LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Book Critique:
Reviving Evangelical Ethics
Submitted to Dr. Sean Turchin, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the completion of the course,
THEO 650
Public Theology
By
Crystal E. Melville
June 14, 2020
Reviving Evangelical Ethics
In Reviving Evangelical Ethics, the author addresses the evangelical system that basically
runs and equally influences American Democracy. In the book, the author interacts with the three
ethical systems which influences morality and expose the ways in which “ethics is co-opted by
contemporary sociopolitical issues and the call to take a stand, on divisive issues that fall on the
conservative or liberal divides in the “cultural wars.” He explores the appropriation of the classic
theories to evangelical ethics. The book essentially clarifies, that the three models of morality,
virtue ethics, deontology, and teleology, are all needed to take Scripture seriously, the validity of
the church, and most importantly character formation. Though the thought that Christian ethics
needs to be revitalized is staggering, it is important to remember that Christians are humans, and
the historiography of ethics over time has exposed the ills of society which have posed a threat to
evangelism and Christian ethics. In his own words, the author writes: “More specifically, this
book is an attempt to speak about moral understandings and discourse in evangelical ethics and
to speak into a tradition in which I live and work as helpful critic (I hope) and as constructive
participant (I hope) for transformation in our moral horizons and ethical practices because of our
commitments to the God revealed particularly in the person of Jesus Christ.” (Reuschling, 2019,
p. 10).
Chapter 1
Early on the author makes his case for community, as the stronghold of virtue ethics, or
Christian ethics for that matter, her writes, “given the privileging of personal piety or “being
right with God,” virtue ethics may be narrowly construed, missing the essential components of
the ways it is formed in community, through choices, and nurtured by practical wisdom and
moral deliberation. Moral character is not guaranteed by one’s right relationship with God or by
one’s sense of personal piety. Virtues are learned, nurtured, talked about, and embodied in social
contexts”. (p. 62). From a Christian perspective the author gives attention to the three classis
theorists, namely, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill’s and Aristotle, whose central ideas and
influences, namely, duty, utility, and virtue, whose implications he finds most troubling still
offers an explanation for the Christian ethics America has come to embrace for centuries. For
example, utilitarianism, seems to be an underlying factor in the derision of Christian ethics, so it
now becomes a case of duty over ethics. How can Christians decide what is right or wrong, if
ethics aren’t in play? This is the reason for the revival! The author concludes, “I am not
contending that duties, outcomes, and virtues have no place in Christian morality. They have an
important place within the framework of understanding morality from a Christian perspective. It
is to a more prolonged engagement with these theories and how they may be manifested in
evangelical ethical practices that I now turn.” Reuschling (2019). (p. 62).
Chapter 2
The limitations of deontology (duty) are examined, as being appropriated as “just obeying
the Bible” as a universal system for morality regardless of one’s faith commitment.” The author
explores evangelicalism, the commitment to the authority of Scripture, and the unique and salvic
work of Jesus Christ. Reuschling urges the reader to understand that evangelicals are to explore
Scripture but also seek to obey the word of God in order to gain the wisdom needed to make
sound decisions. He encourages studying the Scriptures for meaning and understanding. We are
to do more than explore our own ethics but to rather trust God’s word. The author in no way
denies the importance of duty but rather leads the reader to the meaning and necessity for the
duty Christians stand on to create a nation based on solid Christian ethics. “Scripture’s authority
is taken seriously as it calls us to be certain kinds of persons, in certain kinds of communities,
living out the vision of God’s good intentions for creation made known in Christ.” (Reuschling,
2019, p. 87).
Chapter 3
In chapter 3, the author seems to point to the Kingdom Way, but appears to offer a more
individualistic approach to getting there, in that the doesn’t validate the necessity for a “personal
relationship” with God, but only seems to offer the option of developing this intimate
relationship with Christ through community. He asserts that Christian morality is based merely
on “kingdom ethics.” In other words, without a community of believers all telling their story, and
coming together to commune in Christ’s name, we will have no real relationship with Christ and
thus moral ethics will have no special meaning. Understandably so, we were all created to be in
fellowship with God, hence, Adam getting a helpmate, and the family or nation being blessed by
God through Abraham. However, we must not forget that one must come to God individually
and seek to have a personal relationship so that all other relationships will be equally as healthy.
The author redeemed himself with this statement, “My concern is not with these disputed
dimensions of the kingdom of God, but instead with its role as the means of Christian moral
formation and the ways it fosters imaginative vision and moral possibilities in helping us realize,
however sketchily, the purposes and ends of God. (Reuschling, 2019, p. 95).
