Is there such a thing as ‘Lutheran ethics’? That subtitle does not appear in the original German edition (1995) as it does in this English translation, which contains sixteen of the twenty-three German articles plus one new essay. The German title, Freiheit als Antwort, is followed by the subtitle, Zur theologischen Ethik, and the discrepancy between subtitles begs the question: does Bayer have a coherent and distinctive approach to ethics?

The answer is yes. In contrast to Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative and with the help of Johann Georg Hamann, Bayer proposes the notion of categorical gift as the source of ‘piety in action’ and thus of Christian ethics (p. 13). The gift is life and the room to live, and it comes through the word of God as an invitation to faith, which is the awareness of God's goodness and of God's love for humanity. Sin, the opposite of faith, is failure to appreciate the categorical gift and the opportunity it affords. ‘Sinners are above all those who despise good things’ (p. 15). In the essays that follow, Bayer examines the implications of his thesis for freedom, law, the first commandment, the sermon on the mount, Paul's ‘renewal of the mind’, marriage and family, evil and power.

It is not surprising that three essays treat the ethics of Martin Luther, since Bayer is also a Luther scholar who recently published a theology of Luther and whose early book, Promissio (1971), was a strong voice in the debate over Luther's Reformation discovery. Bayer's theological ethics have been deeply influenced by Luther's notion of three estates or spheres of life (church, household and government), which Bayer deems to have carried more weight with Luther than the two kingdoms. Along with the Finnish theologian, Risto Saarinen, Bayer wishes to rehabilitate these spheres, distorted and misapplied during the Nazi era, as the ‘point around which the Lutheran ethic turns’ (p. 96). In ‘Nature and Institution’, Bayer surveys the main texts in which the three estates appear, in order to show how Luther rejects a world-denying ethic of ‘imitative discipleship’ in favour of the world and nature as mediators of spiritual reality and the proper arenas of Christian service. Overall, however, Bayer's intention is not to create ethics for Lutherans but to fashion a Christian ethic that draws on positive resources provided by the Reformation.

Running like a silver thread through many essays is another theme: the book of Genesis and the integrity of creation. The close relationship between human nature and culture, brought to Bayer's attention by other scholars, makes him leery of natural law or human subjectivity alone as a sturdy platform for the construction of ethics. He regards marriage not merely as a contract but as an institution of creation that is not static or confining but flexible and stable enough to contain the ever-changing relationship of spouses to each other. It provides an abiding structure for caring without inhibiting love's spontaneity or pretending that sin can be avoided. The new creation will triumph over evil, and the confidence that evil does not persist forever undergirds human stewardship and enjoyment of God's gifts.

Bayer exposes as short-sighted the perception that Luther offered little more to Christian living than simul iustus et peccator and two kingdoms. He has searched the writings of Luther and Hamann for other building blocks of a Christian ethic that affirms human life and responsibility. It deserves consideration by all theologians, not only by those who are drawn to the fond hope of ‘Lutheran ethics’.