Focus very much on ethics through study of the Christian tradition, starting from Scripture and through Fathers, medieval and Reformation with a large final section on 20th century Christian ethics. [Based on 1st edition from 1993]

Wogaman's book is an overview of the history of Christian theological ethics. He starts and ends by reflecting on six tensions he finds in Biblical and church ethics. These are tensions between: revelation and reason; materialism and the life of the spirit; universalism and group identity; grace and law; love and force; and equality and status. Wogaman finds that each pole in these tensions is a legitimate and appropriate expression of theological orthodoxy, and that it is part of the life of the Christian to hold them in tension. Throughout history each tension has come to the fore at different times and left us a rich legacy of thought and reflection on how the Christian lives into the tension, without necessarily resolving it. Ultimately, the lean of this book is toward the individual spiritual life of the Christian as the domain of ethical consideration. For me this is too narrowly focused. The life of the Christian is lived in the church and the whole people of God, and ethics is properly the domain of this body, formed of clay though it be. ( )