Ethics in Religion Commons^™

The Decalogue Of Justice: A Covenantal Application Of Biblical Justice, Andrew Mark Adil

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation aims to establish a biblical theology of justice (מִשְׁפָּט), ascertaining the commands and references to justice in Scripture are comprehensively and exclusively rooted in the Moral Law of the Torah, summarized in the Ten Commandments, and embedded in the Covenant of Grace (Old and New), making it binding on New Covenant believers and inextricably attached to the church’s Great Commission mandate. To this end, the study examines the concept of justice in the OT and the Moral Law, contrasting Reformed evangelical hermeneutics with the modern iteration of Liberation Theology in connection with the application of biblical justice. Additionally, …

Bishops In The Catholic Peace Tradition, Ronald G. Musto

The Journal of Social Encounters

This brief survey takes a historical perspective on the role of Catholic bishops in global peacemaking. Building on my previous work 1 and more recent research, it focuses on the roles of bishop as teacher, ruler, and minister of the sacraments and on the interplay between prophetic protest and institutional authority. It covers the origins of the bishop’s office, the development o f prophetic protest and rule in episcopal peacemaking in the early church and Middle Ages, including the Peace and Truce of God. It then turns to early modern peacemaking and the influence of humanist thinkers on Latin American …

Ecumenical Diplomacy: The Art Of Welcoming Dialogue For The Sake Of Mutual Christian Collaboration Toward Peacemaking, Justice, And Ethical Citizenship, Tiffanie Paige Wilson

Doctor of Ministry

The project was developed in response to the NPO: How can we become proficient in better listening to and learning from each other to understand the ethical and intellectual commitment and stakes behind theological, political, and social perspectives different from our own? In a pluralistic society, such deep understanding is necessary to enable working together toward ecumenical diplomacy. A key insight emerging from research was just how impactful the path of ecumenical diplomacy would be for participants. People are truly weary of the polarization experienced in the United States, particularly theologically and politically, and are eager to learn a new …

An Angry Shepherd: Sudanese Bishop Macram Max Gassis, John Ashworth

The Journal of Social Encounters

Bishop Macram Max Gassis is a near-legendary figure in Sudan since he first spoke out against human rights abuses in his country before a committee of the US Congress in 1988. Targeted by the Islamist military dictatorship which ruled Sudan for thirty years, for protesting enslavement, religious oppression, forced starvation and mass murder in Sudan, he lives in exile, bringing help and hope to his persecuted people.

This essay is condensed from the 2021 book by the same author with the same title.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, And The Quest For Justice And Reconciliation, Hak Joon Lee

The Journal of Social Encounters

This paper studies Marin Luther King, Jr.’s and Desmond Tutu’s strivings for justice and reconciliation as the leaders of movements against white racist systems in the US and South Africa. Despite their differences in terms of nationality, age, religious denomination, and geography, the paper demonstrates how King’s and Tutu’s quests were grounded in the distinctive communal ethics informed by their Christian faith and their shared spiritual heritage as African peoples, which emphasize community, the ubiquity of religion, the moral order of the universe, and hopefulness. Contrasting their communal approach to a secular rational ethical approach to justice and peace, the …

“Even The Dark Is Light To You”: Reconsidering The Doctrine Of Sin And The Problem Of Evil, Chris E. W. Green

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

How did evil come to be? Who is to blame for it? Why did God allow it to happen? Familiar answers, and the traditional doctrines that they represent, can and often have been understood—and perhaps more often misunderstood—to bad, even disastrous effects. So, after a brief sketch of the traditional Augustinian doctrine of evil as received through John Wesley’s teaching, which in one form or another shaped the deep structures of American Pentecostal theology and spirituality, I propose an alternative, one that holds that evil is truly nonsensical and so inexplicable; that no one is to blame for its advent, …

Implementing Christlike Love In The Johnson Grove Baptist Church, Robert Lee Sullivan Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This research project was paramount, the title expressed the vision and purpose of the researcher as an under-shepherd of Christ. Implementing Christlike Love was not just designed for this church, but the key principle that was used in this project can inspire others. The problem addressed was a lack of true Christlike love in this church. Believers assumed that loving others would be automatic but loving like Christ requires God’s help. The purpose of this project was to appraise and resolve the perceived lack of Christlike love within the Johnson Grove Baptist Church. This researcher sought to provide a remedy …

On Revelation, Faith, And Justice, Joseph Penny

Obsculta

Defined as the relational self-disclosure of Godself, divine revelation has the potential to propel us ever deeper into the mystery of the crucified God. In a faith-filled response to the Paschal Mystery's salvific and liberating promise, we can traverse the ontological gap between humanity and divinity, but how does this embodied revelation influence the trajectory of social justice? This paper embarks on a methodological endeavor to articulate the purpose of divine revelation.

