Christian Ethics in Plain Language

by Kerby Anderson

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to Christian ethics, suitable for individual study or textbook use in a Bible college or seminary. The first four chapters survey of the field of Christian ethics before focusing on specific issues. Eighteen chapters confront all of the issues faced by believers today, including a discussion of racial issues that goes beyond black and white, business ethics on this side of Enron, and war and international relations in light of today's headlines.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Gage Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly - there are so many problematic things with this book I don’t have time to unpack them. Suffice to say - he operates from a desire to go back to the 1950s lifestyle and defines his basis for morality from that. He then introduces a series of characteristics that are fruits of how he defines Christian ethics but then doesn’t use the foundation in any way to unpack the issues he pushes back against in the rest of the book.

Not helpful. Please don’t read this to understand Christian Ethics.

[Geovanna Toliver · Rating 1 out of 5]

When the book begins with lies in regards to statistics, that's when you put the book down. The author lies about the number of abortions in comparison to other surgical procedures. I'm a Christian and I'm not for abortion, but I'm more against a "Christian" who begins his book with lies. Don't waste your time.

[Zak Metz · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want someone else to tell you what your ethics should be, this book will do that. If you back off a bit from his conclusions, you can think it through for yourself. He makes a lot of good points, but some of it has not aged well.

[Stephen Bedard · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not really a presentation of Christian ethics but rather an examination of certain issues from a conservative evangelical perspective. Many would agree with the author's interpretations but would still lack the fundamentals of a Christian ethic.

[Todd Luallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but sweet chapters on Christian ethics. Some chapters seem a bit dated already because technology has been moving so fast, but there's plenty of good information.

[Dax Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very outdated and very conservative views. But has a few nuggets in there.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer Alert: I work with Kerby at Probe, and went through youth group with his kids, so obviously I am going to be biased.

One of Kerby's strengths, whether he is writing for radio or writing books, is his ability to communicate clearly. Ethics can be a difficult subject; not as abstract as philosophy, has an analytical bent, needs to be based on some set of morals. Kerby does a great job of first helping the reader understand the various ethical categories. From there, he takes the reader through a history of Christian ethics, which helps us to understand how we make decisions. The last half of the book is a pull no punches look at various ethical issues that Christians (and everyone really) face in today's world -- from IVF to drugs to premaritial sex. I would recommend this book to just about anybody because the content is rich, but the writing is very graspable.