Reviews for Sources of Christian Ethics

The average rating for Sources of Christian Ethics based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-04-17 00:00:00 Richard K. Lemley A very important book - but not an easy read. This is a critical overview of Christian ethics, contrasting the modern ethics that emphasizes obligation and commandments to the ethical approach found in the Fathers of the Church and St. Thomas that started from the natural inclination to happiness, the importance of the Beatitudes, and the virtues. This book is a very good - though a little repetitive at times - analysis that opens up the way toward an ethics based first of all on the Sermon on the Mount and which is based in and fulfills our natural inclinations. The author is highly indebted to the work of St. Thomas Aquinas which is central to his understanding of ethics. This book demands effort and concentration but it is well worth it. I finished this book a day after finishing Pope Francis' Amoris Laetitia. Pinckaers helped me understand what is happening in the pope's apostolic exhortation. Most fascinating is the positive approach to sexuality that both Pickaers adn Pope Francis exhibit - based, I'm guessing, on a positive reading of Thomas Aquinas on sexuality.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-18 00:00:00 Rogelio Placencia Jr It has been 10 years since I read this book, but I remember being blown away by Fr. Pinckaer's approach. I was reading this in juxtaposition to some very legalistic approaches to ethics and Fr. Pinckaer's writing was fresh, free, and liberating. As someone else put in a review, Pinckaer's approach is one of freedom for excellence. The Beatitudes are the place he starts his reflection on the moral life of the Christian. This book is beautiful and an indispensable read for those who want to be familiar with the renewal of Christian moral theology.