Tradition and Truth in Christian Ethics: John Yoder and the Bases of Biblical Realism

Reflecting on the state of theological ethics in 1981, James Gustafson wrote that the radical Christian ethics of Yoder mark a substantive position for which there are many sound defenses; to opt against it is to opt against some fundamental claims of traditional Christianity. This, however, comes fast on the heels of Gustafson\u27s remark that, despite its historical, biblical, sociological, and moral warrants, I note Yoder\u27s option here because it is the one most dramatically different from the option I shall pursue.\u27\u27 The attentive outsider, unaccustomed to the ways of Christian ethics, is likely to wonder what, with all those warrants, makes Yoder\u27s a radical Christian ethics;\u27 and why Christians would pursue anything else. The knowledgeable, of course, will recognize Gustafson as the heir and representative of an important tradition in Protestant ethics, running back through H. Richard Niebuhr to Ernst Troeltsch