The Sacredness of Human Life
Why an Ancient Biblical Vision Is Key to the World's Future
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
This authoritative book is the most comprehensive examination ever of the sacredness of human life. Never before has one volume explored this subject in such a multifaceted way, encompassing biblical roots, theological elaborations, historical cases, and contemporary ethical perspectives.
Tracing the concept of the sacredness of human life from Scripture through church history to the present day, David Gushee argues that viewing human life as sacred is one of the most precious legacies of biblical faith — albeit one that the church has too often failed to uphold.
Besides providing a masterful historical survey, Gushee’s discussion covers the many current ethical challenges and perspectives that will impact the survival and flourishing of human life, including biotechnology, the death penalty, abortion, human rights, nuclear weapons, just war theory, women’s rights, and creation care.
Gushee’s Sacredness of Human Life is a game-changing book that will set the standard for all future discussions of this key ethical concept.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gushee, professor of Christian ethics at Mercer University, attempts to rescue the phrase "sacredness of life" from its narrow application by pro-life activists. After offering a carefully constructed Christian definition of sacredness of life, Gushee situates this ethic as arising directly from the Hebrew Bible and New Testament. The theology he espouses is evangelical but moderate. Situated thus, he marches through Christian history to show how this ethic has been supported or undermined and lived or tossed aside. His chapters on Nietzsche and Nazism present them as prime examples of the ultimate rejection of the sacredness of human life and the costs of doing so. The final quarter of the book focuses on contemporary implications of this ethic, especially abortion, the death penalty, women's rights, and ecological concerns. Christians, Gushee concludes, should welcome non-Christian allies in these ethical battles. The lengthy historical excursus dilutes the urgency of his message, but provides a sense of the complexity of the issue. The accumulation of details sometimes derails analysis and application, but this work is a good entry into a broader Christian ethic of the sacredness of life.
