Moral Character, Reformed Theology, and Jonathan Edwards

Reformed theology is often thought to be antipathetic to virtue theory. However, Jonathan Edwards is a counterexample to this way of thinking. In this article, I offer an account of Edwards’s moral thought as a case study of Reformed theology that is also a species of virtue theory, focusing on what...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studies in Christian ethics
Main Author: Crisp, Oliver 1972- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2017]
In: Studies in Christian ethics
IxTheo Classification:KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KDD Protestant Church
NBA Dogmatics
NCB Personal ethics
Further subjects:B Holy Spirit
B Character
B infused grace
B Jonathan Edwards
B Virtue Theory
B Reformed Theology
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Reformed theology is often thought to be antipathetic to virtue theory. However, Jonathan Edwards is a counterexample to this way of thinking. In this article, I offer an account of Edwards’s moral thought as a case study of Reformed theology that is also a species of virtue theory, focusing on what he says about the formation of character. I argue that key doctrinal commitments drive his moral theology, and generate some interesting problems for his ethics. Although his work is not without shortcomings, Edwards is a thinker whose moral theology might be usefully repaired and retrieved by contemporary theologians in the Reformed tradition for whom ‘duties are founded on doctrines’.
ISSN:0953-9468
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in Christian ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0953946817701042