David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam/IBTS. One of the world's leading Christian ethicists, he is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including Changing Our Mind, After Evangelicalism, Kingdom Ethics, Still Christian, Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, and The Sacredness of Human Life. Gushee is also a frequent speaker, Kingdom Ethics podcaster, and activist. He and his wife, Jeanie, live in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit davidpgushee.com or @dpgushee on social media.
Georgia Author of the Year Award (GAYA) in the
Inspirational-Religious category Jim Wallis
-- Sojourners
"David Gushee is one of the preeminent Christian ethicists in the
country, and his work is important for both those in the academic
world and all of us trying to live out obedient and biblical lives.
In The Sacredness of Human Life he rescues this most spiritual of
concepts from the narrow realm of political rhetoric, which it has
come to inhabit in recent years. This book should be read by anyone
who desires to reclaim a broader definition of how 'the sacredness
of life' should truly be understood." Jeremy Waldron
-- New York University School of Law
"No one, to my knowledge, has come up with a deeper or more
sustained account of what it means to say that human life is sacred
than David Gushee in this magisterial work. The analysis is
overwhelming -- in a good sense. . . . The title might suggest a
preoccupation with abortion, but there is so much more than that in
this book. Gushee applies his analysis to issues like the death
penalty, environmental degradation, racism, nuclear weapons, and
biotechnology. And even on abortion, those who disagree with his
position will not want to miss the cornucopia of insight he
provides and -- most strikingly -- the sensitivity and openness of
his discussion." Glen Stassen
-- Fuller Theological Seminary
"This is the most significant book I have ever seen about what it
really means to say that human life is sacred. It combines
conservative loyalty to preserving the sacredness of human life
with liberal loyalty to caring for the basic needs of life. . . .
Gushee's work can bring the healing we need in our time of
dangerous polarization." Robin Lovin
-- Southern Methodist University
"To believers and skeptics alike, Christian ethics sometimes
appears to be little more than a collection of commands and
prohibitions. Gushee makes it clear that there is a central idea to
the discipline, one that connects to the core of biblical faith and
has implications for human rights, ecology, and global politics. .
. . A masterful guide to thinking about the choices that will shape
Christian life in the twenty-first century." Amy Laura Hall
-- Duke University
"This story of Christian witness will preach and reach. David
Gushee is an uncommonly patient writer. He relates biblical
testimonies to the sacredness of life with subtlety and clarity. .
. . His summons to think hard and live well invites baffled
undergraduates, weary pastors, curious laity, and careworn
activists to reengage in small, intentional practices of prayer and
study on abortion, torture, immigration, and women's rights. I
can't wait to teach this book." Peter Ochs
-- University of Virginia
"The question of 'human life' has become a major theo-political
battleground today in the USA -- and battlegrounds are not the best
environments for nurturing human life. David Gushee has entered the
battleground the way he suggests St. Francis confronted the
Crusades -- not with another sword but with the Word. . . .
Gushee's voice is one that believers of all faiths will want to
engage. . . . This book leaves me happily breathless!" Charles
Mathewes
-- University of Virginia
"David Gushee is one of the most important theological ethicists
writing today, and this book is a landmark for future work in
Christian ethics. If you are interested in fundamental moral and
theological concepts, or in the character of religious discourse in
our public life, or in the future health and sanity of the
Christian churches in the USA (and beyond), you owe it to yourself
to read this book." Charles Camosy
-- Fordham University
"Today's political discourse artificially and problematically
separates discussion of the dignity of the human person into
'social justice' and 'pro-life' approaches. But in this fantastic
book David Gushee articulates how sacred Scripture and tradition
offer a coherent and timely defense of the sacredness of life that
refuses to accept this simplistic and polarizing binary. A dynamic,
readable, and historically aware account of issues like war,
abortion/infanticide, racism, biotechnology, and women's rights."
