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David Elliot

The Catholic University of America, School of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty Member

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The Catholic University of America, School of Theology and Religious Studies, Faculty MemberUniversity of Cambridge, Faculty of Divinity, Post-DocUniversity of Notre Dame, Theology, Alumnus/Ph.D. Moral Theology |

Theological Ethics

David Elliot is Assistant Professor of Moral Theology at the Catholic University of America; and Research Associate, Von Hügel Institute,
St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge. He came to CUA in 2017 following a 3-year postdoctoral fellowship as Research Associate in Theological Ethics at Cambridge University, Faculty of Divinity. He has taught widely within Christian ethics at Cambridge and Notre Dame as well as at Catholic University. Having received his Ph.D. in moral theology at the University of Notre Dame in 2014, his research focuses on virtue ethics and the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Elliot's first book, Hope and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, 2017) seeks to demonstrate how the theological virtue of hope contributes to human happiness and the common good, and has been described by one reviewer as “a uniquely significant contribution to the field of Christian ethics.” Recently his work was awarded the $4000 Essay and Book Prize from the Character Project of the Templeton Foundation for contribution to the study of character.
Phone: 201-319-6504
Address: School of Theology and Religious Studies
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC 20064

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Books

Hope and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, July 2017)

The theological virtue of hope has long been neglected in Christian ethics. However, as social, c... more The theological virtue of hope has long been neglected in Christian ethics. However, as social, civic and global anxieties mount, the need to overcome despair has become urgent. This book proposes the theological virtue of hope as a promising source of rejuvenation. Theological hope sustains us from the sloth, presumption and despair that threaten amid injustice, tragedy and dying; it provides an ultimate meaning and transcendent purpose to our lives; and it rejoices and refreshes us 'on the way' with the prospect of eternal beatitude. Rather than degrading this life and world, hope ordains earthly goods to our eschatological end, forming us to pursue social justice with a resilience and vitality that transcend the cynicism and disillusionment so widespread at present. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and virtue ethics, the book shows how the virtue of hope contributes to human happiness in this life and not just the next.

Book Chapters

“Hope as a Virtue,” in Hope Today (Wipf and Stock, The Pro Ecclesia Series, forthcoming)

“The Divine Commandments in Moral Theology,” in The Achievement of David Novak: A Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, ed. Matthew Levering (Festschrift volume, Wipf and Stock, 2021)

“Hope in Theology,” in Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope (New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co., 2020)

Journal Articles

“Cultivating Infused Virtue: How Aquinas’ Late Turn to Auxilium Grace Reframes the Virtuous Life,” in Proceedings of the XI International Thomistic Congress (Congress 2022, publication 2023)

Proceedings of the XI International Thomistic Congress, The Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic Institute of the Angelicum, 2023

"Irregular Unions and Moral Growth in Amoris Laetitia," in Journal of Moral Theology, Vol. 8, No. 2 (2019)

Journal of Moral Theology, 2019

Anthropologies of Hope and Despair: Disability and the Assisted Suicide Debate Journal of Disability and Religion 22.1 (Fall 2018): 1-16

The physical criteria which determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply t... more The physical criteria which determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply that some lives – such as lives with disability-are less 'objectively' worthwhile than others. Besides being degrading and discriminatory, this view is self-deceived. Aging makes both the nondisabled and disabled prone over time to experience increasingly serious disabilities, from impaired mobility to hearing loss. Anthropologies which undermine life with disability therefore undermine our humanity as such, risking self-hatred and misanthropy. As an alternative to this anthropology of despair, I consider hopeful models affirmed by disability rights activists and by Christian theology.

"Institutionalizing Inequality: The Physical Criterion of Assisted Suicide," in Christian Bioethics 24.1 (March 2018): 17–37

Christian Bioethics, 2018

The recent legalization of assisted dying in California, along with similar bills before other st... more The recent legalization of assisted dying in California, along with similar bills before other states, returned assisted suicide to the national spotlight. In Anglo-American dying bills, two criteria restrict eligibility for assisted suicide: (1) the uncoerced request to die (roughly, the “autonomy” criterion) and (2) severely deteriorated health of a certain kind (roughly, the “physical” criterion) from a six-month terminal illness (US jurisdictions) to severe and irreversible conditions (the Netherlands, Belgium). I argue that the physical criterion in any form violates the equality of respect and moral status of a large class of people, thereby degrading them, and I supplement this with theological considerations drawn from Thomas Aquinas. Even if the slope were not slippery and the autonomy firewall prevented Dutch-style mission creep, the physical criterion itself degrades tens of thousands of sick, disabled, and dying people by insinuating that their lives—but crucially, not other people’s—are “objectively” the sort of thing they might reasonably want to dispose of.

