Theological Ethics Research Articles

After the Graded Sermon: “Ungrading” as Theo‐Ethical Practice for Homiletics

ABSTRACTThis article considers how the practice of “ungrading” in the homiletics classroom can function not merely as a pedagogical technique, but as a theo‐ethical practice. Grounding ungrading in theological ethics in addition to critical pedagogical theory can lead us toward a pedagogical practice that builds anti‐racist and decolonial spaces in theological education. Drawing on Willie James Jennings' After Whiteness and Keri Day's Notes of a Native Daughter, the article seeks to name how ungrading in the homiletics classroom can operate as a small measure by which we might move theological education into that which “follow[s] God in building toward life” and “opens the joy of not knowing inside the joy of learning together”.

Secular and Theological Ethics: A Brief Overview

Ethics is a study which deals fundamentally with the rules of conduct from moral point of view. The main characteristic of ethics is to judge the value of moral act or moral conduct. Therefore, ethics means a code of conduct. The history of the development of morality grew through a long process of evolution of certain morality like ‘taboos’, habits and customs in the primitive society. There are two broad divisions of ethics i. e., secular ethics and theological ethics. The history of the development of secular ethics flourished through four periods i. e., the Greek ethics, the Medieval ethics, the Modern ethics and the Contemporary ethics. Each period has its own prominent characteristics. Moreover, the history of theological ethics grew with the rise of different religions like Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Morality has been developed during the period of more than two thousand years. Within this long span of time, many doctrines, ideas and values are included in it. Hence, morality takes different shapes in different periods and ethical views also develop accordingly. In this article, an attempt has been made to show a gradual development of morality- secular and theological. Again, the similarities and the dissimilarities between secular and theological ethics are the additional concerns of this paper. Philosophy and Progress, Vol#73-74; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2023 P 59-94

Theological ethics expressed through Setswana proverbs: Another way of decolonising theology

he intention of this article is to demonstrate that theological ethics as a discipline can be expressed through some Setswana proverbs and idioms, which is another way of decolonising theology in Africa. Decolonising theology through African proverbs in expressing ethics is another way of decolonising theology since the philosophical elucidations and the meaning embedded in proverbs does not easily change over time. Proverbs are important in the substantiation of philosophical claims, and therefore are a powerful tool for education and moral formation in all sectors of society. The method used in this research is a literature study, as the main tool to gather the information of these proverbs and how they are educatively used in ethical and moral decision-making. The objective of this article is not just to define the proverbs but to point out that African folklore is rich with moral and ethical instructions. Methodologically, various proverbs are quoted to indicate that individuals are responsible for self-development when it comes to ethical and moral formation. The same sentiment prevails that an individual is a member of the community, and that as an individual he or she achieves higher goals of life not in isolation but through the contribution of the community. Application of these Setswana proverbs is didactive when considering an individual’s development and achievement, the importance of community involvement, and the complementarity where an individual cannot live in isolation. The conclusion is made that there is still some hope that although ethics and morality are dwindling in African cultural fabrics, African preachers should embark on popularisation of proverbs, promote school curricula that include proverbs, and articulate theological ethics through proverbs.Contribution: This is an interdisciplinary study engaging disciplines such as linguistics, history, ethics, theology, anthropology, sociology, and communications. This study shows the richness of Setswana proverbs in articulating theological ethics. It shows that proverbs in African languages can be used to unwrap theology from western clutches and make it relevant to the African context. It makes a remarkable contribution towards a theological decolonial project.

A holistic ubuntu artificial intelligence ethics approach in South Africa

Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most spoken-about topics in the media, academia, government and other platforms. One of the aspects that is often discussed is the ethical implications of AI and approaches to mitigate the risks. Artificial intelligence has an undeniable impact on industries as well as socio-economic structures; however, this article focusses on the impact of AI on three concerns mainly, humanity, spirituality and the environment. This article is an interdisciplinary study of African theological ethics and the philosophy of technology. It discusses the theological implications (doctrinal issues) of emerging technologies, particularly AI. It discusses technology as power which has impacted Africa since the first industrial revolution and emphasises the importance of African ethics in the context of AI in Africa. This article critically discusses ubuntu ethics and its critique. It focuses on AI and its impact on humanity, spirituality and the environment, and proposes a holistic ubuntu AI ethics approach in South Africa.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article is an interdisciplinary study of African theological ethics and the philosophy of technology. Ubuntu ethics in this article derives from African Theology and African Philosophy. Ubuntu AI ethics is important for various disciplines such as theology, law, social sciences, computer sciences and information technology (especially designers and developers).

An Evaluation of Controversial Statements in Etica Teologica Della Vita.

