Ethics in the Presence of Christ

(Paperback)

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By casting the identity of Christ as the One-Who-Is-Present, Holmes concentrates on how Christ ministers his power, truth, and love in the Spirit for the sake of the transformation of human life. As present, Christ's work is both finished and unfinished, complete and open-ended; as endlessly contemporary, it is constitutive of reality and so (re-)shapes the ethical landscape and the moral life. In revisiting the doctrine of Christ's contemporaneity with its ethical implications firmly in view, Holmes's work fills a lacuna in the contemporary literature on Christian ethics. In conversation with John's Gospel, the priority of Christology comes to drive the very shape of moral questions for today. Here the compelling task of ethics is a matter ofbecoming aligned with and transparent to Christ's own presence and so to Christ's work of making all things new.

Reviews

This is an elegant and absorbing essay in moral theology, the fruit of sustained reflection on the presence of Jesus Christ as the principle of human life before God. -- John Webster, University of Aberdeen, UK
Avoiding Pelagian views that assume we need to make Christ present by the way we act, Christopher Holmes here offers us a perceptive and persuasive vision of a scripturally rooted evangelical ethics that is shaped at every point by its dogmatic commitment to the fact that the risen, ascended and advent Lord has not left us to our own devices but is present in the power of his Spirit as prophet, priest and king enabling our actions as those who are part of the new creation. Informed by the thinking of Bonhoeffer, Barth and T. F. Torrance, this is a book of deep insight, a strictly theological ethics in the best sense that demonstrates how and why truth cannot be detached from the living Christ without making ethics a burden instead of a promising transformation of human action through Jesus' own inclusive contemporaneous actions as reconciler and redeemer. This book deserves to be widely read and discussed.' - Paul D. Molnar, Professor of Systematic Theology, St. John's University, Queens, New York, USA. -- Paul D. Molnar
Much of what passes for "Christian ethics" today fails to rise above the level of asking "what would Jesus do" Christopher Holmes's Ethics in the Presence of Christ constitutes a frontal assault on this way of thinking. Taking John's gospel as his point of departure, Holmes would instead have us ask "who is Jesus and what is he doing" Writing in the tradition of Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Paul Lehmann, he takes us into the deep waters where the Christian life is grounded in nothing but the grace of God. A work marked by clarity and elegance, and full of surprises. - Joseph Mangina, Professor of Systematic Theology, Wycliffe College, University of Toronto, Canada -- Joseph Mangina
'A tremendously-important and well-overdue book. Holmes' attempt to discern the present reign of the Word is among the best introductions to theological ethics that I have read. I commend it warmly and enthusiastically.' Jason Goroncy, Per Crucem ad Lucem.
This is not simply another book on Christian ethical method. It strongly shows that theologians plowing in Barth's furrows are not simply tone-deaf to problems of human agency. It is that we are trying to re-think human agency christologically. * Texas Flood *
This book calls us back to the Trinitarian doctrines which lie at the heart of our faith. It outlines an approach to ethics which is at once demanding and refreshing. It is a challenging but very rewarding read, and I highly recommend it. * Available Light *
Christopher R. J. Holmes has written a wonderful book - Ethics in the Presence of Christ - in which he argues that "What would Jesus do" is actually the wrong question to ask when considering the ethics of any decision. * The Thoughtful Christian *
Ethics is profound and provocative. I highly recommend it for those prepared to wrestle with a text thatis singularly focused on what the person of Christ means for ethics (life) today. -- Henry Friesen * The Messenger *
[Ethics in the Presence of Christ] does make an important contribution to the literature on Christian ethics by reminding Christian ethicists that their proposals for ethical agency are not only formulated on the basis of scriptural reflection or philosophical study but also on the continuing power of the risen Christ at work in the world. * Religious Studies Review *

Author Bio

Christopher Holmes is Senior Lecturer in Theology in the Department of Theology and Religion, University of Otago, New Zealand, and an Anglican Priest.