Oliver O'Donovan Book order

The capstone lectures of esteemed ethicist Oliver O'Donovan What is the future of ethics? Oliver O'Donovan addresses a discipline in crisis in The Disappearance of Ethics. Based on the 2021 Gifford Lectures, this book contends that contemporary ethics has lost its object (good), frontier (time), and agent (person). O'Donovan traces the development of these concepts from Greek philosophy through early Christianity, the Enlightenment, and into the modern era. Engaging with a range of thinkers including Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Max Scheler, Karl Barth, and more, O'Donovan shows how ethics has lost its heart and how the field can regain its purpose. He completes his lectures by integrating theology and philosophy to recover ethics. Contemplating theological concepts such as creation, divine law, and justification undergirds ethics by generating "existential wonder." With characteristic warmth and scholarly precision, O'Donovan reinvigorates ethical argument with theological insight. Scholars and students of Christian ethics will find his lectures equally provocative and inspiring.

Oliver O'Donovan's Ethics as Theology project began with Self, World, and Time, an "induction" into Christian ethics as ordered reflection on moral thinking within the life of faith. Volume 2, Finding and Seeking, shifted the focus to the movement of moral thought from a first consciousness of agency to the time that determines the moment of decision. In this third and final volume of his magnum opus, O'Donovan turns his attention to the forward horizon with which moral thinking must engage. Moral experience, he argues, is necessarily two-directional, looking both back at responsibility and forward at aims. The Pauline triad of theological virtues (faith, love, and hope) describes a form of responsibility, and its climax in the sovereignty of love opens the way to a definitive teleology. Entering into Rest offers O'Donovan's mature reflections on questions that have engaged him throughout his career and provides a synoptic view of many of his main themes.

This is the second of three volumes in Oliver O Donovan s masterful Ethics as Theology project. In his first volume -- Self, World, and Time -- O Donovan discusses Christian ethics as an intellectual discipline in relation to the humanities, especially philosophy, theology, and behavioral studies, and in relation to the Christian gospel. In Finding and Seeking O Donovan traces the logic of moral thought from self-awareness to decision through the virtues of faith, hope, and love. Blending biblical, historico-theological, and contemporary ideas in its comprehensive survey, this second volume continues O Donovan s splendid study in ethics as theology and adds significantly to his previous theoretical reflection on Christian ethics.

Self, World, and Time takes up the question of the form and matter of Christian ethics as an intellectual discipline. What is it about? How does Christian ethics relate to the humanities, especially philosophy, theology, and behavioral studies? How does its shape correspond to the shape of practical reason? In what way does it participate in the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Oliver O'Donovan discusses ethics with self, world, and time as foundation poles of moral reasoning, and with faith, love, and hope as the virtues anchoring the moral life. Blending biblical, historico-theological, and contemporary ideas in its comprehensive survey, Self, World, and Time is an exploratory study that adds significantly to O'Donovan's previous theoretical reflections on Christian ethics.

Exploring the Thirty-Nine Articles alongside the Book of Common Prayer, this work delves into the historical context of Anglican theology during a pivotal century. Oliver O'Donovan connects the insights of Tudor authors to contemporary issues, addressing fundamental questions about God, humanity, and redemption. This new edition responds to calls for updated discourse, featuring a fresh introduction that engages with recent theological developments, making it accessible for a new generation of readers interested in Anglican identity.

Exploring the intersection of faith and sexuality, this book delves into the complexities of the gay experience within the church. It challenges both gay and non-gay Christians to reflect on how social contexts shape sensibilities and the implications for living a life devoted to God. By examining the historical conditions that inform these experiences, it calls for a deeper understanding and acknowledgment of diverse identities in the context of discipleship, ultimately seeking a harmonious way to witness God's works in contemporary society.

What if the challenge gay men and women present the church with is not emancipatory but hermeneutic? Suppose that at the heart of the problem there is the magna quaestio, the question about the gay experience, its sources and its character, that gays must answer for how this form of sensibility and feeling is shaped by its social context and how it can be clothed in an appropriate pattern of life for the service of God and discipleship of Christ? But suppose, too, that there is another question corresponding to it, which non-gay Christians need to how and to what extent this form of sensibility and feeling has emerged in specific historical conditions, and how the conditions may require, as an aspect of the pastoral accommodation that changing historical conditions require, a form of public presence and acknowledgment not hitherto known? These two questions come together as a single how are we to understand together the particularity of the age in which we are given to attest God's works?

Exploring the complex nature of self-love, the book delves into St. Augustine of Hippo's perspective, highlighting its duality as both an expression of love for God and a potential form of hatred. It examines the universal tendency of self-love while emphasizing the necessity of aligning it with divine love. The text presents conflicting assertions about self-love, prompting a deep reconciliation of these ideas and their implications for understanding human relationships with God and oneself.

This work offers a fresh perspective on political theology, emphasizing a constructive approach that engages with Christian tradition. It explores the intersections of faith and politics, aiming to provide insights that are both relevant and transformative in contemporary discourse. The author delves into how theological concepts can inform political thought and action, making it a significant contribution to the field for those interested in the relationship between religion and politics.

Focusing on Christian political ethics, this collection of 16 lectures examines political acts and institutions through a secular lens. Delivered by O'Donovan at St. Mary's Church, the discussions prioritize political questions over theological ones, providing a unique perspective on moral and pastoral theology. The lectures delve into the complexities of judgment within political contexts, offering insights into how Christian principles can inform political engagement and institutional frameworks.