Understanding Religious Ethics

• Draws on a range of moral issues, such as examples arising from friendship, marriage, homosexuality, lying, forgiveness and its limits, the death penalty, the environment, warfare, and the meaning of work, career, and vocation
• Looks at both ethical reasoning and importantly, how that reasoning reveals insights into a religious tradition
• Investigates the resources available to address common problems confronting Abrahamic faiths, and how each faith explains and defends its moral viewpoints
• Offering concrete topics for interfaith discussions, this is a timely and insightful introduction to a fast-growing field of interest

Acknowledgments vi

Introduction: Conviction and Argument 1

Part I: Preliminaries 19

1 God and Morality 21

2 Jewish Ethics 38

3 Christian Ethics 53

4 Islamic Ethics 65

Part II: Personal Matters 81

5 Friendship 83

6 Sexuality 91

7 Marriage and Family 106

8 Lying 118

9 Forgiveness 134

Part III: Social Matters 145

10 Love and Justice 147

11 Duty, Law, Conscience 157

12 Capital Punishment 167

13 War (I): Towards War 182

14 War (II): In War 199

15 Religion and the Environment 209

Part IV: The Last Things 223

16 Pursuits of Happiness: Labor, Leisure, and Life 225

17 Good and Evil 239

Conclusion: What’s So Funny ’bout Peace, Love, and Understanding? 254

Notes 262

Index 270

• Introduces religious ethics by focusing on the major forms of moral reasoning encompassing the three ‘Abrahamic’ religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• Looks at both ethical reasoning and importantly, how that reasoning reveals insights into a religious tradition
• Draws on a range of moral issues, such as examples arising from friendship, marriage, homosexuality, lying, forgiveness and its limits, the death penalty, the environment, warfare, and the meaning of work, career, and vocation
• Investigates the resources available to address common problems confronting Abrahamic faiths, and how each faith explains and defends its moral viewpoints
• Offering concrete topics for interfaith discussions, this is a timely and insightful introduction to a fast-growing field of interest

“At 250 pages, the volume provides thoughtful theoretical foundations for comparative religious ethics balanced by attention to both historical context and normative issues.”  (Religious Studies Review, 11 June 2013)  

"This splendid volume—from a distinguished scholar and teacher—is the best available general introduction to comparative religious ethics. Unlike many arid textbooks, it offers a lively examination of the moral life by initiating readers into the diverse beliefs and practices that animate Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Adherents of these traditions and their critics will find much wisdom in these pages. The serious treatment of classical questions and contemporary problems is a needed antidote to many lazy discussions of controversial issues."
—Eric Gregory, Princeton University

"Comparative, comprehensive and highly readable, Matthewes' book provides an overview of religious ethics in three traditions without sacrificing the specificity of each ethical system. The author effortlessly enlightens the reader as to how Judaism, Christianity and Islam deals with highly relevant topics such as family, love, sexuality, lying, war, capital punishment and many more themes in a provocative and graceful manner."
—Ebrahim Moosa, Duke University