A Primer in Christian Ethics: Christ and the Struggle to Live Well

by Luke Bretherton

How does Christian belief and practice relate to living well amid the difficulties of everyday life and the catastrophes and injustices that afflict so many today? In his introduction to Christian ethics, Bretherton provides a new, constructive framework for addressing this question. Connecting the theory and practice of Christian moral thought to contemporary existential concerns, this book integrates classic approaches to the pursuit of wisdom with contemporary liberationist and critical voices. The relationship between human and nonhuman life provides a central focus to the work, foregrounding environmental justice. As well as addressing a broad range of ethical questions, Bretherton situates moral formation and the pursuit of human and nonhuman flourishing alongside a concern for spirituality, pastoral care, and political struggles to survive and thrive in the contemporary context. Written for those seeking a place to start, as well as those seasoned in the field, Bretherton's book provides an innovative ethical framework that moves beyond many of the impasses that shape current moral and political debates.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Nonfiction, Christian

388 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 9, 2023

About the author

Luke Bretherton is professor of theological ethics and senior fellow of the Kenan Institute for Ethics at Duke University. Before joining the Duke faculty, he was reader in Theology & Politics and convener of the Faith & Public Policy Forum at King's College London. He has worked with a variety of faith-based NGOs, mission agencies, and churches around the world, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

Reviews

[Jack Mohr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book on ethics which keeps a strong objective of cultivating love for God and neighbor throughout. My biggest gripe with the book is that it didn’t always seem to have a consistent point or takeaway throughout. Often at the end of a chapter I wondered if the author actually had a way to practically apply what he wrote. It is hard to fault the book for this however, because Bretherton acknowledges in his epilogue that “throughout this book I raise more questions than I answer.” What I most appreciated about this book was the wide range of quotes Bretherton uses. I enjoyed the variety of perspectives from Augustine, Bonhoeffer, Gutierrez, Nietzsche etc. etc. Overall, I think that while it’s not perfect, Bretherton does a good job in this book laying down groundwork of how Christians should think about a wide range of issues, all the while providing differing opinions from both historical and contemporary thinkers.

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, this is a pretty good book. Not sure I would recommend this book as a "primer" because there are elements in here that I don't think are truly the best way to go about discussing ethics. I tend to agree that the ethics debate falls under the argument that Hauerwas and Wells make about it simply becoming a separation of Christian values and Christian practice out of fear, but also because it dilutes life to a system that revolves around rules. While Bretherton certainly knows what he is talking about, a better book to read for Christians trying to figure out how to live "the good life," would be Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer.

[Michael DeVito · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't decide if I really enjoyed reading this book. I was required to read this book for my ethics course at Messiah, otherwise I probably would not have read it. Luke Bretherton has some interesting views to say the least, and I disagree with a lot he has to say. His claim that Scripture is fallible undermines the entire purpose of the book to me, especially in moments where he puts the Word of God on the same level as listening to strangers. Christian Ethics looks very different to me than it does to Bretherton, with his focus being much more on relations and those around us rather than on following the Word of God.

Despite this, I do agree with Bretherton on what he has to say about work and how we are to live our lives in this secular world. I think he would agree that we should strive to be good citizens of our nation and good representatives of Christ in the world, whether its in our jobs, our education, or our family life.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this book for a new Christian or someone who believes they are weak in faith. You can get a lot more from other authors such as C.S. Lewis, or simply by reading Scripture.

[Janet Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christian Ethics ups the game for year 4 learners in the EFM program. Luke Bretherton goes into detail about following Jesus in all aspects of life.
I particularly appreciated the chapter on politics. As a means of crafting our lives together, politics need not be the 'dirty business' that I have recently been thinking it is.

[Chaim Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bretherton’s exercise in a newer path of doing ethics, one focused on a Christological-relational focus on neighborly interactions, feels much more tangible than traditional ethical approaches. If you have some intuition for the field already, this is a helpful, nearly comprehensive framework.
Chapter 4, “Listening to Strangers”; Chapter 10, “Virtues and Vision”; Chapter 11, “Deliberation and Judgment”; and Chapter 14; “Politics” are highly recommended.

[Mitchell Traver · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are two characteristics of this book which make it worth reading. First, it truly is a primer. The breadth of what is covered is helpful towards constructing and implementing any kind of ethical framework, especially in a public sense of the word. Second, Luke is repeatedly clear with his terms. He takes the time to define what he means, and on more than one occasion this is crucial because the chosen terms can be conflated for very different emphases. Thus, the breath and clarity presented here is quite beneficial and constructive. I would recommend this work for these reasons.