M. Cathleen Kaveny
-- University of Notre Dame
"This magisterial volume draws upon biblical studies, philosophy,
theology, history, and law in order to illustrate the breadth and
richness of the concept of the sanctity of human life. Gushee shows
us that the ideal of life's sacredness must not be confined to the
narrow quarters of the abortion debate." John F. Kilner
-- Trinity International University
"In the face of today's heated debates over ethical issues, Gushee
does a fine job of laying out so-called progressive, conservative,
and other Christian perspectives. This book is a valuable resource
for all those who want to understand and thoughtfully engage
perspectives other than their own." Timothy George
-- Beeson Divinity School
"I welcome this new study on the sacredness of human life
including, but not limited to, those members of the human family
still waiting to be born. Drawing on both biblical wisdom and the
witness of Christian tradition, David Gushee makes here an
impressive case that the whole church needs to hear -- and heed."
Noam Zion
-- Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem
"This book's subtitle perfectly conveys the way scholarship of
classical texts can speak to contemporary culture wars. David
Gushee has identified a crucial debate over the relationship
between the modern Western value of human dignity and classical
Christianity that seems to be driving an ill-considered polemical
political wedge between 'liberals' and 'conservatives.'. . . May
Gushee's sophisticated contribution enhance the religious axiom of
the sacredness of human life." Choice (American Library
Association)
"The volume is both in-depth and comprehensive in its provision of
tools for serious contemplation. Most appropriate for an
undergraduate audience, it superbly presents complex ideas in
accessible and organized ways. Highly recommended." Publishers
Weekly
"A good entry into a broader Christian ethics of the sacredness of
life." Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith
"This book is comprehensive, highly nuanced, well informed by
diverse and relevant interdisciplinary scholarship, and is
biblically and theologically thick in its descriptions, arguments,
and ethical vision. . . . It is a book that can deeply clarify and
strengthen one's understanding and theological convictions
concerning why and how one practices science as a Christian. . . .
I highly recommend it." Reviews in Science and Religion
"This is a serious examination of the precept, not of mere human
sanctity, but of sacredness, a word which pulls us up somewhat in
our recognizing that not only human beings, but the world and all
other living creatures within it, demand a divinely inspired moral
respect. . . . It is well worth buying and reading, and would make
a useful present for all thinking men and women -- everywhere."
Theology Today
"Offers a very sophisticated evangelical discussion of human
sacredness. It makes a timely addition to current public discourses
on human rights." Tikkun
"Gushee takes the best ethical tradition within Christianity and
shows how it still provides a significant and sensitive path for
dealing with the complexities and conundrums of the contemporary
world." Themelios
"A worthwhile addition to the library of pastors or scholars who
wish to reflect further on what it means to live as a human made in
God's image." Reviews in Religion and Theology
"This excellent and challenging book merits a wider readership."
Mission Today
"This eminently illuminating book . . . opens the eyes of students
and teachers of not only ethics or moral theology, but also
theological anthropology, political philosophy, human rights and
related fields. It should certainly be welcomed as a very
significant work." Catholic Library World
"An excellent outline of why and how human life has been considered
sacred within the Christian tradition. . . . An excellent primer on
social justice related to a Christian respect for all human life.
Highly recommended." Theological Book Review
"Delves deeply into the core of Christianity's treatment of human
life as revealed in Scripture and in ancient Christian writings."
Studies in Christian Ethics
"Gushee seeks to rescue the language of human sacredness from `bad
right wing' American politics where it figures almost exclusively
in debates about abortion and euthanasia but rarely in criticism of
other threats to human life and flourishing. He crafts a rich and
compelling narrative regarding the disclosure of human worth in
divine revelation, subsequent Christian reverence for and betrayal
of that worth, the emergence of secular categories for articulating
and affirming it, and its import for a range of problems that
imperil human well-being." Living Church
"A fully developed, carefully considered evaluation. . . . This is
a thoughtful, heartfelt, and deeply Christian treatment of a
vitally important topic."
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