Not long ago, Paul Ramsey (1913-1988) was a leading voice in North American Christian ethics. Today, however, his intellectual legacy is in question, and his work is largely ignored. Against the tide of that neglect, Adam Edward Hollowell argues in Power and Purpose that Ramsey's work can still yield considerable insight for contemporary Christian political theology.

Hollowell presents an original defense of Ramsey and places his work in conversation with newer voices in Christian ethics -- John Bowlin, Jennifer Herdt, Charles Mathewes, Eric Gregory, Daniel Bell -- forging fresh connections between Ramsey and contemporary debates in Christian ethics on such issues as political authority, power, justified war, and torture.