"The Turn to Classification in Virtue Ethics: A Review Essay," in Studies in Christian Ethics 29.4 (November 2016)

“Defining the Relationship Between Health and Well-being in Bioethics,” in The New Bioethics (Spring 2016)

"The Theological Virtue of Hope and the Art of Dying", in Studies in Christian Ethics 29.3 (Summer 2016)

A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: t... more A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: to say that dying is something you do, not just something that happens to you. The astonishing notion of dying as an “art” validates agency but also makes demands on it, since it takes skill to practice any art. In the ars moriendi tradition, the skills needed for the art of dying are the virtues. Paramount among these for Christians is the theological virtue of hope. This paper suggests that to make hopeful dying a real option, we require a renewed ascesis of hope situated in the body of Christ, which through a shared eschatological vision and set of practices cultivates and sustains the kind of character that enables a hopeful death.

“The Christian as Homo Viator: a Resource in Thomas Aquinas for Overcoming ‘Worldly Sin and Sorrow,’” in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 34.2 (Fall/Winter 2014)

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Oct 2014

Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim on the jou... more Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim on the journey of hope through this world to the heavenly city. This journey is vulnerable to “worldly sin” or “worldliness”: an excessive attachment to wealth, status, honors, prestige, and power. A major cause of apathy to the poor and underprivileged, worldliness treats our identity as purely this-worldly and therefore shuts the door to eschatological hope through subtle forms of presumption and despair. Drawing upon Aquinas and other sources in the Western theological tradition, I argue that we should retrieve worldliness as a moral category to better understand threats to hope. As a remedy to worldliness I advocate hope’s beatitude of poverty of spirit, suggesting that it both increases solidarity with the poor and helps us grow in the theological virtue of hope.

“Passing Through the Sirens: The Trials of the Christian Wayfarer in the World,” in Touchstone 25.4 (July/August 2012): 34-39.

Book Reviews

Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas by Justin M. Anderson

The Thomist 86.2 , 2022

Hope and Christian Ethics, (Cambridge University Press, July 2017), Introduction

"Oliver O’Donovan, Entering into Rest: Ethics as Theology, Volume 3," (book review) in Studies in Christian Ethics 31.4 (Nov. 2018)

Oliver O’Donovan, Entering into Rest: Ethics as Theology, Volume 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2... more

“The Politics of Practical Reason: Why Theological Ethics Must Change Your Life,” (book review) in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 35.2 (Fall/Winter 2015)

“Ethics of Everyday Life: Moral Theology, Social Anthropology and the Imagination of the Human,” (book review) in Reviews in Religion and Theology (forthcoming)

“Intractable Disputes about the Natural Law: Alasdair MacIntyre and Critics” (book review) in Toronto Journal of Theology 27.1 (Spring 2011): 124-126.

Talks

Crux book interview

Hope and Christian Ethics (Cambridge University Press, July 2017)

The theological virtue of hope has long been neglected in Christian ethics. However, as social, c... more The theological virtue of hope has long been neglected in Christian ethics. However, as social, civic and global anxieties mount, the need to overcome despair has become urgent. This book proposes the theological virtue of hope as a promising source of rejuvenation. Theological hope sustains us from the sloth, presumption and despair that threaten amid injustice, tragedy and dying; it provides an ultimate meaning and transcendent purpose to our lives; and it rejoices and refreshes us 'on the way' with the prospect of eternal beatitude. Rather than degrading this life and world, hope ordains earthly goods to our eschatological end, forming us to pursue social justice with a resilience and vitality that transcend the cynicism and disillusionment so widespread at present. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and virtue ethics, the book shows how the virtue of hope contributes to human happiness in this life and not just the next.

