Joining Creation's Praise

“Wise, insightful, judicious, faithful, comprehensive, clarifying—these are just a few apt descriptions of Brock’s magisterial Joining Creation’s Praise. As a leading theological ethicist in our post-Christendom era, Brock shows us how we might find ourselves at home. Without certainty, without moralism, without avoiding the difficulties we face, he successfully brings us to where we can and should be. This work deserves to be the standard Christian ethics text for the foreseeable future.”

“How can we late moderns experience being at home in the cosmos? Brian Brock proposes an answer that lies in an ethic of creatureliness, unfolded through a wide-ranging interpretation of the primeval history of Genesis. Seeing creation through the ethos of scriptural peoples challenges a host of contemporary assumptions, freeing Christians to abandon anthropocentrism and find Sabbath rest. Although this book is sure to delight some and disturb others, even readers who construe creatureliness in ways different from Brock will learn much from the workings of his expansive scriptural imagination.”

“Here Brock undertakes nothing less than the conversion of common sense in our industrialized, militarized society. By locating creatureliness at the heart of a biblically grounded Christian ethos, he points to the only genuine possibility for human flourishing into the future. The creativity, breadth, and thoroughness of this study, as well as the gracefulness of its exposition, will reward those who accept his challenge to think deeply and live differently in this God-formed world.”

“Brian Brock argues that Christian ethics must be a thoroughly ‘doxological’ undertaking, formed from start to finish in the language of worship and imaginatively nourished from sacred texts. As a program this has been heard before, but I cannot think of another book that undertakes to implement that program with such thoroughness. Taking creatureliness as a privileged starting point, strongly in tension with the suppositions of the secular West, Brock explores the paths of practical thought that open out from it, while warning us away from the false trails he sees as barred off.”

“Brian Brock’s Joining Creation’s Praise is a monumental triumph, in that only a consummate scholar of his reputation, tenacity, and skill could have created such a comprehensive piece of work. The challenge of ‘How should we live?’ is one that has concerned theological ethicists for centuries. This expansive appraisal of theological ethics is rooted in our creatureliness, as beings created for mutuality and relationship, by the ultimate, master Creator. Brock demonstrates that generosity is at the heart of what it means to be human. This is a must read!”

“Brian Brock’s Joining Creation’s Praise is an absolute tour de force. But that’s beside the point. The point that matters is that contemporary Christianity desperately needs a theology of creation that is about all that creation is about. Finally it has one.”

“This major new book is the culmination of a gifted and creative scholar’s work. Seamlessly interweaving systematic theology and ethics, Brian Brock explores what it means to feel at home in the world. Brock explores creation through fascinating studies of ecology, economics, work, sex, war, and more. The entire text is permeated by a sense that God is alive and active and that responding to God is not a burden but a pleasure.”

“In this foundational text Brian Brock has firmly established ‘creatureliness’ as a category of decisive theological and ethical significance. His wide-ranging and deeply probing reflections demonstrate that the implications are enormous and cannot be ignored, especially as we confront today’s multiple social and ecological crises.”

“Professor Brian Brock opens a new chapter in the study of Christian ethics, albeit within a familiar book. By reference to the biblical creation narratives of Genesis 1–3, Brock joins with other theological ethicists who have derived from them an interpretation of Christian normativity. His engagement is contemporary, thorough, and relevant. This is a helpful contribution to the study of Christian ethics.”

“This presentation of theological ethics impressively shows how the hermeneutics of biblical texts and the ethical hermeneutics of the reality of life are intertwined. In vivid language, Brock shows the ethical formation of the reality of life (ethos) through the revelatory power of the narrative of Genesis 1–11. It becomes apparent how being attuned to this ethos involves the eschatological renewal of one’s understanding and the actualizing of this messianic-eschatological vision in life. The book offers excellent access to this practice of ethical learning.”