Christian Ethics

As young Christians continue to rediscover the religion’s historical ethical tradition, their affinity for Niebuhr is likely to continue to abate.

A socially responsible Christian ethic understands that the ordinance of the nation-state—even in a fallen world—calls for prophetic scrutiny in hopes that it would be brought back in alignment with civic and moral righteousness.

The attack on Hiroshima was a moral horror but not a moral wrong. As such, it reveals important committments that ought to guide Christian moral reasoning.

American Christians should advocate for exhaustive attempts at diplomacy before endorsing US policies that produce further conflict and chaos.

The United Methodist Social Principles fails to explain how the authors derive their conclusions from the authority of scripture, which should be the ultimate rule and guide for Christian social principles. And it fails even to reference the long and illustrious history of Christian reflection on these questions.

Most Christians, including most evangelicals, have been falling over themselves to denounce Jeff Sessions. But the way this immigration debate is carried out too often mirrors the political debate.

Was it right for President Trump to meet with Kim Jong Un? Christian reflection insists that politics cannot be separated from ethics. Can peace be separated from justice?

There is no nation in which we can place total faith.

Are we, in fact, seeking through foreign policy to protect ourselves from a pre-millennial apocalypse—or, perhaps, to bring about a post-millennial one? The intellectual and spiritual resources of Protestant Christianity have a great deal to add to this debate. But up until now, I haven’t seen much evidence that these resources have yet been brought to bear on these questions.