Date of Award

2016

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Theology

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This dissertation is an extension of the ongoing conversation about justice within Christian ethics from a postliberal perspective. Beginning with an account of Christian ethical methodology centered on the grammar of the Christian “language-game” that is both shaped by, and which mediates, the communal reading of scripture, the dissertation argues that Christian discipleship, as a teleological enterprise governed by the normativity of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, consists in the communal representation of Christ’s own faithfulness to God as a public witness over against the reign of the “principalities and powers” of the world. Applying Iris Marion Young’s notion of social justice as the measure of the degree to which the social conditions of a given society exist to allow the realization of its values to an ecclesial ethical paradigm renders an account of justice in which justice becomes the standard by which the practices of the community are measured to have exposed the reign of the powers and represented to the world a form of sociality to which all humanity is called.

This project addresses the lack of critical social justice theory in Christian narrative ethics that results from its over-reliance on virtue ethical theory and its individualized account of moral reasoning. At the same time, it rejects theological-ethical attempts to establish justice on foundationalist epistemological grounds or in such ways as to compromise the other-centered character of agape. The fundamental question addressed, then, is how might we live together justly as members of this community so that we can accomplish our shared, divine purpose?

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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