Until the mid-20th century, the reigning Western paradigm of Christian salvation was the Anselmian theory of Christ’s death as atoning for sinful humanity by paying a debt to God. Recent liberationist, feminist, and antimilitarist theologies strongly critique personal and structural violence, leading many to reject the atonement paradigm as sacralizing violence. This article argues that

A review of the literature on theological ethics and human sexuality over the past four years indicates a desire by theologians to host a variety of conversations on sexual ethics that uphold traditional claims yet promote responsible sexual ethics in a different key. Writers are particularly concerned by an overwhelming privatization of sexual relations and

The author examines and clarifies the phenomenon of consumerism. He surveys historical and social scientific perspectives before turning to the recent theological and ethical literature on the topic. An emerging concern in the ethical literature is development of a virtue approach along with the papal insistence on striking a proper balance of “being” and “having”

The article highlights the distinctiveness of European social ethics by beginning with an analysis of how theological ethicists have engaged with “Europe” as both idea and political project. Themes discussed include the role of religion in the public square, pluralism, and the limits of tolerance and intercultural ethics. Also considered are ethical questions arising from

The article argues that a new research program is emerging, one that shifts the focus from the quests for the “historical Jesus,” a person in the past, to recovering the “historic Jesus,” the person remembered by his followers. It finds that Jesus’ historic significance is and should be the center of Jesus research. It argues

Overly logical applications of some of Paul’s metaphors have led to widely accepted atonement theories that, because they project human legalistic and transactional thinking onto the image of God, have been egregiously contradictory to an authentic trinitarian and incarnational view of sacrifice and atonement. The Eastern emphasis on apophatic theology and theosis coupled with the

Bernard Lonergan claimed that his description of religious experience as “being in love unrestrictedly” differs merely notionally from the Scholastic idea of “sanctifying grace.” However, he did not offer the detailed explanation needed to establish the continuity between his development and the medieval category of “sanctifying grace.” His account of religious experience, therefore, remains ambiguous.

The article addresses the tension between two different approaches to Augustine’s esthetics: a contemplative esthetics of divine beauty and an incarnate esthetics of created beauty. An examination of Augustine’s theory of the imagination demonstrates the complementary nature of these two approaches. Contemporary theorists (such as Robert J. O’Connell and Carol Harrison) fail to provide an

The article discusses the interpretation of biblical theophanies in Byzantine hymns associated with the so-called Improperia tradition. After presenting the exegesis of specific theophanies as exemplified in hymns, the author argues that this type of exegesis is difficult to frame within the categories commonly used to describe patristic exegesis. He suggests that patristic scholars should

Gift theory offers a new perspective on the book of Job: God favors a universal gift ethic, Satan opts for an alienable gift economics, while Job’s friends endorse the principle of balanced reciprocity. The article depicts Job conflicted over the divine love culture and the culture promoted by his friends and Satan, but in the