Resurrection and Moral Order

Oliver O'Donovan's systematic treatment of Christian ethics emerged from his conviction that evangelical theology had failed to develop a coherent moral framework grounded in its own theological commitments. Writing as Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford, O'Donovan sought to construct an ethics that would be genuinely theological rather than borrowing its categories from secular moral philosophy or natural law traditions.

O'Donovan argues that the resurrection of Jesus Christ provides the proper foundation for Christian ethics because it represents God's vindication of the created order. The resurrection does not replace creation but confirms and restores it, establishing that the material world and human nature retain their goodness and intelligibility despite the fall. From this christological center, O'Donovan develops what he calls an "evangelical ethics" that takes seriously both the objectivity of moral order rooted in creation and the transformative reality of redemption. He contends that moral knowledge comes through participation in the redeemed community's life rather than through abstract reasoning, and that Christian ethics must be ecclesial and eschatological in orientation. The work systematically addresses fundamental questions of moral epistemology, the relationship between law and gospel, the role of natural order in Christian thinking, and the church's public witness.

The book established O'Donovan as a leading voice in Christian ethics and helped reshape evangelical approaches to moral theology by providing sophisticated theological grounding for ethical reflection. Its influence extends across denominational lines, particularly among those seeking alternatives to both fundamentalist legalism and liberal accommodation to secular ethics. Who should read this: theologians, pastors, and graduate students wrestling with the foundations of Christian moral reasoning will find essential resources here, though readers expecting practical guidance on specific ethical issues or those uncomfortable with rigorous theological argument should look elsewhere.