Description: This book presents a methodology for ethical analysis applicable to not only Paul's writings but also other New Testament texts and the Bible more generally. In doing so, it proposes new ways to read biblical texts in the context of current ethical debates.
Brief description: Ruben Zimmermann is professor for New Testament studies and ethics at the Protestant Faculty of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.
Review Quotes:
"This translation makes a once-in-a generation benchmark in New Testament ethics available for Anglophones. Zimmermann's innovative "implicit ethics" transcends established methods and approaches. His analysis by means of a vast array of multi-disciplinary resources, ancient and modern, discloses Pauline approaches that are rarely absolute, but demonstrate coherent systems of hierarchical values (with love at the apex) and relationships (especially with God, Christ, and congregation) that allow for flexible, concrete behaviors principally for the benefit of others." --Robert L. Brawley, McCormick Theological Seminary
"In this richly documented and detailed work, Ruben Zimmermann presents an original model for analyzing the "implicit ethics" of a text, and applies it in detail to 1 Corinthians. The results enable us to grasp the various kinds of logic by which Paul's ethics operate, and do so in a way that facilitates engagement not only within the fields of biblical studies and theological ethics, but also, importantly, beyond - into any area concerned with the analysis of ethics." --David G. Horrell, Reader in New Testament Studies, University of Exeter, UK. "In Logic of Love, the renowned German New Testament scholar Ruben Zimmermann sets forth St. Paul's "implicit ethics" as a coherent and meta-ethically defensible account of the Christian life. Given the long debate about ethics in the bible and the use of the bible in ethics, this work makes a profound contribution that will interest anyone who pounders the point and purpose of Paul's thought." --William Schweiker, The University of Chicago