90 books in 90 days -- resurrection and moral order

In Resurrection and Moral Order, O'Donovan argues that Christian ethics must be rooted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He argues that the resurrection is the pivot point for assessing ethics in a Christian perspective.  Apart from God's revelation in Christ, we could not fully assess our present situations, anchoring our present in the event of the resurrection and the eschatological goal to which creation is moving.  O'Donovan maintains that Christian morality is a glad response to what God has done for us in Christ.

To be Christian ethics, ethics must be rooted in the gospel of Christ.  Some Christians are ethical, without having a Christian ethic.   Some even want to separate their faith in Christ from a unique ethic, trying to operate on the basis of natural law and philosophical axiology.  To accept Christian ethics means to accept that the gospel makes moral claims and judgments.  Antinomianism and moralism are two dangers that must be avoided.  This book will advance, "the theological proposition that Christian ethics depends upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead".  The resurrection shows that God is bringing life out of death, and redeeming the creation. God's created order, and human beings, are redeemed by Christ the representative.  God has made the world in a particular way, and this means that morality is inescapable, and there will be commonalities in moral codes and norms.  Nevertheless, people are fallen, and so their perception of moral reality is skewed -- we need revelation in Christ to see clearly.  Christ's resurrection vindicates the created order, and it also orients our hope eschatologically.  Our down payment of this future glory is the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit, not law, is the basis for Christian ethics.  We find freedom when we live in light of the gospel in God's world.  Christians find subjective moral power in Christ, to live in an objective moral order.  Love requires wisdom and delight, and it allows us to perceive order and care in proper ways.  Christ has authority -- as Adam had authority -- and in Christ, we participate in it.

The resurrection of Jesus is also the resurrection of the created order.  And in that resurrection we find all moral obligations and reflection aimed toward the reconciliation of any division between grace and nature.

I've used this book several times in teaching Christian ethics.  It's not the easiest read -- in fact, at times it can be quite difficult.  The first time through, ignore the small printed sections.  They can weight you down in exegetical details that are better left for a second and third reading.  But this book is so important for what it claims that Christians shouldn't neglect it.