Following The Example Of Monseñor Romero: Following The Way Of Jesus Christ, Macy Genenbacher

Say Something Theological: The Student Journal of Theological Studies

To truly follow Christ requires more than a profession of belief; following Christ requires a commitment to walking in his footsteps, acting as he did. As a follower of Christ, one must commit themselves to bearing the fruit of Jesus’s legacy, which requires one to look honestly at the reality of the world and the injustices that exist. The life of Monseñor Óscar Romero provides an example for following the model of Jesus Christ. Romero’s own life and ministry in El Salvador bore the fruit of Jesus’s legacy. In dedicating his life to the people, especially those on the periphery, …

Should We Be Just, Loving Or Both? Understanding The Relationship Of Justice And Love, Edwin B. Odulio

Theology Department Faculty Publications

In this article, I argue that the relationship of justice and love can be seen and understood through the prophets’ message in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ manifestation and proclamation of the Kingdom of God. This relationship is continuously affirmed by the Church, in particular, through its Catholic social teachings. The love for God and God’s people is the essence of the human beings’ commitment to work for justice while living out justice is the concrete manifestation of humanity’s response to their loving relationship with God and one another.

Book Review: Was Yosef On The Spectrum By Samuel J. Levine, Ian Hale, Ph.D.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sheathing The Sword: Augustine And The Good Judge, Veronica Roberts Ogle

Philosophy Department Faculty Works

In this article, I offer a reading of City of God 19.6 that is consonant with Augustine’s message to real judges. Often read as a suggestion that torture and execution are judicially necessary, I argue that 19.6 actually calls such necessities into question, though this is not its primary purpose; first and foremost, 19.6 is an indictment of Stoic apatheia. Situating 19.6 within Augustine’s larger polemic against the Stoics, I find that it presents the Stoic judge as a man who lacks fellow feeling, and therefore, has only a parodic happiness, costly to himself and those judges. A new …

The Heart Of Justice: An Augustinian Ethic Of Relational Responsibility, Kathleen Bonnette

Th.D. Dissertations

This dissertation is a response to current justice-thinking that emphasizes fairness, equality and autonomy but neglects the internal aspects of justice – its character as a virtue. By not attending to the heart of justice, I argue, this thinking reduces justice to an anemic concept that is ineffective in promoting flourishing. Thus, I suggest an affective and relational approach to justice that grounds justice in love and the pursuit of right relations. The Augustinian doctrine of rightly ordered loves and modern Catholic social teaching provide the foundation for my account.

Chapter one examines the liberal accounts of John Rawls and …

Research And Reality: Towards Responsible Medical Research For Catholic Universities, Michael Patrick Mccarthy

Dissertations

It is frequently noted that 90% of medical research stands to benefit only 10% of the population. While others dispute the numbers, there is little doubt that disparities exist in the global agenda for medical research. One needs no clearer example of research—not to mention public health and health care delivery—disparities than the Ebola outbreak that plagues West Africa. Despite these disparities, Catholic universities continue to engage in the social practice of medical research that deviates very little from the national funding priorities established through the National Institute for Health.

This dissertation argues that these unjust disparities are perpetuated by …

Discretely Stealing Dignity? Ownership And The Ideas Of Rerum Novarum, Anna-Kay Dayes

Obsculta

No abstract provided.

Just Water: A Feminist Catholic Response To The Commodification Of Water, Rachel Noelle Hart Winter

Dissertations

Any Catholic ecological ethic today that does not focus sustained attention to our worldwide water crisis is inadequate, for it fails to engage one of today's core social justice violations and neglects to offer any moral guidance for one of the human family's most pressing challenges. A responsible Catholic approach to water justice that addresses the problems stemming from a commodified view of water must be informed by ecofeminist concerns and by the Catholic social justice tradition of moral reasoning. As populations grow and water sources run dry, access to water has become a pressing ethical issue. Today, nearly one …

Protest, Alexandria Abel

PTRS Undergraduate Publications

Protest is a method used to oppose power or enact change. It is a multifaceted idea in that the type of protest used depends directly on the attainability of the goal. I will discuss the properties of protest and then show how individuals in Enrique’s Journey and Dorothy Day's Loaves and Fishes approach the act of protesting differently based on the actuality of the goals to be accomplished.

Rethinking Nation-Building: A Christian Socio-Ethical And Theo-Political Task For Appropriating The Common Good, Artemus Wlemongar Gaye

Dissertations

nation-building as a coomon good

Marx And The Bible: José Miranda’S Critique Of The Philosophy Of Oppression, James Shields

Faculty Journal Articles

This paper critically examines the liberation theology of José Porfirio Miranda, as expressed in his Marx and the Bible (1971), with a focus on the central idea (and subtitle) of this work: the “Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression.” Miranda’s critique is examined via certain key tropes such as “power,” “justice,” and “freedom,” both in the context of late twentieth-century Latin American society, and in the state of the “post-Christian” and “post-Marxist” world more generally, vis-à-vis contemporary liberal justice theory. Close examination of the potentialities, paradoxes and subtle evasions in Miranda’s critique leads not to the conclusion that Miranda does …