What would Jesus really do? : the power and limits of Jesus' moral teachings

For many years many Christians have exhibited bumper stickers and wrist bands challenging themselves to live up to WWJD--What Would Jesus Do? Now Andrew Fiala, a professor who has encountered many such students in his classes, objectively assesses just what it actually is that Jesus does (and doesn't) say about the essential moral issues that face us today. Andrew Fiala appreciates Jesus as a moral teacher with an ethical vision centered in love, generosity, forgiveness, tolerance, and peace. But he argues that it is often difficult to determine exactly what Jesus would say or do about tough contemporary issues, such as abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war, homosexuality, and politics. Hence, Fiala believes we need to engage in philosophical reflection and critical thinking to arrive at answers to today's ethical questions that Jesus never anticipated, such as those involving technology, scientific discoveries, ethical advances. The book shows how philosophers and psychologists--from Kant and Mill to Nietzsche and Freud--struggled to make sense of the ethics of Jesus. The book concludes by arguing that we cannot pretend that Jesus and the Bible provide all the answers to our ethical dilemmas, although Jesus does provide perennial moral wisdom. Thus, Fiala shows that Jesus' moral teachings must be filled out with contemporary ethical reflection to determine what Jesus, as a moral ideal, would really do today. CONTENTS......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 16 JESUS AND ETHICS......Page 18 HUMANISM AND CHRISTIAN FAITH......Page 30 JESUS' GOLDEN RULE: ALTRUISM AND UNIVERSALITY......Page 44 JESUS VERSUS JOSHUA: CHRISTIAN VIRTUES IN CONTEXT......Page 56 JESUS' VIRTUES: PEACE AND LOVE......Page 68 JESUS AND THE SANCTITY OF LIFE: ABORTION......Page 82 JESUS AND CARE: EUTHANASIA......Page 94 FORGIVENESS AND MERCY: THE DEATH PENALTY......Page 106 SEXUALITY AND THE FAMILY......Page 116 SLAVERY AND SOCIAL WELFARE......Page 130 THE PROBLEM OF POLITICS......Page 142 JESUS AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT......Page 154 SIN, GRACE, AND HUMANISM AFTER THE ENLIGHTENMENT......Page 168 ANTI-CHRISTIAN ETHICS......Page 180 ETHICS BEYOND JESUS......Page 192 INDEX......Page 204 SCRIPTURE INDEX......Page 210 What Would Jesus Really Do? argues that it is difficult to figure out what Jesus would say about complicated contemporary ethical issues. It examines what Jesus says (and doesn't say) about abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war and peace, homosexuality, and the family What Would Jesus Really Do? examines what Jesus says (and doesn't say) about complicated contemporary ethical issues including abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, war, homosexuality, and the family.