Joined-up life

A Christian Account Of How Ethics Works

Andrew Cameron

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9781844745159
• eBook ISBN:
  9781844747436
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Finding our best humanity in Jesus Christ is the key theme of Andrew Cameron's fresh exploration, in which he seeks to understand ethics as springing from Jesus, and to show how identifying with Jesus Christ brings order and clarity to human life. In a world where everyone is an expert on right and wrong, this book tries to show how Jesus unifies the best of what you hear. He joins up messy lives.
Camerons accessible, coherent and innovative analysis is divided into seven parts. Each part contains several self-contained chapters that address some specific aspect of Christian thinking about ethics and life, and each chapter is cross-referenced to other key chapters. The chapters may be read in sequence, or dipped into in any order.
Part 1 considers some common ways of thinking about ethics (e.g. rules, rights, values and results).
Part 2 considers some arenas we are unaware of, but which have a huge impact on how we live.
Part 3 shows how Jesus Christ becomes a better main category than ethics for determining who we are and what we do.
Part 4 builds a unified field, shaped in response to Jesus Christ, by which we can orient ourselves to whatever is around us.
Part 5 examines some means by which we approach the daily details of life within this overall orientation.
Part 6 looks at some aspects of our life-package, or vocation, to see how they are located within the unified field.
Part 7 visits some areas of discussion that cause great disagreement between Christians and others, and tries to show why.
Cameron offers a stimulating reappraisal of our cluttered, tumultuous lives and encourages us to see life through a different lens.
Commendations:
Books about Christian ethics can often seem abstract, dry and remote from the complexities of our lived lives. This one brings ethics down to earth and yet succeeds in raising our sights with an inspiring vision of faithfulness to Christ in all aspects of our lives. It is clear, engaging and user-friendly, yet infused throughout with a deep biblical wisdom. It covers an enormous amount of ground, yet allows the reader to enter the conversation anywhere they wish. It is an admirable achievement and will prove useful to a wide variety of audiences.
Jonathan Chaplin, Director, The Kirby Laing Institute of Christian Ethics, Cambridge
Few books are harder to write or more important than a good introduction to Christian ethics. To be successful such an introduction must always remain clear and accessible while undertaking the daunting task of calling into question commonly held understandings of theology, biblical studies and pastoral concern. Camerons Joined-Up Life succeeds admirably at this task. His account of Christian ethics exudes the warmth of the gospel on every page and yields genuinely fresh insights into a host of common but tired ethical discussions. I heartily recommend it.
Brian R. Brock, Lecturer in Moral and Practical Theology, Dept of Divinity and Religious Studies, University of Aberdeen

Table of contents

• Joined-up Life
• CONTENTS
• LIST OF FIGURES
• PREFACE
• PART 1 AWARENESS
• 1. WHAT IS ‘ETHICS’?
• 2. DECIDING
• 3. RULES AND CODES
• 4. RIGHTS
• 5. VALUES
• 6. RESULTS
• PART 2 UNAWARENESS
• 7. DESIRE
• 8. SYSTEMS OF INCLUSION
• 9. ‘FLESH’
• 10. COMPLEXITY
• 11. ARE THE PSYCHOPATHS RIGHT?
• PART 3 JESUS VERSUS ETHICS
• 12. A CHRIST-POWERED PLANET
• 13. ‘FOLLOWING’ JESUS
• 14. TRUE ‘IDENTITY’
• 15. HOW THE CROSS CHANGES US
• 16. HOW RESURRECTION CHANGES US
• 17. WORKING WITH THE SPIRIT
• 18. COMMUNITIES IN CHRIST
• 19. THE ‘STORY ARC’ OF THE BIBLE
• 20. OLD TESTAMENT LAWS
• PART 4 FIVE THINGS THAT MATTER
• 21. THE CHARACTER OF GOD
• 22. CREATION AND ‘MORAL ORDER’
• 23. COMMANDS THAT REVEAL
• 24. A NEW FUTURE
• 25. JESUS-SHAPED COMMUNITY
• 26. A ‘UNIFIED FIELD’
• 27. ETHICS SECULAR AND CHRISTIAN
• PART 5 LIVING OUR LIVES
• 28. DRUNKENNESS AND RAGE
• 29. FORGIVING AND RECONCILING
• 30. VIRTUES AND VICES
• 31. FREEDOM
• 32. IMITATING JESUS
• 33. OBEDIENCE TO GOD
• 34. LIFE IN CHURCHES
• 35. LIFE OUTSIDE CHURCHES
• PART 6 LIFE-PACKAGES
• 36. SINGLENESS
• 37. MARRIAGE
• 38. HAVING CHILDREN
• 39. FRIENDSHIP
• 40. SUSTAINABLE CARE
• 41. WORK
• PART 7 SIX HOTSPOTS
• 42. WOMEN
• 43. SEX
• 44. HOMOSEXUALITY
• 45. BIOETHICS
• 46. DIVERSITY
• 47. IMPOSING IT
• AFTERWORD: DILEMMAS AND DISCERNMENT
• Footnotes