that he didn't deal with. Geisler chooses a pretty good model but doesn't give fair representation to the other models.
Geisler does the worse job of applying these models that I have ever seen. He makes a lot of assumptions while writing his book. Geisler cites many numbers and statistics without citing a person. Once again he builds great straw men in his arguments. He doesn't give a fair representation to the opposing opinion.
I recommend getting this book, only if you have to.
Rating: 5
Summary: Christian ethics well defined and instructively applied
Comment: Geisler writes clearly and logically to:
1) Defend Christian ethics against non-Christian ones e.g. might makes right, good = pleasure. This includes showing that Christian ethics is deontological (duty-centred) rather than teleological (end-centred), e.g. utilitarianism. In particular, it is based on God's revelation. He rightly points out that even unbelievers have a law written on their hearts (Rom. 2:14-15), so they have no excuse for neglecting this general revelation. But one weakness is that Geisler insufficiently stresses that Scripture must be the guide for interpreting general revelation and for determining whether one's conscience is right.
2) Present a good defence that the Christian position is "graded absolutism", where moral absolutes exist, but a higher absolute exempts one from following a lower absolute. His gives the ethical dilemma of not telling the truth to save lives, describes how six different views deal with this, presents both pluses and minuses, then analyses them in detail in terms of Scripture to draw his conclusion.
3) Analyses hot topics such as abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, homosexuality and "biomedical issues". He presents both sides' arguments, usually from science and Scripture, then effectively critiques the view he disagrees with. The arguments seem so effective that there's little I would change even though the book is now 12 years old. So the book is an excellent handbook for all Christians who want to argue effectively about moral issues.
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Title: Jesus: A New Vision: Spirit, Culture, and the Life of Discipleship by Marcus J. Borg ISBN: 0060608145 Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco Pub. Date: 10 May, 1991 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: Jesus I Never Knew, The by Philip Yancey ISBN: 031021923X Publisher: Zondervan Publishing Company Pub. Date: 01 February, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.99 |
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Title: Pastoral Ethics: Professional Responsibilities of the Clergy by Gaylord B. Noyce ISBN: 0687303389 Publisher: Abingdon Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1988 List Price(USD): $21.00 |
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Title: Introduction to Philosophy: A Christian Perspective by Norman L. Geisler, Paul D. Feinberg ISBN: 0801038189 Publisher: Baker Academic Pub. Date: 01 April, 1987 List Price(USD): $26.99 |
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Title: Critical Reasoning by Jerry Cederblom ISBN: 0534519407 Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $71.95 |
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