Nobuhara, Tokiyuki. "Chapter Four: Christ-Amida, the Ethical and Trans-ethical Dimensions." Draft of a chapter from a book.

Abstract

"We will begin with a brief discussion of Christian ethical theory, so as to clarify the implications of the ethical dimension in the Christ image. Here, the thought of Reinhold Niebuhr has been central to the development of my thought on this topic. Next, we will look at attempts at elaborating Buddhist social ethical theory from the Mahayana perspective. It is my contention that much of the heretofore Buddhist ethical discussion focusing on the moral codes or compassion have merely added the contemporary ethical perspective onto the Buddhist notion of the ultimate without looking at the ultimate. The manner in which the Buddhist ultimate has been discussed in this work lends itself to the development of a truly Buddhist ethical theory. Finally, then, the chapter will develop a Shin Buddhist ethical theory."