Christ-Shaped Moral Philosophy and the Triviality of 20th Century ‘Christian Ethics’

Paul K Moser has challenged Christians to philosophise in a spirit of ‘Gethsemane union’ with Christ. Such an approach, I argue, has radical implications for the subject matter of Christian moral philosophy: it renders trivial much of what was accepted as ‘Christian ethics’ in the 20th century and defines a distinctive new direction for the subject.

I propose an agenda appropriate to Christ-shaped moral philosophy. I go on to argue that late 20th century preoccupation with divine command ethics and with normative reductionism is driven by conformity to secular philosophical ethics rather than ‘Gethsemane union’ with Christ, that these issues are logically distinct from Christ-shaped moral philosophy and that they are trivial in comparison with the cosmic moral importance of Christ-shaped moral philosophy.

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