Creation and covenant

The chapter argues that the common law is a useful place for ethicists who emphasize distinctive Christian claims to engage contemporary secular morality. The method of the common law is inductive, epistemologically humble, and case centered. Drawing on key concepts from contract law, the chapter contends that the normative tradition of the common law makes room for ad hoc correlations between Christian ethics and secular morality. These correlations fit within the Barthian formula of “creation as the external basis of covenant and covenant as the internal meaning of creation.” The chapter argues that if Hauerwas had paid more attention to this formula in his Gifford Lectures, he would have found the basis for a more constructive engagement with contemporary secular thought.

Duke Scholars

Author Stanley M. Hauerwas Divinity School