Virtue Ethics in the Letter to Titus: An Interdisciplinary Study. Kontexte Und Normen Neutestamentlicher Ethik (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Zum Neuen Testament 2.reihe, 13)

"Dogara Ishaya Manomi analyzes and identifies the characteristics of (neo-)Aristotelian virtue ethics that are implicitly and explicitly embedded in the linguistic elements, theological motifs, and ethical norms in the letter to Titus. He argues that (neo-)Aristotelian virtue ethics and the ethical perspectives of Titus share the following features: a sense of a moral telos that leads to human flourishing; emphasis on character, habits, and inner dispositions; focus on the morality of persons more than the morality of actions; commitment to moral perfectionism; particularity of moral agents; the concept of moral exemplar; a concern for character development through training or moral education; and a consideration of the moral significance of community. The author concludes, therefore, that there is a significant correlation between (neo-)Aristotelian virtues ethics and the ethical perspectives of the letter to Titus, to the extent that the letter to Titus can be described as a virtue-ethical text. Moreover, his research concludes that the virtue-ethical perspectives of Titus, in comparison with African ethics, have foundational and narrative differences, yet they share some important similarities. However, through progressive hermeneutical negotiations, concessions, appropriations, and application between the two virtue-ethical perspectives, there emerges a new virtue-ethical horizon described as »African Biblical Virtue Ethics,« which is, as accountable as possible, faithful to the virtue-ethical perspectives of Titus and »at home« to African Christian ethics. This study was awarded the prestigious Johannes Gutenberg Dissertation Prize" Cover Title Dedication Acknowledgments Table of Contents List of Abbreviations List of Tables and Figures Chapter 1: Description of Concepts and Methodology 1.1 Authorship of the Letter to Titus: Hermeneutical and Methodological Implications 1.2 Locating the Premises of the Research 1.2.1 Inter-disciplinary Premise 1.2.2 Inter-cultural Premise 1.3 Virtue Ethics 1.3.1 General Description of Virtue Ethics 1.3.2 Historical Dimensions of Virtue Ethics 1.3.3 Neo-Aristotelian or Contemporary Virtue Ethics: What? Why? How? 1.3.4 Virtue Ethics in NT Ethics and Current Christian Ethics 1.3.5 Characteristics of Virtue Ethics 1.3.6 Working Definition of Virtue Ethics 1.4 Methodological Framework of the Research: From “Implicit Ethics” to “Exegethics” 1.5 The “Implicit Ethics” 1.5.1 The Linguistic Form 1.5.2 Norms or Maxims for Action 1.5.3 History of Traditions of Individual Norms 1.5.4 Values and the Priority of Values 1.5.5 Ethical Reflection/Generating Moral Significance 1.5.6 The Moral Agent(s) 1.5.7 Reflected Ethos 1.5.8 Addressee or Range of Application 1.6 Exegethics: An Adapted Version of the “Implicit Ethics” Methodology 1.6.1 Linguistic Form 1.6.2 Moral Agents 1.6.3 Ethical Reflection/Generating Moral Significance 1.6.4 History of Traditions of Individual Norms or Lexemes 1.6.5 Range of Application 1.7 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 2: History of Interpretation of the Selected Virtues in Titus 2.1 Σωφροσύνη: History of Interpretation 2.2 Δικαιοσύνη: History of Interpretation 2.3 Εὐσέβεια: History of Interpretation 2.3.1 Earlier Interpretations from Schlatter (1936) to Foerster (1971) 2.3.2 Other Earlier Interpretations not Reported by Marshall 2.3.3 Recent Interpretations from Marshall (1999) to Bray (2019) 2.4 Καλὰ ἔργα: History of Interpretation 2.5 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 3: A Virtue-Ethical Reading of the Letter to Titus 3.1 A Virtue-Ethical Reading of the σωφροσύνη Cognates in the Letter to Titus 3.1.1 Linguistic Form of the σωφροσύνη Cognates 3.1.2 Moral Agents of the σωφροσύνη Cognates 3.1.3 Ethical Argumentation/Reflection for σωφροσύνη 3.1.4 History of Traditions of σωφροσύνη 3.1.5 Range of Application of σωφροσύνη 3.1.6 Summary of the Key Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of the σωφροσύνη Cognates in Titus 3.1.7 