Title Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Preface: The Problem: The Evasion of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount -- Plan and Structure of the Book -- Authorship, Agenda and Audience -- Section 1: The Reign of God and Christian Character -- 1 The Reign of God -- The Seven Marks of God's Reign -- Jesus, the Kingdom and the Sermon on the Mount -- 2 Virtues of Kingdom People -- The Beatitudes: The Idealistic Interpretation -- A Grace-Based Prophetic Interpretation -- Which Virtues? -- Virtues Elsewhere in the Biblical Drama -- How Shall We Relate Gospel Virtues to Traditional Virtues? -- 3 Holistic Character Ethics -- Character Ethics as a Better Way of Reasoning -- The Four Dimensions of Holistic Character Ethics -- The Way of Reasoning Dimension -- The Basic Convictions Dimension -- The Passions/Loyalties Dimension -- The Perception Dimension -- Joseph Kotva: Is Character Ethics Salvation by Works? -- Jean Porter: Does Character Ethics Abandon Principles? -- Fritz Stern: Is Character Ethics the Inward Emigration of Despair? -- Antidotes to Inward Emigration -- Validation by Historical Fruits -- Section II: The Way of Jesus and Prophetic Authority -- 4 Authority and Scripture -- Sources of Authority for Christian Ethics -- Jesus and the Sources of Authority -- Classic and Contemporary Voices in Christian Ethics -- Jesus, Scripture and Ethics -- Jesus and Scripture -- Classic and Contemporary Voices in Christian Ethics -- 5 The Form and Function of Moral Norms -- Four Levels of Moral Norms in Christian Ethics -- Which Level Is Most Important? -- Teleology Versus Deontology -- Practices, Virtues and Embodied Drama -- 6 The Transforming Initiatives of the Sermon on the Mount -- How the Tradition of Evasion and Dualism Developed -- Not "High Ideals" but "Transforming Initiatives".

The Pattern of Transforming Initiatives in Matthew 5:38-42 -- The Pattern of Transforming Initiatives in Matthew 5:43-48 -- The Pattern Continues Throughout the Sermon -- Healing the Split Between the Sermon and Ethics -- Section III: The Gospel of Life -- 7 Just War, Nonviolence and Just Peacemaking -- The Basis for All Three Ethics: Jesus' Way of Peacemaking -- The Eight Rules of Just War Theory -- How Not to Argue for the Just War Theory -- Nonviolence/Pacifism -- How Not to Argue for Nonviolence -- Just Peacemaking Theory -- How Not to Argue for Just Peacemaking Theory -- 8 Sowing the Seeds of Peace -- A Student's Visit to Columbine -- Perceiving What Works to Prevent Violence -- Take Direct Action Opposing Television Violence -- Undertake Early Training in Conflict Resolution -- Foster Economic Justice -- Focus on Early Detection and Prevention of Violence -- Strengthen Community Organization -- Reduce Handgun Availability -- Encourage Spirituality and Other Forces for Resiliency -- 9 Restorative Penalties for Homicide -- The Key: Beginning with Jesus as Lord -- Genesis 9:6 as the Key? -- Was Jesus' Crucifixion Unjust? -- All Death Penalties in the New Testament Are Unjust -- Is Romans 13 About the Authority to Tax or the Death Penalty? -- A Brief History of Church Teaching on the Death Penalty -- Is the Death Penalty in Actual Practice Unjust? -- 10 Valuing Life at Its Beginnings -- Scripture and Abortion -- Reflecting on Fetal Personhood -- Abortion: Two Narratives -- The Immediate Context of Abortion: Crisis Pregnancy -- The Centrality of Compassionate Help -- Abortion and the Church -- Abortion and the Law -- 11 Valuing Life at Its End -- Jesus, Death and God's Reign -- Euthanasia: Defining Our Terms -- The Contemporary Debate -- 12 New Frontiers in Biotechnology -- What Has Jesus to Do with Biotechnology?.

The New Science and Its Applications -- Discerning the Signs of the Times -- Crafting a Moral Response-Stem Cells -- Cloning -- Genetic Therapies -- Conclusion: At the Threshold -- Section IV: Male and Female -- 13 Marriage and Divorce -- Asking the Wrong Questions -- On Divorce: The Matthean or Markan Jesus? -- Marriage, Creation and the Kingdom -- Traditional Piety: The Use and Abuse of the Divorce Certificate -- Vicious Cycles: Rethinking the Divorce/Adultery Connection -- The Notorious Exception Clause -- Marital Peacemaking: Rethinking the "Pauline Privilege" -- Conclusion -- 14 Sexuality -- Matthew 5:27-30: Interpreting the Passage -- Situations and Applications -- Concluding Thoughts: How Much Does Sex Matter in Kingdom Perspective? -- 15 Gender Roles -- The "Women's Issue" in Historical Perspective -- The Contemporary Landscape -- Jesus and Women -- Paul and Women -- A Male Leadership Perspective -- Conclusion: Is a Convergence Possible? -- Section V: The Central Norms of Christian Ethics -- 16 Love -- Sacrificial Love -- Mutual Love -- Love as Equal Regard -- Delivering Love -- Love Your Enemies -- The Cross -- 17 Justice -- Jesus in the Tradition of the Prophets -- Jesus' Attack on the Temple System -- Jesus, the Promised Kingdom and Justice -- Jesus' Confrontation with Injustice -- The Injustice of Greed and Justice for the Poor and Hungry -- The Injustice of Domination -- The Injustice of Violence -- The Injustice of Exclusion from Community -- Conclusion -- Section VI: Relationships of Justice and Love -- 18 Truthtelling -- Jesus and Truth: "Let Your Word Be Yes, Yes" -- Living in Truth as Christian Disciples -- Truth, Covenant, Power and Fear -- Conclusion -- 19 Race -- Race and the Injustice of Violence and Death -- Race and the Injustice of Economic Deprivation -- Race and the Injustice of Domination by the Powerful.

Race and the Injustice of Exclusion from Community -- Remembered Wrongs Inadequately Addressed -- Scripture and Race -- Racial Justice and Reconciliation: On the Frontiers -- 20 Economics -- You Cannot Serve God and Wealth: Mammon and the Sermon -- Jesus and Money Elsewhere in the Gospels -- Key Themes in Christian Economic Ethics -- 21 Care of the Creation -- Dimensions of the Ecological Crisis -- Approaches to an Ethic of Creation Care -- Biblical and Theological Reflections on Creation Care -- Transforming Initiatives and Christian Practices -- Section VII: A Passion for God's Reign -- 22 Prayer -- The "Practices of Righteousness" (Mt 6:1-18) -- Trust, Prayer and the Reign of God -- The Lord's Prayer -- Conclusion: Ethics and Prayer Revisited -- 23 Politics -- Interpreting the Passage -- Toward a Christian Social Ethic of Salt, Light and Deeds -- 24 Practices -- Bibliography -- Author Index -- Subject Index -- Scripture Index -- About the Authors -- Praise for Kingdom Ethics -- More Titles from InterVarsity Press -- Copyright.