Churchgoing and Christian Ethics [Paperback]

Examines social survey results to show that churchgoers have distinctive attitudes, beliefs and behaviour.Robin Gill argues that moral communities should take centre stage in ethics. This book examines recent evidence about church communities in relation to faith, moral order and love, and shows that churchgoers are distinctive in their attitudes, beliefs and behaviour. Some attitudes change over time, and there are several moral disagreements between different groups of churchgoers. Moreover, their values and behaviour are shared by many non-churchgoers also. The distinctiveness of church communities in the modern world is thus real but relative, and is crucial for the task of Christian ethics.Robin Gill argues that moral communities should take centre stage in ethics. This book examines recent evidence about church communities in relation to faith, moral order and love, and shows that churchgoers are distinctive in their attitudes, beliefs and behaviour. Some attitudes change over time, and there are several moral disagreements between different groups of churchgoers. Moreover, their values and behaviour are shared by many non-churchgoers also. The distinctiveness of church communities in the modern world is thus real but relative, and is crucial for the task of Christian ethics.Robin Gill argues that moral communities should take center stage in ethics. This book examines recent evidence about church communities in relation to faith, moral order and love, and shows that churchgoers are distinctive in their attitudes, beliefs and behavior. Some attitudes change over time, and there are several moral disagreements among different groups of churchgoers. Moreover, their values and behavior are shared by many nonchurchgoers also. The distinctiveness of church communities in the modern world is thus real but relative, and is crucial for the task of Christian ethics.Preface; List of tables; Introduction; Part I. The Theoretical Context: 1. Churchgoing and the bias of viló