The teachings of the Catholic Church on human sexuality, contraception and the treatment of infertility are well established and clearly explained in many Church documents, including Humanae vitae and Familiaris consortio. In 2022, a book was published in Italian which reported on a seminar organised by an Academy of the Catholic Church about the ethics of life. Titled the Theological Ethics of Life (abbreviated 'ETV' in Italian), the conclusion of chapter VII contains statements about contraception and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) which, though somewhat difficult to interpret, appear to be controversial with regard to accepted Church teaching on these subjects. This paper presents a detailed analysis by a group of Australian Catholic doctors and ethicists of an English translation of paragraphs 172 and 173 of ETV and concludes that they contain statements which deviate from and contradict accepted Catholic teaching on contraception and ART. The authors also claim that a thorough up-to-date knowledge and understanding of suitable current alternatives to contraception and ART (e.g. in-vitro fertilization, IVF) which are safe, effective, readily accessible and consistent with Catholic ethics appears to be lacking in paragraphs 172 and 173 of ETV. The authors suggest a better understanding of currently available methods to assist with fertility care, aided by input from Catholic medical experts working in the areas of Fertility Awareness Methods (FAMs) and Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) would better inform ongoing debates about contraception and ART within the Church and be of service to the Faithful who should be encouraged to pursue these alternatives which are both effective and consistent with Church teaching on human sexuality and morals.

Eco-justice and human well-being in Ghana’s artisanal mining communities: towards a theological ethic of sustainable community

ABSTRACT The negative effects of Ghana’s artisanal mining industry on the sustainability of the natural environment and community life, exemplifies the dilemma of the protracted relationship between the quest for human well-being and sustainability of communities. Nevertheless, sustainable communities are crucial if the flourishing of the natural environment and engendering of human well-being would be attained. Indeed, within the indigenous African community, one is not pursued without the other, for both occur in tandem to ensure the sustainability and well-being of community. Drawing on secondary sources on artisanal mining and its drivers – human livelihoods and wellbeing – as against their social and environmental effects, this article sets out to offer an eco-justice analysis of the relationship between the quest for human wellbeing through artisanal mining and sustainable communities towards a constructive eco-justice theological ethics of sustainable community for Christian ecological praxis in the context of artisanal mining.

Recognizing Collectives as Moral Agents

Until recently, discussions on moral agency focused almost exclusively on the individual moral subject. Recognizing that social structures and cultures influence human subjects but do not have agency, this article argues that we must now recognize the moral agency of organized collectives. Invoking the work of philosophers and other theologians who already do, this article turns to theological ethicists writing on community organizing, racism, and social virtues, and, finally, to feminists engaging moral luck and intersectionality to illustrate the importance of collective moral agency. It concludes by describing qualifications for estimating the ethical agency of such collectives.

Human Beings and Ethics in the Thought of Herbert McCabe

Abstract Cartesian pictures of the human self and act-centred understandings of ethics dominate modern thought. Throughout his work, Herbert McCabe challenges these, and as such remains an important resource for philosophical and theological ethics. This paper lays out McCabe’s philosophical anthropology, showing how he draws on Wittgenstein to revive a Thomist account of the human person. It then shows how this anthropology feeds into a philosophical ethics, focused on human flourishing and the possibility of life being meaningful. This, in turn, underwrites a theological ethics, according to which the human person flourishes ultimately through graced participation in the divine life. The paper concludes with a discussion of McCabe’s account of faith as participation in the divine self-knowledge.

A critical analysis of ubuntu as the nexus of identity development in present-day Africa

In African society today, ubuntu as a notion of African humanism has been, and still is, subject to critical discussion. In African literature, philosophy, ethics, anthropology and theology, ubuntu plays a vast role and scholars in Africa and globally find the notion highly debated. The concept of identity development on the African continent has been written about broadly. This article unpacks the ubuntu philosophies of Augustine Shutte, Kwame Gyekye and John Mbiti. The views of these scholars will be contrasted to critically engage the conceivable commonalities for identity development through cultures. The question addressed herein is: What are the similarities and dissimilarities of ubuntu as a cornerstone for identity development in modern Africa? This article also examines the divergent definition and historical development of ubuntu culture, ubuntu philosophy of identity development, environmental development and various thinkers’ understanding of this African worldview in current Africa and further afield.Contribution: This research contributes to African theological ethics of the new landscape identity and explores the ubuntu worldviews as a developmental process of identities across cultures. Since identity development across cultures is highly dynamic, the hermeneutical interpretation of the principles of ubuntu is crucial.

Book Review: A History of Catholic Theological Ethics by James F. Keenan, SJ

Book Review: <i>A History of Catholic Theological Ethics</i> by James F. Keenan, SJ

Review of Daniel J. Fleming, James Keenan, SJ, and Hans Zollner, SJ, eds., Doing Theology and Theological Ethics in the Face of the Abuse Crisis

Review of Daniel J. Fleming, James Keenan, SJ, and Hans Zollner, SJ, eds., Doing Theology and Theological Ethics in the Face of the Abuse Crisis

Review of James F. Keenan, SJ, A History of Catholic Theological Ethics

Review of James F. Keenan, SJ, A History of Catholic Theological Ethics

Overlooked by the Spirit-filled: Womanist Pentecostalism and the case of the Hellenistic widows

ABSTRACT From its inception until now, Pentecostalism has thrived among Black communities, women and those experiencing socio-economic deprivation. Pentecostal theological ethicists have dealt in some ways with the themes of race, class and gender but often as single issues, meaning that Black women, who exist at the intersections, can be overlooked. Womanist ethics has a particular contribution to make to Pentecostal theology and Pentecostal studies since womanists centre the Spirit, as well as the lived experiences and faith of Black women in a world (and churches) marked indelibly by racism, sexism and classism. Given the centrality of the Bible in Black Pentecostal women’s spirituality, in this article, I examine the case of the Hellenistic widows in Acts 6 which illustrates the importance of Pentecostal womanism for critiquing the problems of race, gender and class, that shape even the Spirit-filled community not only in the early church but also today.