“Hope as a Virtue,” in Hope Today (Wipf and Stock, The Pro Ecclesia Series, forthcoming)

“The Divine Commandments in Moral Theology,” in The Achievement of David Novak: A Catholic-Jewish Dialogue, ed. Matthew Levering (Festschrift volume, Wipf and Stock, 2021)

“Hope in Theology,” in Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope (New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co., 2020)

“Cultivating Infused Virtue: How Aquinas’ Late Turn to Auxilium Grace Reframes the Virtuous Life,” in Proceedings of the XI International Thomistic Congress (Congress 2022, publication 2023)

Proceedings of the XI International Thomistic Congress, The Pontifical Academy of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Thomistic Institute of the Angelicum, 2023

"Irregular Unions and Moral Growth in Amoris Laetitia," in Journal of Moral Theology, Vol. 8, No. 2 (2019)

Journal of Moral Theology, 2019

Anthropologies of Hope and Despair: Disability and the Assisted Suicide Debate Journal of Disability and Religion 22.1 (Fall 2018): 1-16

The physical criteria which determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply t... more The physical criteria which determine who is and who is not eligible for assisted suicide imply that some lives – such as lives with disability-are less 'objectively' worthwhile than others. Besides being degrading and discriminatory, this view is self-deceived. Aging makes both the nondisabled and disabled prone over time to experience increasingly serious disabilities, from impaired mobility to hearing loss. Anthropologies which undermine life with disability therefore undermine our humanity as such, risking self-hatred and misanthropy. As an alternative to this anthropology of despair, I consider hopeful models affirmed by disability rights activists and by Christian theology.

"Institutionalizing Inequality: The Physical Criterion of Assisted Suicide," in Christian Bioethics 24.1 (March 2018): 17–37

Christian Bioethics, 2018

The recent legalization of assisted dying in California, along with similar bills before other st... more The recent legalization of assisted dying in California, along with similar bills before other states, returned assisted suicide to the national spotlight. In Anglo-American dying bills, two criteria restrict eligibility for assisted suicide: (1) the uncoerced request to die (roughly, the “autonomy” criterion) and (2) severely deteriorated health of a certain kind (roughly, the “physical” criterion) from a six-month terminal illness (US jurisdictions) to severe and irreversible conditions (the Netherlands, Belgium). I argue that the physical criterion in any form violates the equality of respect and moral status of a large class of people, thereby degrading them, and I supplement this with theological considerations drawn from Thomas Aquinas. Even if the slope were not slippery and the autonomy firewall prevented Dutch-style mission creep, the physical criterion itself degrades tens of thousands of sick, disabled, and dying people by insinuating that their lives—but crucially, not other people’s—are “objectively” the sort of thing they might reasonably want to dispose of.

"The Turn to Classification in Virtue Ethics: A Review Essay," in Studies in Christian Ethics 29.4 (November 2016)

“Defining the Relationship Between Health and Well-being in Bioethics,” in The New Bioethics (Spring 2016)

"The Theological Virtue of Hope and the Art of Dying", in Studies in Christian Ethics 29.3 (Summer 2016)

A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: t... more A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: to say that dying is something you do, not just something that happens to you. The astonishing notion of dying as an “art” validates agency but also makes demands on it, since it takes skill to practice any art. In the ars moriendi tradition, the skills needed for the art of dying are the virtues. Paramount among these for Christians is the theological virtue of hope. This paper suggests that to make hopeful dying a real option, we require a renewed ascesis of hope situated in the body of Christ, which through a shared eschatological vision and set of practices cultivates and sustains the kind of character that enables a hopeful death.

“The Christian as Homo Viator: a Resource in Thomas Aquinas for Overcoming ‘Worldly Sin and Sorrow,’” in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 34.2 (Fall/Winter 2014)

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Oct 2014

Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim on the jou... more Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim on the journey of hope through this world to the heavenly city. This journey is vulnerable to “worldly sin” or “worldliness”: an excessive attachment to wealth, status, honors, prestige, and power. A major cause of apathy to the poor and underprivileged, worldliness treats our identity as purely this-worldly and therefore shuts the door to eschatological hope through subtle forms of presumption and despair. Drawing upon Aquinas and other sources in the Western theological tradition, I argue that we should retrieve worldliness as a moral category to better understand threats to hope. As a remedy to worldliness I advocate hope’s beatitude of poverty of spirit, suggesting that it both increases solidarity with the poor and helps us grow in the theological virtue of hope.

“Passing Through the Sirens: The Trials of the Christian Wayfarer in the World,” in Touchstone 25.4 (July/August 2012): 34-39.

Virtue and Grace in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas by Justin M. Anderson

The Thomist 86.2 , 2022

Hope and Christian Ethics, (Cambridge University Press, July 2017), Introduction

"Oliver O’Donovan, Entering into Rest: Ethics as Theology, Volume 3," (book review) in Studies in Christian Ethics 31.4 (Nov. 2018)

Oliver O’Donovan, Entering into Rest: Ethics as Theology, Volume 3 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2... more

“The Politics of Practical Reason: Why Theological Ethics Must Change Your Life,” (book review) in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 35.2 (Fall/Winter 2015)

“Ethics of Everyday Life: Moral Theology, Social Anthropology and the Imagination of the Human,” (book review) in Reviews in Religion and Theology (forthcoming)

“Intractable Disputes about the Natural Law: Alasdair MacIntyre and Critics” (book review) in Toronto Journal of Theology 27.1 (Spring 2011): 124-126.

