ORIGINAL RESEARCH
http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v33i2.758

 

The distinctiveness of Christian morality - Reflections after 30 years

 

 

D. Etienne de Villiers

Emeritus Professor, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Correspondence

 

 

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ABSTRACT

I completed my doctoral dissertation on The distinctiveness of Christian morality in 1978. In this article, now more than 30 years later, I critically examined the extent to which the view that I developed in my doctoral dissertation is still valid today and to what extent it stands to be corrected in the light of developments in Christian ethics in the meantime. Firstly, I provided a brief summary of the view developed in the dissertation. Secondly, I discussed the influential alternative view of Stanley Hauerwas and attempted to identify ways in which his view necessitates corrections to my own view in the dissertation. Thirdly, I criticised the one-sidedness of Hauerwas's view on the distinctiveness of Christian morality and discussed ways in which we need to go beyond Hauerwas's view in order to develop a more satisfactory and also more inclusive approach.

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References

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Hauerwas, S., 1991, After Christendom: How the church is to behave if freedom, justice, and a Christian nation are bad ideas, Abingdon, Nashville, TN.         [ Links ]

Hays, R., 1996, The moral vision of the New Testament, T & T Clarke, Edinburgh.         [ Links ]

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Correspondence:
Etienne de Villiers
PO Box 294
Pringle Bay 7196
South Africa
Email: etienne.devilliers@up.ac.za

Received: 27 June 2012
Accepted: 28 Aug. 2012
Published: 06 Dec. 2012