Theological Ethics in the National Curriculum (Presenting a Moral-Educational Model of Human Relationship with God)

Theological Ethics in the National Curriculum (Presenting a Moral-Educational Model of Human Relationship with God)

Examples of conceptualisation of morality in emerging Christianity

Against the background of current interdisciplinary discussions in philosophical and theological ethics and discourses on morality, this interdisciplinary essay explored the conceptualisation of morality in emerging Christianity. It illustrated how the early Sayings Source Q and the Gospel according to Mark recollect Jesus of Nazareth’s reception of the Jewish Torah. Then it sketched how Paul’s understanding of God’s and Christ’s compassion serves as guide to integrate basic notions from Hellenistic ethic in his moral exhortation.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Taking cognisance of modern discussions on ethics and morality, the essay placed Early Christian morality within the context of the Law (Jewish Studies) and highlighted Christian reception of virtues in the Graeco-Roman world as studied by ancient philosophy. In conceptualising morality, emerging Christianity borrowed cardinal moral guidelines from its social environment. This foundational procedure studied by the History of the Early Church (within its Jewish and Graeco-Roman context) can serve as a model for Systematic Theology and Ethics to guide contemporary Christianity in their adaptation of moral principles from their cultural environment.

Teaching Christian Ethics Beyond Europe and North America: From a Postgraduate Research Seminar to a Theology of Listening

This article explores the process of teaching Christian theological ethics beyond the common focus on European and North American sources. In conversation with moves to decolonise university curricula, the article proposes a theology of listening, an example of a research seminar for master’s and doctoral students at the University of Aberdeen on Christian ethics beyond Europe and North America, and an exploration of broader challenges for the formation of the theologian. The article asks, what can we learn when we give up power and control when teaching and learning theology? How can we shift our methods of knowing and practising theology? We write as theologians from India, Mexico, and the United States living in the United Kingdom. We reflect on forms of exclusion in theological method and formation that arise from colonising, systemic violence, and inequalities. The article considers intercultural challenges when encountering different methods of reflection on the Christian experience. In a search for a more profoundly theological approach, we propose listening to the other as integral to doing theology. In an intercultural move, we draw on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's theology of listening, proposing that theology must be an advent of voices from beyond our usual places and methods.

Just Good Enough to Eat? Animals in Theological Ethics Approaches

The way humans treat animals is ambivalent: we bury our pets in animal cemeteries, and we slaughter and eat others. Even though the use of animals and coexistence with them has shaped people’s lives since time immemorial, Theology has long misjudged the importance of a theological reflection on animals. This has also led to blind spots in theological ethics. In the meantime, there are not only important approaches to a theology that takes animals into account but also a range of approaches within Catholic moral theology has been developed that seek to do justice to the intrinsic value of animals. They require a profound change in the human-animal relationship in the light of the Christian faith and call for more humane treatment of animals. This article presents the most important of those approaches from the German-speaking region and attempts to show common concerns but also different figures of argumentation.

Revival of Ancient Questions: Current Developments in Theological Animal Ethics

Since the middle of the 19th century, animal husbandry has been industrialised and subdued to economic efficiency to an unsurpassable degree. Animals as living beings and fellow creatures have largely fallen by the wayside. Whereas philosophical ethics has reflected this situation critically since the 1970s, theological ethics entered the debate only with a notable delay in the 2010s and was enormously fostered by the encyclical Laudato si’ in 2015. The article discusses different theological approaches to animal ethics and links it with the origins of Christian animal ethics in the patristic era. Finally, it focuses attention on the most debated controversy in animal ethics, namely meat consumption, and argues for the postponing of this question in favour of progress in animal welfare.

Book Review: Doing Theology and Theological Ethics in the Face of the Abuse Crisis

Book Review: Doing Theology and Theological Ethics in the Face of the Abuse Crisis

Firearms and Moral Theology: A Response

In this article the author, who has experienced gun violence professionally, while working in law enforcement, and personally, when his daughter was in a school shooting, responds to the articles published within this special issue. Throughout, the author offers his own reflections, drawn from these experiences and from his own scholarly work, sometimes reinforcing points made by these authors, as well as at times raising questions, suggesting further considerations, or offering constructive criticisms. In the end, he encourages, inspired by James F. Keenan, SJ’s plenary address at the 2009 convention of the CTSA, the authors and other theological ethicists “to expand our circle of readers” by writing for “more public, less academic audiences.”