504 - Making Moral Decisions

Making Moral Decisions

By J. Phillip Wogaman

Nashville, Abingdon, 1990. 96 Pp. $4.50.

This is a good basic outline, which is designed to bring congregations, primarily of the United Methodist Church, into the process of reflection on moral problems. It deals with well-known objections and difficulties that people have with this involvement: the relevance of Scripture, the place of theology in the world of human decisions, the individual versus the group, and common pitfalls into which moral argument often falls. It is a wise book by a scholar with many years of experience in the practice of the ministry, one who has written several more substantive works in the field.

The author is irenic to a fault. He draws on Methodist materials but is broadly ecumenical in emphasis. His book could be used fruitfully by church study groups in any denomination. It does not, however, sharpen the issues at stake in the current raging controversy about the role of churches in public policy. It does not mention the efforts of conservative or radical forces to define the Church's social agenda. It does lay down some basic Christian presumptions: that created existence in the world is basically good, that each person's life has value before God, that humankind is united in God, and that all persons are to be treated equally. These form a framework for reflection in action. They, and the practical suggestions concerning how a congregation goes about moral reflection, make this book a useful preface to

506 - Making Moral Decisions

that enterprise. For the substance and the controversies of it, one must turn to other writings by the author and by others.

Charles C. West, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