Seeking Goodness and Beauty: The Use of the Arts in Theological Ethics

Kaveny, Cathleen

Jerryson, Michael

Holm, Isak Winkel

The Christian tradition offers a robust and compelling vision of what it is for human life to be lived well. <em>Faith and Virtue Formation</em> articulates various aspects of that vision in ways that will deepen understanding of the virtues and virtue formation. The collection considers the value of studying the vices for moral formation&#x3b; the importance of emotion and agency in virtue formation&#x3b; the connections between certain disabilities and virtue&#x3b; the roles of divine grace, liturgy, worship, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in Christian virtue formation&#x3b; the formation of infused virtues, including the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love&#x3b; the roles of friendship and the communal life of the Church in cultivating virtue&#x3b; and new philosophical and theological reflections on some largely neglected virtues. Offering an interdisciplinary approach, the contributors draw on philosophical, theological, and biblical wisdom, along with insights from contemporary psychology and rich narrative examples, in aid of becoming good. By providing deeply insightful and edifying reflections on the prospects, processes, and practices of moral and spiritual formation, this volume demonstrates that moral philosophy not only illuminates, but it can also guide and inspire the formation of virtue.

Waldau, Paul

As the global population continues to grow, family planning is fast becoming one of the most critical issues facing the planet. While many organizations--most prominently the United Nations--are trying to implement policies that will help curb the population explosion, these measures are frequently blocked by those professing conservative religious beliefs.<br> In many of the world's religions there is a restrictive and pro-natalist view on family planning, and this is one legitimate reading of those religious traditions. As the essays in this volume demonstrate, however, this is not the only legitimate or orthodox view. Seeking to counteract the simplistic idea that all religions are completely antagonistic toward family planning, the authors--all scholar-practitioners of the religions about which they write--present alternative interpretations of religions' views about family planning. Arguing for the existence of equally valid traditions that allow contraception and abortion, they seek to escape the confines of oversimplified either/or, pro-choice/pro-life arguments. Instead, they point the way toward a more open discussion of family planning.<br>Dispelling the notion that the world's religions are uniformly conservative on issues of family planning, the authors show that the parameters of orthodoxy are wider and gentler than that, and that the great religious traditions are wiser and more variegated than a simple repetition of the most conservative views would suggest.