Many Reformers replaced traditional virtue ethics with a view that emphasizes Christian freedom and individual consience. While this development connected Christianity with the emerging European modernity, Catholic-minded scholars like Alasdair MacIntyre or Brad Gregory have argued that Protestant individualism can no longer support the understanding of the church as communio, an institution in which the virtues are preserved so that a flourishing community can emerge.
Based on my recent work in ecumenical theology and Reformation history, I argue that the Lutheran doctrine of Christian freedom continues the Scotist and late medieval understanding of justice as a pursuit of another’s good (bonum alienum). This understanding is community-oriented rather than individualistic. While it provides an alternative to Thomist virtue ethics, it also regards virtues and communitarian needs as primary. An ecclesiology built on Christian freedom may highlight individual rights but it also builds on a strong concept of reciprocity and service.