Conclusion 3.2 A Virtue-Ethical Reading of the δικαιοσύνη Cognate in the Letter to Titus 3.2.1 Justification by Faith in Pauline Scholarship: A Brief Look 3.2.2 Δικαιοσύνη and its Cognates in the Letter to Titus 3.2.2.1 Linguistic Form of the δικαιοσύνη Cognates 3.2.2.2 Moral Agents of δικαιοσύνη 3.2.2.3 Ethical Argumentation/Reflection 3.2.2.4 History of Traditions of δικαιοσύνη 3.2.2.5 Range of Application of δικαιοσύνη 3.2.3 Summary of the Key Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of the δικαιοσύνη Cognates in Titus 3.3 Reading the εὐσέβεια cognates in the letter to Titus Virtue-ethically 3.3.1 Linguistic Form of the εὐσέβεια Cognates 3.3.2 Moral Agents of εὐσέβεια 3.3.3 Ethical Argumentation/Reflection for εὐσέβεια 3.3.4 History of Tradition of the εὐσέβεια Concept 3.3.5 Range of Application of εὐσέβεια 3.3.6 Summary of the Key Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of the εὐσέβεια Cluster in Titus 3.4 A Virtue-Ethical Reading of the καλὰ ἔργα Cluster in Titus 3.4.1 Linguistic Form of the καλὰ ἔργα Cluster 3.4.2 Moral Agents of the καλὰ ἔργα Cluster 3.4.3 History of Tradition of the καλὰ ἔργα Cluster 3.4.4 Ethical Argumentation/Reflection for καλὰ ἔργα 3.4.5 Range of Application of καλὰ ἔργα 3.4.6 Summary and Conclusion of the Virtue-ethical Perspectives of the καλὰ ἔργα Cluster in Titus 3.5 Re-reading the “Household Codes” in Titus Virtue-Ethically 3.5.1 A Different Approach 3.5.2 Linguistic Form 3.5.3 Norms and Maxims for “Being” 3.5.4 Moral Agents 3.5.5 Ethical Argumentation/Reflection 3.5.6 Reflected Ethos 3.5.7 Range of Application 3.5.8 Reflections for Appropriating the “Household Codes” 3.5.9 Summary of the Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of the “Household Codes” in Titus 3.5.10 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 4: Appropriating the Virtue-Ethical Perspective of Titus into African Ethics: Hermeneutical, Contextual, and Ethnological Reflections 4.1 A Description of African Ethics and its Virtue-Ethical Perspectives 4.1.1 Preliminary Considerations 4.2 The Four S Schema: Sources, Senses, Symbols, and Services of Character in African Traditional Religion 4.2.1 Sources of Character 4.2.2 Senses of Character 4.2.3 Symbols of Character 4.2.4 Services of Character 4.3 General Summary of the Key Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of the Letter to Titus 4.3.1 Σωφροσύνη 4.3.2 Δικαιοσύνη 4.3.3 Εὐσέβεια 4.3.4 Καλὰ ἔργα 4.4 A Comparative Analysis of the Two Virtue-ethical Perspectives: Tandems, Tensions, and Appropriations 4.4.1 Tandems between the Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of Titus and African Ethics 4.4.2 Tensions between Virtue Ethics/the Virtue-Ethical Perspectives of Titus and African Ethics 4.5 Excursus: “Continuity” as a Telos in African Ethics 4.6 Towards an African Biblical Virtue Ethics? Negotiations, Concessions, and Appropriation 4.6.1 Negotiations, Concessions, and Appropriations Related to Foundational and Theoretical Structure 4.6.2 Tandems, Tensions and Appropriations of the Two Virtue-Ethical Perspectives with Emphasis on σωφροσύνη, δικαιοσύνη, εὐσέβεια, and καλὰ ἔργα 4.7 The Five-fold Exegethical Steps towards an African Biblical Virtue Ethics: Summary 4.8 Summary and Conclusion Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusion Critical Self-reflection Bibliography Index of Biblical and Extracanonical References Index of Modern Authors Subject Index "In this interdisciplinary study between biblical ethics and contemporary neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, also known as the 'ethics of character, ' Dogara Ishaya Manomi makes a significant contribution to the novel but growing efforts to build bridges between philosophical virtue ethics and biblical or Christian virtue or character ethics " --Back cover "In this interdisciplinary study between biblical ethics and contemporary neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, also known as the 'ethics of character,' Dogara Ishaya Manomi makes a significant contribution to the novel but growing efforts to build bridges between philosophical virtue ethics and biblical or Christian virtue or character ethics " --Publisher