Stanley Hauerwas is arguably the most well-known figure in theological ethics of the last generation. Having published voluminously over the last 30 years, late in his career he has also published two volumes of essays discussing his corpus retrospectively, as well as a widely acclaimed memoir. The sheer volume of his work can be daunting to readers, and it is easy to get the impression that his retrospective volumes are restating positions developed earlier. Brian Brock delves into Hauerwas' formation as a theologian at Yale, his first book, Character and the Christian Life, and examines some of his early, and outspoken, criticisms of the guild of Christian ethics. This chapter is followed by a discussion of his memoir, Hannah's Child, and raises tricky questions about the role of autobiography in Christian ethics, as well as the troubling problem of race in the modern academy. Brock explores Hauerwas' work on disability, his criticisms of the discipline of medical ethics, and the role played by vulnerability in his work. The next chapter examines his views on just war and pacifism, here probing the sensitive issue of the role of gender in his work, and leading into a discussion on the nature of the church's peaceable politics, in which his supposed hyper-ecclesiocentricism is examined. Brock examines the role of virtue in Hauerwas' thought, and teases out why he hates to be called a virtue ethicist. A final chapter asks him to respond to the recently levelled criticism that scripture does no work in his theology, focusing especially on his under-appreciated commentary on the gospel of Matthew. The editor of this volume has managed to maneuver Hauerwas into positions where he has directly faced tricky questions that he normally does not discuss, such as the accusation that he is racist, too soft on Yoder, or misogynist.

This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of Reformed sanctification and human development, providing the foundation for a constructive account of Christian moral formation that is attentive both to divine grace and to the significance of natural, embodied processes. Angela Carpenter's argument also addresses the impressions that such theologies give; namely either solitude in the face of adversity, or sheer passivity. Through careful examination of the doctrine of sanctification in three Reformed theologians - John Calvin, John Owen and Horace Bushnell-Carpenter argues that human responsiveness in the context of fellowship with the triune God provides a basic framework for a theological account of moral transformation. Her relational approach brings together divine and human agency in a dynamic process where both are indispensable. Supplying an account of moral formation located within Christian salvation, while also being attentive to embodied human nature and the sciences, this book is vital to all those interested in spiritual formation and the human capacity for love.

During his youth, the boy who would become C. S. Lewis formed his most basic impressions and tastes regarding music, art, literature, religion, sports, friendship, imagination, education, war, and more. The issues young "Jack" Lewis wrestled with drove him toward the foundation on which his life would be built. His childhood interests, influences, longings, struggles, and even failures prepared him to engage his gifts as a writer, teacher, and friend. Lewis expert Harry Lee Poe unfolds young Jack's key relationships, hobbies, spiritual conflicts, decisions, desires, and dreams. Along the way, Poe points out where these themes reappear in Lewis's later works— bringing to life the importance of his conversion and his surprising discovery of joy.

This collection of essays by British Baptists honors the work of John Colwell amongst the Baptist community, recognizing in particular the contribution he has made to Christian doctrine and ethics and more recently his involvement in the formation of The Order for Baptist Ministry (OBM). The book explores what we are doing in morning prayer and what it is to allow the seasons and festivals of the Christian year to shape our lives.

This study examines how the New Testament scriptures might form and foster intellectual humility within Christian communities. It is informed by recent interdisciplinary interest in intellectual humility, and concerned to appreciate the distinctive representations of the virtue offered by the New Testament writers on their own terms. It argues that the intellectual virtue is cast as a particular expression of the broader Christian virtue of humility, something which itself proceeds from the believer's union with Christ, through which personal identity is reconstituted by the operation of the Holy Spirit. This demands that we speak of 'virtue' in ways determined by the acting presence of Jesus Christ that overcomes sin and evil in human lives and in the world. The Christian account of the intellectual virtue of humility is framed by this conflict, as the minds of believers who live together within the Christian community struggle with natural arrogance and selfishness, and come to share in the mind of Christ. The new identity that emerges creates a fresh openness to truth, as the capacity of the sinful mind to distort truth is exposed and challenged. This affects not just knowledge and perception, but also volition: for these ancient writers, a humble mind makes good decisions that reflect judgements decisively shaped by the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. By presenting 'humility of mind' as a characteristic of the One who is worshipped--Jesus Christ--the New Testament writers insist that we acknowledge the virtue not just as an admission of human deficiency or limitation, but as a positive affirmation of our rightful place within the divine economy.

Are the canonical Gospels historically reliable?​ The four canonical Gospels are ancient biographies, narratives of Jesus’s life. The authors of these Gospels were intentional in how they handled historical information and sources.​ Building on recent work in the study of ancient biographies, Craig Keener argues that the writers of the canonical Gospels followed the literary practices of other biographers in their day. In Christobiography he explores the character of ancient biography and urges students and scholars to appreciate the Gospel writers’ method and degree of accuracy in recounting the life and ministry of Jesus. Keener’s Christobiography has far-reaching implications for the study of the canonical Gospels and historical Jesus research. He concludes that the four canonical Gospels are historically reliable ancient biographies.

Stanley Hauerwas is often associated with the postliberal theological movement, yet he also claims to stand within Karl Barth's theological tradition. Which is true? Theologian David Hunsicker offers a reevaluation of Hauerwas's theology, arguing that he is both a postliberal and a Barthian theologian, helping us understand both the formation and the ongoing significance of one of America's great theologians.

For over forty years Stanley Hauerwas has been writing theology that matters. In this new collection of essays, lectures, and sermons, Hauerwas continues his life's work of exploring the theological web, discovering and recovering the connections necessary for the church to bear faithful witness to Christ in our complex and changing times. Hauerwas enters into conversation with a diverse array of interlocutors as he brings new insights to bear on matters theological, delves into university matters, demonstrates how lives matter, and continues in his passionate commitment to the matter of preaching. Essays by Robert Dean illumine the connections that have made Hauerwas's theological web-slinging so significant and demonstrate why Hauerwas's sermons have a crucial role to play in the recovery of a gospel-shaped homiletical imagination.

For two millennia Christians have thought about what human impairment is and how faith communities and society should respond to people with perceived impairments. But never has one volume collected the most significant Christian writings on disability. This book fills that gap. Brian Brock and John Swinton's Disability in the Christian Tradition brings together for the first time key writings by thinkers from all periods of Christian history - including Augustine, Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Calvin, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer, Barth, Hauerwas, and more. Fourteen contemporary experts in theology and disability studies guide readers through each era or group of thinkers, offering clear commentary and highlighting important themes.