Responsive Becoming: Moral Formation in Theological, Evolutionary, and Developmental Perspective

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This volume offers an interdisciplinary study of Reformed sanctification and human development, providing the foundation for a constructive account of Christian moral formation that is attentive both to divine grace and to the significance of natural, embodied processes. Angela Carpenters argument also addresses the impressions that such theologies give; namely either solitude in the face of adversity, or sheer passivity. Through careful examination of the doctrine of sanctification in three Reformed theologians John Calvin, John Owen and Horace BushnellCarpenter argues that human responsiveness in the context of fellowship with the triune God provides a basic framework for a theological account of moral transformation. Her relational approach brings together divine and human agency in a dynamic process where both are indispensable. Supplying an account of moral formation located within Christian salvation, while also being attentive to embodied human nature and the sciences, this book is vital to all those interested in spiritual formation and the human capacity for love.

Reviews

Doctrine meets life, theology meets the human sciences, and the scholarly meets the practical in this beautifully written and persausively argued account of how God's grace relates to our ordinary humanity. This is theological ethics at its very best. I recommend it enthusiastically. * Gerald McKenny, Walter Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame, USA *
A fine example of constructive theology: it engages with a tradition rigorously and charitably without slavishly repeating it negotiating strengths and weaknesses of existing positions to chart a distinctive solution that fulfils important desiderata. The deployment of human sciences is insightful and judicious. * Theology *
Angela Carpenters Responsive Becoming is an ambitious interdisciplinary re-examination of the doctrine of sanctification, in dialogue with evolutionary anthropology and contemporary human developmental psychology ... Responsive Becoming will be of value to a variety of audiences, not only dogmaticians and theological ethicists. * Studies in Christian Ethics *

Author Bio

Angela Carpenter is Assistant Professor of Religion at Hope College, USA.