Crux book interview

“Defining the Relationship Between Health and Well-being in Bioethics,”‘ Navigating Impasses in Bioethics: Rethinking Ill/Health Symposium, Von Hugel Institute, Cambridge, Dec 2015

“Assisted Suicide and the Limits of Lethal Power in the Nation-State,” Society for the Study of Christian Ethics Conference, Cambridge University, Sept 2015

“‘You Have Restored the Joy of Our Youth:’ Rejoicing in Hope as a Remedy to Acedia and Despair” Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain Annual Conference, Durham, Sept 2015

"The Theological Virtue of Hope and the Art of Dying," The McDonald Symposium in Theological Ethics, University of Cambridge, May 2015

A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: t... more A major insight of the medieval ars moriendi tradition was to validate the agency of the dying: to say that dying is something you do, not just something that happens to you. The astonishing notion of dying as an “art” validates agency but also makes demands on it, since it takes skill to practice any art. In the ars moriendi tradition, the skills needed for the art of dying are the virtues. Paramount among these for Christians is the theological virtue of hope. This paper suggests that to make hopeful dying a real option, we require a renewed ascesis of hope situated in the body of Christ, which through a shared eschatological vision and set of practices cultivates and sustains the kind of character that enables a hopeful death.

“‘Love Reconsoled:’ Why Eschatology is Not a Distraction” Eschatology and Moral Order Conference, The University of Chicago Divinity School, April 2014

"The Christian as Homo Viator: a Resource in Aquinas for Overcoming 'Worldly Sin and Sorrow,'" The Society of Christian Ethics Annual Meeting, January 2014

Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim journeying... more Thomas Aquinas describes the Christian as homo viator: the “human wayfarer” or pilgrim journeying through this world to the heavenly city. This journey is vulnerable to “worldly sin” or “worldliness”: an excessive attachment to wealth, status, honors, prestige, and power. A major cause of apathy to the poor and underprivileged, worldliness treats our identity as purely this-worldly and therefore shuts the door to eschatological hope through subtle forms of presumption and despair. Drawing upon Aquinas and other sources in the Western theological tradition, I argue that we should retrieve worldliness as a moral category to better understand threats to hope. As a remedy to worldliness I advocate hope’s beatitude of poverty of spirit, suggesting that it both increases solidarity with the poor and helps us grow in the theological virtue of hope.

“The Need for Hope in Virtue Ethics,” American Academy of Religion, Midwest Regional Conference, April 2013

“Do We Have a Desire for Perfect Happiness?,” American Academy of Religion, Midwest Regional Conference, April 2013

“Natural Law and Christian Social Ethics”

“Renewing the Bonds between Philosophical and Theological Ethics: the Virtue of Hope as the Way Forward”

“Can Natural Law Theory Be Translated into a Universal Moral Language for Secular Modernity?,” College Theology Society Annual Convention, June 2012

“Natural Law as Social Pelagianism,” 47th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, May 2012

“Family Ethics: Practices for Christians,” Julie Hanlon Rubio (Georgetown University Press, 2010) review at The Society of Christian Ethics Annual Meeting, “Breakfast with an Author” series, January 2012

“Who Refuses Joy? The Possibility of Hell in C.S. Lewis”

“The Capital Sin of Avarice and the Need for a New Asceticism”

Hope in Theology

Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope

The objectives of this study were (1) to provide an overview of review studies on hope in health ... more The objectives of this study were (1) to provide an overview of review studies on hope in health care, and to describe (2) conceptualizations of hope, (3) antecedents and consequences of hope, and (4) ethical topics related to hope. Electronic databases were searched and 73 review studies were selected and thematically analyzed. Hope was conceptualized as (a) an expectation: appraisal of a future outcome, (b) resilience: endurance of adversity, and (c) a desire: expression of meaning. Opposite concepts to hope were fear/anxiety, hopelessness, despair, and depression. Inspiring relationships, particularly relationships with peers, were an important factor that increased hope in patients. Losses, like the loss of health or (inspiring) relationships, had a negative impact on hope. Also, hope had effects on motivation for change and making decisions. The ethics of hope was addressed in palliative care, where health care providers wanted to maintain patients’ hope while being honest or r...