Chapter 4
Chapter four of all the chapters, truly gives the reader an intimate moment to feel heard
and understood simply because the cares of the world can truly cause many to stumble. Here the
author stresses the need for prayer. Thank God. Prayer is the personal time, a person has with the
Lord to be still, hear from God, listen, and be heard. There are so many questions to ask, and so
little answers the world offers for the various ethical dilemmas. In essence virtue ethics or
personal piety, is not enough. The author explores evangelicalism deeply and discusses Gary
Domens’ the remaking of American Theology, offering four classifications for understanding
American Evangelicalism: 1. Classical evangelicalism (Scholastic and Reformed traditions), 2.
Pietistic evangelicalism (from holiness and revivalist traditions), 3. Fundamentalist
evangelicalism, which emerged from modernist/fundamentalist emerging from the late 19th and
early 20th century, and the post conservative evangelicalism and more progressive thinkers with
evangelicalism who broadened their services, and methods in hermeneutics and theology. These
classifications and their deep-rooted historical roots have birth to the five traditions which best
express the democratization of American Christianity namely:
1. Christian movement (Disciples of Christ)
2. Methodists
3. Baptists
4. Black Churches
5. Mormonism
These traditions offered common people, especially poor people seeking self-respect, and
collective self-confidence because of a historical fundamentalism response to American
Protestantism – Darwinism and rapid urbanization. (Reuschling, 2019, p.17)
So, what does this all mean? Remember, the cares of the world? This is what the author
urges us in chapter 4 to pray about. The history of our nation, rests on the many classes of
thought, and religious faiths, which all have an influence on morality, and Christian ethics. No
wonder we are having such a hard time today deciding what is right or wrong, and who deserves
our allegiance. The author is saying to simply trust and obey God. The author is saying here, this
is where the rubber meets the road. “The kind of people we are matters to God. Who we are
informs the decisions we make and how we act in the world. This also matters to God.”
(Reuschling, 2019, p. 120).
Chapter 5
In chapter 5, the author brings home a powerful message, essentially, when all else fails,
one’s moral conscience is a reflection of how they make decisions not only for themselves but
for others, thus the world is affected by the revival or lack thereof, of one’s moral code. He
states, “Christian moral reflection is a demanding and important responsibility for the church.
The stakes are high. It requires more from us than just duty, just results, and just personal piety.”
(p. 143). “Deontology, or duty, is an important criterion for articulating the nature of our
responsibilities and commitments to others.” (p. 143). “Teleology, which places the moral weight
on the consequences and outcomes of decisions, is also an important consideration for moral
reflection. We ought to be concerned about the impact our actions and decisions have on others,
what goods they may produce, and what harms they may avert or minimize.” (p. 144). “Virtue
ethics concentrates on the relationship between one’s character and the moral quality of one’s
behavior as a product of one’s character.” (p. 144). Here, the author brings us to the need to
examine the conscience, but not to cancel the models previously spoken of, but to use all of them
as tools, however, secondary to the conscience, the master tool in which we all use daily, to
determine right from wrong.
Conclusion
In an effort to help ministers, develop a more fully biblical approach to ethics, the author
asks the reader to take the Bible at face value, to read it, digest it and apply to everyday life. He
concludes powerfully, “scripture shapes our conscience by forcing us to face reality if the Bible
is actually read.[13] The Bible is a raw book. It does not sanitize the human condition, the
destructive tendencies of human communities, or the rampant evil of the world. The situations
the scriptures describe are our situations. Ethical problems and moral issues are found on the
pages of the Bible itself, as stories of rape, murder, sexual exploitation, abusive religious and
political power, nationalistic war, racism, genocides, executions, tribal conflict, betrayals, and
palace intrigue, to name just a few, are described in excruciating detail. These are our stories. We
do not have to make this stuff up, because it is recounted for us, in our sacred history, in the
pages of scripture. And we have seen these issues over and over again in human history.
Scripture does not shield us from unpleasantness, neither does it give us permission to shirk our
moral complicities in the intricacies and interdependencies of the human drama. In fact, it forces
us to face the degrees of evil and moral bankruptcy by naming them, an important first step in
the development of conscience as we see these are not “their” issues but ours.” (Reuschling
2019, p. 151). Hence, the Bible is the supreme authority and is the only means recommended to
establish sound Christian ethics to live by and share with others. The Bible is the authority in
evangelism, for it the word of God which teaches, corrects, convicts and transforms the human
mind, cleansed the heart and offers the minister a clear path to true evangelism by the power of
the Holy Spirit. So, it is all well to value virtue, duty and utility, but if all three aren’t rooted in
the word of God, and carried out in faith, then it’s all for naught.
The Apostle Paul knew about this all too well, he exclaims: “If I speak in the tongues of
men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I
have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a
faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the
poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not
dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they
will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we
prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child,
I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put
the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall
see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians
13:1-13).”
