Religious Ethics and Pastoral Care

Don Browning's important work critically appropriates the distinctive insights of religious ethics and contemporary psychology to inform and reform both. Here he elaborates the moral context for pastoral care by formulating five levels of practical moral thinking, illustrates them in two case studies involving homosexuality, and integrates the levels into a method of theological practice. It is a helpful but not dominating ethical framework for pastoral care and counseling useful to students, pastors, and congregations alike. "Browning, in this book, continues efforts to teach religious ethics to those working as counselors.... It presents a clear argument and method for laying practical and workable foundations of religious ethics in pastoral work." -Clergy Journal "[Browning] points out that much of our pastoral care is undergirded by unexamined or only partially examined moral and ethical thinking.... In our efforts to avoid moralism, we have moved more and more toward a stance of ethical neutrality which has done a disservice to the people who look to us for help. Pastoral care and counseling need to be grounded in a practical moral theology or theological ethics." -Christian Century "Browning provides ample resources for pastors to begin a discipline of critical moral reflection, especially in their role as counselors.... His borrowings from moral philosophers and theological ethics are explicated in the context of case studies and should prove helpful for anyone engaged in the practice of ministry." -Religious Studies Review Don S. Browning is Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Ethics and the Social Sciences, Divinity School, University of Chicago. His work at the intersection of theological ethics and social sciences has led to such pioneering and influential works as Religious Thought and the Modern Psychologies and A Fundamental Practical Theology.