Andre Dubus A Father's Story

The most fundamental element of Christianity is the direct faith-based relationship between God and man. Stringent and tightly conservative Christian ethics derived from man-made rules, traditions, and rituals infused into biblical doctrine often obscure that relationship as well as the meaning of God’s grace. Ethics, defined in standalone terms, are a set of values or theoretical ideas that make the acts of religious rules, traditions, and rituals compulsory to receive God’s grace (Webb, 2001). Christian ethics, while not being a completely bad idea, become dangerous when they strip morality away from their biblical foundations (Webb, 2001). Christian ethics often complicate being a good Christian and the morality of leading a Christian …show more content…
Paralleling the character of Luke Ripley is Dubus’ own moral and ethical dilemmas associated with the rituals and traditions of the Catholic Church (Bodwell, 2008). Born in 1936, in the State of Louisiana, Dubus was both raised and educated in the deep Catholic south (Bodwell, 2008). Dubus, despite personal difficulties of being bound to the ethics of the Catholic Church, remained Catholic and wrote of the moral dilemmas facing Catholic Christians in relation to the rules of the church (Bodwell, 2008). Dubus, through the use of characters such as Luke Ripley, reflect those moral dilemmas (Bodwell, 2008). Consequently, the character of Luke Ripley, like many of Dubus’ characters, appeared bogged down by dogma and was neither good nor evil, nor beyond right or wrong, and certainly not above redemption and God’s grace (Bodwell, …show more content…
Undeniable is the fact that the tender and adoring protection Ripley affords Jennifer reflects the same adorning and mysterious grace that God provides to the sinner (Monson, 2000). As Dubus’ story implies, God’s grace undermines ethics and is outside of rational thought (Monson, 2000). The Christian church should take