If you want a glimpse into religious ethics or morality from the viewpoint of various religions, this is it. The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics is very well organized into three divisions. The first part is essays on morality or ethics and what it is from various scholars of various religions. The second part is subdivided according to seven religious traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese, and African. Each has four essays discussing what ethics is for that religion. The third part is essays on contemporary moral questions like health, sexuality, and other issues. Each essay ends with a bibliography of varying size. At the end of the book is a glossary of terms and an index. This glossary is helpful for those new to the study of ethics or morality.
There are several scholars of various religions included in this book. The editor, William Schweiker is a professor of theological ethics at the University of Chicago. His publications include Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics (2004), Power, Value, and Conviction (1998), Responsibility and Christian Ethics (1995), Mimetic Reflections (1990) and others.
The purpose of this book, according to Schweiker’s introduction, “seeks most basically to aid in understanding and addressing the moral beliefs, value, and practices of the world’s religions.”(p. xix) The religions of the world do not all teach the same thing about morality or ethics. Some hold or teach that morality is from the divine while others do not. This can explain some of the problems as to why humanity is not in agreement on moral issues.
Moral theologians and ethicists would say that moral teachings are an on-going process. Understanding morality or ethics takes time and study.
Charles E. Curran, a moral theologian, is featured on the book jacket recommending this book. It is recommended to those interested in knowing what the world religions’ views are on ethics or morality. Be warned, however; this is a very academic title and as such not especially easy to read.