That being said, the weaknesses of the book are, ironically, the inverse. As Luke himself concedes in his epilogue, this book does create more questions than it does provide answers. At times, frustratingly so. On the other hand, while Luke clarifies his terms and is somewhat easy to follow, much of the book remains abstract. In fact, while Luke provides many examples in every chapter of what he is referring to, the examples he provides are both consistent and confusing. How so?

Well, to put it plainly, I found myself asking (by the end of the book) what exactly Luke means by “Christian”? The only consistent answer provided in the book centered on the evangel of Jesus Christ, but as many of you know, the meaning and application of such news means very different things depending on who you are asking. In sum, it felt like this book was written to deliver a right hook or two to White Evangelicals and their Fundamentalist friends who hold to doctrines like the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. I am actually an Evangelical, at least in my heritage, who believes many of these kinds of critiques are warranted. I welcome them and am listening as well as I can. What is difficult is when these critiques are so clearly one-sided that I begin to wonder if the author would be willing to drink his own medicine.

There was much in this book that is hardly the possession and confession of American Evangelicals - Luke goes so far as to directly confront the “almost unyielding emphasis in Christianity down the centuries” on marriage as a strictly male-female relationship. There are many such moves that cause me to pause, wondering if in this primer the classic fallacy of Christianity as a life versus a set of beliefs has once again been employed. For all the emphasis upon having “epistemic humility,” things got to a point where I genuinely wondered how Luke could have any confidence in his own authoritative proposal. Listening is one thing, and the total absence of certainty quite another.

For my own part, I believe the two are a unity which ought not and ultimately cannot be torn apart. I wish the clear priority upon prophetic critique would have been more robustly Catholic, and especially Confessional. The exegetical insights certainly would have profited, not to mention some of the theologizing. Again, this book brings more questions than answers. It is a good primer from a bright and able professor, nonetheless.

[Tim Curcuruto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that every single review on Goodreads comes from Messiah University Honors Ethics students lol.

In the introduction, Bretherton writes "Overall, this book explores what it means for Christians to act faithfully, lovingly, and hopefully in the contemporary Western context." If that was the man's mission, I'd say he did a great job. This is a deeply rich and meaningful work on ethics. I loved that Bretherton purposefully combines ethical and political theology, understanding how much the two blend into each other. I love that he pulls and references practically all of my theological GOATs, from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Gustavo Gutierrez to Stanley Hauerwas to Dorothy Day to even more contemporary figures like Jonathan Tran. I love that he provides answers yet leaves just enough questions for the readers to take his abstractions and try living them out in their lives themselves.

I'm not gonna be all positive in this review though. In fact, "all positive" is maybe the main issue I had with the book. There are times in the book where Bretherton is so focused on describing the goodness and beauty of what living and acting faithfully looks like (which honestly is fair) that his writing starts to feel a little utopian. This especially stood out to me in the final chapter, the one on politics, where Bretherton spends practically the entire chapter describing what great "Christian politics" looks like, without really touching much on how these ideal Christian politics fit into the current Christian and political landscapes. I'm down for "politics as a mode of neighbor love" as much as the next guy, but how can we make that a reality? This is less so an example of questions being purposefully left than confusion being left, and its at times like these were the book feels less like a primer and more like a fantasy.

That critique aside, I found this to be an excellent work on Christian ethics. Its got good, true, and beautiful written all over it. Nice work Luke. 4 stars.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this as a text for Year 4 (Christian Ethics & Spirituality) of EfM (Education for Ministry). This is an accessible and comprehensive overview (if that is such a thing) about how we live by our Christian values of love God and love neighbor. Bretherton starts out slow, laying the foundation for subsequent chapters. The last section of the book is the best in which it all comes together and (for me) the applications to my life's experience were made clear.

[Russell Sigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My knowledge of classical ethics before this book was pretty much just the trolley problem. Bretherton's book opened me up to a range of ethical frameworks, and also asked some helpful questions. He centers on the Hebrew concept of "shalom" for much of the book, which I found to be a very effective lens. If you're dumb like me, he uses some big words so that takes a little getting used to.

[Ashlyn Pendergrass · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this for Bible capstone. I didn’t enjoy it per se, but it fundamentally changed my brain, so I figured I should include a review.

Read this if you’re looking to escape legalism and think about faith in abstract ways. Don’t read it if you hate passive voice and meandering prose.

[Kristina Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclosure: I read a pre-published copy of this book, granted access by Dr. Bretherton via Intro to Christian Ethics 757 at Duke Divinity School. I look forward to its public release.