A RAFT THAT FLOATS - EXPERIENCE, TRADITION, AND SCIENCES IN GUSTAFSONTHEOCENTRIC ETHICS

Although James Gustafson's use of the Christian Bible and tradition is not fully displayed in the essays published here, Bible and tradition are a crucial part of a composite rationale, which includes experienc e and the sciences, for his theocentric ethics. Gustafson's theocentri c ethics employs the sciences to back, inform, and correct the Christi an tradition and offers grounds for respecting the natural piety and m orality of ''nonreligious'' persons while explaining and justifying wh y Christians draw on major themes and metaphors from their tradition t hat should penetrate their piety and morality. His proposal should reo rient the thinking of theological ethics more than it has thus far.