Ethics Beyond Rules: How Christ’s Call to Love Informs Our Moral Choices, by Keith D. Stanglin

Abstract

Ethics Beyond Rules: How Christ’s Call to Love Informs Our Moral Choices claims to be a "modest attempt" to help American Christian neophytes learn how to engage in moral reasoning. Author Keith D. Stanglin employs a three-part discernment model consisting of Scripture, tradition, and reason as sources to guide one's ethical discernment. "What does love require?" is the principal question referenced as a litmus test for making sound moral judgment. The author, who is not a trained ethicist, liberally employs subjective, slippery slope interpretations of the ethical issues presented throughout the book. The text is not a comprehensive, scholarly discourse on ethics. The stated target audience is the author's three teenagers and the generation they represent. The level of writing, engagement with ethical principles, and critical thought in the book does not rise above the level of that readership.