ABSTRACT
A theistic ethic is one that is rooted in ontology of God's acts in history. At the heart of those acts is a divine intention for human flourishing and well-being. The secret of mutual love is that it unites particular and unique selves in a bond of care in which each partner seeks the other's flourishing in ways that are unique to that other. But such other-regarding heterocentric love altruism requires and produces a relationship of deep intimacy, trust, and interdependence. Mutuality is essential to the community that makes flourishing possible, but not all forms of association are mutual communities. Nevertheless, the religious believer lives in a variety of communities, associations, and societies simultaneously. To be faithful to its construal of God's intention and God's ongoing relationship with God's human creation, a theistic ethic must constantly remind itself of human sin. A theistic ethic must ultimately be about more than the rectifying of unjust economic and political conditions.
