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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 June 2018
The renaissance of virtue ethics in Christian moral discourse has led a handful of Reformed theologians to consider whether or not the Reformed tradition is compatible with classical and medieval concepts of virtue. Barthians, in particular, express doubt regarding the prospect of such a retrieval, arguing that classical notions of virtue compromise the Reformed hallmark of divine sovereignty and Luther's dictum simul justus et peccator. This essay counters that the Reformed tradition is broad enough to find more productive ways to engage virtue ethics. In particular, the Westminster Standards provide both the formal space for a significant theological exploration of human agency and the material content for the development of something like a classical virtue ethic. Barthian concerns regarding divine sovereignty and moral progress are satisfied by a demonstration that Westminster's attention to human agency is always within the context of a greater emphasis on divine agency.
1 Nolan, Kirk J., Reformed Virtue After Barth: Developing Moral Virtue Ethics in the Reformed Tradition (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2014), pp. 37–61Google Scholar.
2 These concerns are first expressed in Hunsicker, David B., ‘Review of Reformed Virtue After Barth: Developing Moral Virtue Ethics in the Reformed Tradition, by Kirk J. Nolan’, Journal of Reformed Theology 10/1 (2016), pp. 97–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
3 Rosalind Hursthouse, ‘Virtue Ethics’, in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Fall 2013 edn, https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2013/entries/ethics-virtue/; accessed Aug. 2017.
4 Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologica, 3 vols, trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (New York: Benzinger Brothers, 1947), 1/2.55.4Google Scholar.
5 Aquinas, Summa Theologica, 2/2.23.8.
6 Hauerwas, Stanley and Pinches, Charles, Christians among the Virtues: Theological Conversations with Ancient and Modern Ethics (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1997), p. 68Google Scholar.
7 Hauerwas, Stanley, Character and the Christian Life: A Study in Theological Ethics (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1994 [1975]), pp. 1–10Google Scholar.
8 Nolan, Reformed Virtue After Barth, p. 1.
9 Hauerwas, Stanley, The Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), p. 119Google Scholar.
10 Hooker, Brad W., ‘Casuistry’, in Audi, Robert (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd edn (Cambridge: CUP, 1999), pp. 121–2Google Scholar.
11 Grenz, Stanley J., The Moral Quest: Foundations of Christian Ethics (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), p. 27Google Scholar.
12 Hauerwas, Peaceable Kingdom, p. 120.
13 Mouw, Richard J., The God Who Commands: A Study in Divine Command Ethics (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1990)Google Scholar.
14 Ibid., p. 145.
15 The Westminster Confession of Faith (hereafter WCF), art. 3.6, in Schaff, Philip (ed.), The Evangelical Protestant Creeds with Translations, vol. 3 of The Creeds of Christendom: With a History and Critical Notes, 6th edn, rev. Schaff, David S. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996)Google Scholar.
16 WCF, 8.1.
17 McGowan, A. T. B., ‘Justification and the Ordo Salutis’, in McCormack, Bruce L. (ed.), Justification in Perspective: Historical Developments and Contemporary Challenges (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2006), p. 149Google Scholar.
18 ‘The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion of the Church of England’, art. 17, in The Evangelical Protestant Creeds.
19 ‘The Irish Articles of Religion’, art. 15, in The Evangelical Protestant Creeds.
20 WCF, 10.1–2.
21 WCF, 10.1–2.
22 WCF, 11.1–4.
23 WCF, 12.1.
24 WCF, 13.1.
25 WCF, 13.1–3.
26 WCF, 13.1.
27 Fesko, J. V., The Theology of the Westminster Standards: Historical Context and Theological Insights (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2014), p. 244Google Scholar.
28 Among those antinomians the divines might particularly have in mind are: (1) Anabaptists like Thomas Muntzer and Hans Denk; (2) the Family of Love group, based on the teachings of Henry Nichols; and (3) the English antinomians, John Eaton, John Saltmarsh, William Dell and Tobias Crisp. See Fesko, The Theology of the Westminster Standards, pp. 240–4.
29 WCF, 14.2.
30 WCF, 14.3.
31 WCF, 15.1–5.
32 WCF, 16.3.
33 WCF, 16.4–5.
34 WCF, 17.2.
35 WCF, 18.3.
36 Fesko, Theology of the Westminster Standards, pp. 257–60.
37 Muller, Richard A., Calvin and the Reformed Tradition: On the Work of Christ and the Order of Salvation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2012), pp. 189–90Google Scholar.
38 ‘The Scots Confession’, arts 13–14, in The Evangelical Protestant Creeds; ‘The Thirty-Nine Articles’, art. 17; ‘The Irish Articles’, art. 15.
39 ‘The Irish Articles’, art. 34–45.
40 WCF, 14.2.
41 WCF 13.1–3.
42 WCF, 16.3.
43 WCF, 11.2.
44 WCF, 19.2.
45 LC, Q. 122.
46 LC, Q. 101. Deut 5:1–6 gives even more narrative context, recounting the covenantal relationship between God and Israel that serves as the basis for the Decalogue.
47 LC, Q. 32.
48 LC, Q. 141.
49 LC, Q. 142.
50 Barth, Karl, The Theology of the Reformed Confessions, trans. Guder, Darrell L. and Guder, Judith J. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2002), p. 136Google Scholar.
51 Ibid., p. 143.
52 Ibid., p. 140.
53 Ibid., p. 133.
54 Torrance, T. F., Scottish Theology: From John Knox to John McLeod Campbell (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1996), p. 128Google Scholar.
55 Nolan, Reformed Virtue After Barth, p. 21.
56 Torrance, James B., ‘Strengths and Weaknesses of the Westminster Theology’, in Heron, Alasdair I. C. (ed.), The Westminster Confession in the Church Today (Edinburgh: St Andrews Press, 1982), p. 52Google Scholar.
57 Fesko, Theology of the Westminster Standards, p. 249.
58 LC, Q. 66.
59 Barth, Theology of the Reformed Confessions, p. 143.
60 Ibid., p. 144.
61 Ibid., p. 146.
62 Barth, Karl, Church Dogmatics, III/4, ed. Bromiley, G. W. and Torrance, T. F. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1961), p. 11Google Scholar.
63 Thompson, John L., ‘Night at the Museum: The Secret Life of an Old Confession’, Theology Matters 16/5 (Nov./Dec. 2010), p. 3Google Scholar.
64 Ibid., p. 7.
65 Ibid.
