Kenneth E. Kirk – författare

A compelling justification for the centrality of worship in Christian life, drawing on the ascetic tradition and with implications for moral theology and ecclesiastical historyBased on the 1928 Bampton Lectures, The Vision of God was the first of Kenneth E. Kirk's three major books on moral theology. Drawing inspiration from the ascetic tradition of Christianity, Kirk advocates the priority of worship in ethical thought. Beginning with the sixth beatitude, he places the visio Dei front and centre throughout, placing himself in a eudaimonistic tradition that ranges from Irenaeus to Aquinas and the Shorter Catechism. Worship, he shows, offers the opportunity to discover and acknowledge something more valuable than the self, and thus contains the key to moral instruction. Although Kirk published an expanded 'complete edition' of The Vision of God in 1931, he notes in the preface to the shorter text presented here that 'what remains approximates to, though it is not quite identical with, the actual lectures as originally delivered.' The reader therefore has in their hands the essence of Kirk's thesis, which continues to prompt debate today.

One of the classic texts of moral theology, setting out crucial moral problems and arguments drawn from religion and the religious community.Casuistry is a process of reasoning that focuses upon specific cases or moral problems, as opposed to a general study of ethical theories. In this broad sense every moral philosopher may be regarded as a casuist in some sense. The term also has a narrower meaning as it refers to a group of moralists who, in the sixteenth and seventeenth century systematically adopted this method. Casuistry is now one of the options for those who, in the framework of the post-modern anti-systematic attitude, still feel the importance of serious moral debate and reject easy-minded relativism.A benchmark in twentieth century casuistry, Conscience and its Problems anticipates this development. It recognises the legacy of casuist tradition, and faces moral issues relevant to our own time. One of the great classics of theology unavailable for twenty years, Kirk’s work is at last back in print in a handsome new edition.Kirk examines in depth all the crucial moral problems, and offers arguments drawn from religion and from those committed to religious worship and community. The influence of this work has been very wide, making it an essential text for those in the field.An extensive new Introduction by David H. Smith places Kirk’s approach to casuistry in the context of a general discussion of the term, its meaning and the ways in which it has been variously interpreted.

This book, originally published in 1927, has proven to be one of the most important and influential books in the field of ethics in the twentieth century. It remains a pertinent, original, and insightful work--a landmark statement of modern casuistry.The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.