ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 (‘Character Formation and Theological Challenges’) provides an introduction to the principal issues which make up the background and context of the overall argument of the book, while at the same time defining a number of theological and philosophical terms which appear throughout. It first places Christian character formation within a theological frame of reference, where theology has a privileged role in the articulation of a Christian philosophy of education. This means that the purpose of such formation and education in virtue is to lead Christians towards a human flourishing that is conceived in terms of a distinctive theological understanding of human nature, where human beings are called to the goal or telos of knowledge and love of God within the community of the Church. While the chapter notes certain convergences between Catholics and Protestants on method in Christian ethics, it highlights contemporary challenges to questions of moral character from sources both external to and internal to the Church. While conscious of the presumption of unbelief in wider Western society and its effects within the Christian community, it gives a critical account of the moral theory of proportionalism, which is widely influential in Catholic circles, and engages critically but not unsympathetically with the more recent impact of intersectionality within the Church. In this context, the chapter proposes as a contribution to the renewal of our common moral life, on the basis of Christian tradition, the interconnected ethics of natural law and virtue.
