Becoming Good by David Gill
Essay Preview: Becoming Good by David Gill
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Dr. David W. Gill is the Mockler-Phillips Professor of Workplace Theology and Ethics, and the Director of the Mockler Center for Faith and Ethics in the Workplace at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton Massachusetts. Gill has also held positions at several other academic institutions and is well known for his work on the writings of the French sociologist and ethicist, Jacques Ellul.
Becoming Good is a study in virtue/character ethics from a Christian perspective. It is not Gills intention to write a heady, overly academic treatise on the nature of Christian virtue. Instead he wants to write an accessible discussion of this topic for the entire body of Christ, which includes “engineers, managers, bus drivers, youth soccer coaches, restaurant workers, PTA members, attorneys, gardeners, physicians, nurses, teachers, journalists, parents, neighborhood volunteers” (Kindle Location 75).
Gill begins his work by describing the current ethical landscape. After defining an “ethic as a working set of guidelines concerning what is good and bad (or evil), right and wrong” (Kindle Location 134), and ethics (or moral philosophy) as “the serious study of such guidance and its justification” (Kindle Location 135), he explains that today we live in an ethical wilderness of sorts. Because of a host of complex new problems, the interdependence of our problems, the growing diversity which brings conflicting values, the speed and intensity of our lives, and the fact that traditional moralities have lost credibility, Gill says that we have reached a place where we have a hard time reaching a consensus about what is right and wrong (Kindle Locations 176-178).
After explaining what a virtue is (a habit, a power or potential, a capacity, a skill, and a disposition) and describing several of the factors involved in the foundation of our character (genetics, Gods work in us, the way we were raised, cultural influences, and our own choices), Gill goes on to discuss many of the traits that the Bible exhorts Christians to exhibit, drawing mainly on St. Pauls theological virtues of faith, hope, and love, and Jesus Beatitudes.
In his chapter “Faithful, Holy & Wise: The Disciple”, Gill discusses the virtues of faith, holiness, and wisdom. Faith, according to Gill, plays a foundational role in our character development, for it is essential in order for us to fulfill our call to follow Jesus. He writes, “Faithfulness is the habitual, foundational master trait of the good disciple in this drama” (Kindle Location 1414). Holiness and wisdom accompany faith and enable the Christian to remain faithful until the end.
Next, Gill discusses the virtues of openness, responsibility and gentleness. He relates these three virtues with the first three Beatitudes, connecting