Review
“Pick up a newspaper and you’ll find yourself bombarded with ethical issues from sexuality to bioethics, from creation care to race and ethnic relations, and from the death penalty to so much more. How does a Christian approach contemporary ethical issues in a way that’s rooted in integrity and leads to human flourishing? Dr. Ken Magnuson has long been a voice of reason and compassion in these conversations. And now in his work, Invitation to Christian Ethics, he provides an accessible guide for making such decisions biblically―that is, in a way that’s congruent with Jesus’s teaching to love God and love one’s neighbor.” -- Dr Sandra Glahn, professor at Dallas Theological Seminary and author of Vindicating the Vixens Published On: 2020-06-10
“Ken Magnuson has offered a splendid service to the evangelical community with his biblically grounded and thoughtfully reasoned Invitation to Christian Ethics. Readers will be exceedingly grateful for the clarity that this accessibly written and capably researched volume brings to such a host of wide-ranging issues. All who wish to understand and engage the numerous ethical challenges in our current context will find Magnuson's work to be an excellent guide. Though some may find a place to differ here or there with such a wide array of topics, all will benefit from this even-handed, thorough, informative, and careful presentation. Those who take time to work through this helpful volume will find it to be worthy of serious reflection and consideration. I gladly recommend Invitation to Christian Ethics to students, church leaders, and scholars alike.” -- David S. Dockery, president of the International Alliance for Christian Education Published On: 2020-06-10
“Magnuson delivers in this work a very thoughtful, deeply engaging, and highly readable introductory treatment of Christian ethics. Making the case for a robust, biblical framework for ethics in the early chapters and then training it well to a range of highly relevant issues, the book strikes a critical balance between theory and practice sure to appeal to professor, student, pastor, and interested layperson.” -- Erik M. Clary, associate professor of Surgery & Bioethics, Oklahoma State University Published On: 2020-06-10
“Reading Invitation to Christian Ethics is like taking a course with a favorite professor, one who is immensely knowledgeable, unusually wise, and unexpectedly warm. Dr. Magnuson writes with refreshing clarity―both moral and stylistic. I have rarely seen such sound, thorough Christian teaching rendered so compelling and so beautiful. This is the kind of robust Christian ethics needed by the church and the world right now.” -- Karen Swallow Prior, author of On Reading Well and Fierce Convictions Published On: 2020-06-25
“Magisterial in its scope and account of Christian ethics, Ken Magnuson has offered us the benefits of his years of thoughtful analysis and faithful teaching in a seminary context. Rich in biblical exposition and practical application, the volume is more than an invitation to Christian ethics, it is an immersion. Magnuson makes his case elegantly and treats his opponents respectfully. This is a model of irenic pastoral ethical reflection on some of the pressing moral issues of our day.” -- C. Ben Mitchell, PhD, Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, Union University Published On: 2020-06-25
“The importance of Christian ethics was underscored while I was reading this book for the first time. Medical doctors battling the raging Covid-19 epidemic in Italy were being forced to decide which patients to condemn because essential ventilators were scarce. Meanwhile, cities in the United States were burning with racial protests over yet another Black man killed in police custody. A Christian ethical view of both issues was covered deftly in Dr. Magnuson’s book along with a biblical perspective on other vital topics such as abortion, sexual identity, and creation care. Written with the wisdom of a Cambridge scholar, yet in a language welcoming to pastors and university students, this book is a wonderful guide for developing moral reasoning. The very title of this book invites the reader to explore Christian ethics and sets an irenic tone to consider thoughtful arguments from Scripture. Relentlessly biblical and readily accessible, every pastor should have this book on the shelf to help Christians navigate some of the hardest issues in life.” -- Dr David Kotter, Dean of the School of Theology, Colorado Christian University Published On: 2020-06-25
“I have been fortunate to be both a student and a colleague of Ken Magnuson. Having sat under him as a student, what is in this excellent volume was worked out not only with precise attention to the theoretical but for the practical need and edification of Christian ministers and laypersons. I strongly recommend this book as a faithful articulation of evangelical ethics and look forward to seeing it become an essential textbook throughout colleges and seminaries." -- Andrew T. Walker, Ph.D., Christian Ethics & Apologetics, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Published On: 2020-06-26
"Ethics will continue to be a line in the sand that separates Christians. In this volume, Magnuson gives us a biblically-based, logically-sound, historically-rooted, and future-aware guide that the church so desperately needs in the face of sexual revolution, moral relativism, and advancing technology." -- Brian Arnold, President of Phoenix Seminary Published On: 2020-08-24
About the Author
Ken Magnuson is professor of Christian ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
