Protestant Virtue and Stoic Ethics

Elizabeth Agnew Cochran

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9780567689160
• eBook ISBN: 9780567671363
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

The Stoics are known to have been a decisive influence on early Christian moral thought, but the import of this influence for contemporary Christian ethics has been underexplored. Elizabeth Agnew Cochran argues that attention to the Stoics enriches a Christian understanding of the virtues, illuminating precisely how historical Protestant theology gives rise to a distinctive virtue ethic. Through examining the dialogue between Roman Stoic ethics and the work of Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards, Cochran illuminates key theological convictions that provide a foundation for a contemporary Protestant virtue ethic, consistent with theological beliefs characteristic of the historical Reformed tradition.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction and Acknowledgments
• 1. Protestant Virtue Ethics and the Retrieval of the Stoics
• 2. A Roman Stoic Ethic of Assent
• 3. The Primacy of Faith in a Protestant Virtue Ethic
• 4. Conversion, Transformation, and Christian Progress: Protestant Soteriology and the Formation of Moral Character
• 5. Providence, Necessity, and the Human Will: Moral Agency in Historical Protestant Ethics
• 6. Emotions in the Virtuous Life
• Conclusion: Future Prospects for Protestant Virtue Ethics
• Works Cited
• Index