Issue: April 2007

Volume 7 Number 4

Introduction to “Business Ethics” Issue

[1] This issue of the Journal of Lutheran Ethics deals with business ethics, a topic that impacts the lives of everyone – worker, manager, investor, and/or concerned citizen. Three authors in this issue speak to various facets of this topic. [2] Eric Mount sets forth an argument for recovering traditional norms of covenant, community, and […]

Covenant, Community, and the Common Good: Norms for Corporate Leadership and Culture

[1] It is far from apparent that covenant, community, and common good are ideas whose time has come. [1] Recent scandals in corporate life have sent many companies back to the drawing board concerning their corporate cultures, and some critical observers regard the apprehended executives as only the tip of the iceberg-the larger ice being […]

God is Friendship: Personal Reflections toward a Spirituality of Friendship

[1] A journey of recovery awaits me. Along the way, I hope to find greater humanity and God amid old memories and smiles I have never forgotten. [2] Soon, I will embark on a road trip with two old friends. I have not shared such intimate space with them for 25 years, or is it […]

How Character is Shaped: Drawing (Tentative) Connections Between Business Ethics and the Bible

[1] Very broadly speaking, there are two basic ways of doing ethics in the trenches of the business world. The first is aimed at compliance-ensuring that corporate policies meet legal standards, that executives and employees are adequately informed about those policies and trained to comply with them in their work. Along this tangent, ethics officers […]

James M. Childs is Joseph A. Sittler Emeritus Professor of Theology and Ethics at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus Ohio.

Servant Leadership: Character and the Ethics of Business

[1] In my book, Ethics in Business: Faith at Work, I included a chapter on servant leadership. It was essentially about how the character of leadership is foundational to the ethics of business in any corporation, company, or firm.[1] In the brief comments that follow I want to look back on that discussion of character […]

The Authority of the Bible and Churchly Debates Regarding Sexuality

[This article is reprinted from Word & World 26/4 [2006] 365-374. Copyright © Word & World, 2006. Used with permission. The issue of Word & World from which this article is reprinted is devoted to the theme “Biblical Authority Today.”] [1] I offer some reflections on the authority of the Bible, especially in view of […]