Books by David W. Gill

Here, from most recent to oldest, are David Gill's seven published books, their content and message, their intended reading audiences, and their ordering information. At the end of the list is a paragraph describing David's writing projects and plans for the future. 

It’s About Excellence is David Gill’s first general market book.  Without doubt it is influenced and even inspired by his work in Christian ethics over the decades but, until now, David’s message to a broad, diverse, pluralistic marketplace and world has only been published in various articles, essays, and reviews, never in a stand alone book.  It’s About Excellence is a product of more than thirty years of study, classroom teaching, organizational leadership, and business consulting.  It is a manifesto as well as a toolbox and blueprint for going beyond a reactive “damage control” approach to a holistic, proactive “mission control” approach that focuses on building an ethically healthy corporate culture.  Simultaneously deep and practical, rooted in the best thinking about business ethics while profusely illustrated for managers in the trenches.

Contents:
Defining business ethics; finding common ground; motivation – why ethics matters; trouble-shooting and decision-making; clarifying mission and vision; building value-embedded cultures; creating and communicating ethical codes and guidelines; ethical leadership.

Uses
» textbook for business ethics & organizational development courses;
» board, executive staff, human resources, compliance and ethics study resource;
» personal management and leadership library

Reviews &  Comments
Our company incorporated the ideas and concepts put forth in David Gill's It's About Excellence with resounding success as measured by the acceptance and enthusiasm of our employees. Now we have a moral and ethical guide for our company going forward that really describes our "heart and soul" to our employees and clients. It makes good business sense to me.
               -Carl Harris, Chairman of the Board, Harris & Associates, Concord CA

David Gill’s book title is right on target. It’s About Excellence is a fantastic, highly motivating book that every business owner, CEO and entrepreneur should read and implement.  It is the first book I’ve seen that successfully shows how ethics, vision, and mission must be integrated from the start as key elements in building a company beyond average to excellent and exceptional.
              -Rich Ferrari, Co-Founder and Managing Director, De Novo Ventures

What a treat to find an ethics text that is readable, practical, and still based on solid ethical theory!  David Gill's book will be of value to anyone who has to run an organization, for profit or otherwise. 
               -Lisa Newton, Professor and Director, Program in Applied Ethics, Fairfield University;  co-author of Taking Sides: Clashing View on Controversial Issues in Business Ethics and Society; author of Permission to Steal: Revealing the Roots of Corporate Scandal, and many other works. 

Ordering Info
ISBN  978-1-61097-609-1        
» from Wipf & Stock   
» from www.amazon.com

Doing Right is a careful, thorough, readable introduction to a Christian ethics based on the Ten Commandments, both in their original context and as interpreted through Jesus’ double “Love Commandment” and the Sermon on the Mount.  As such, Christian ethics is not, despite first impressions, a catalog of “thou shalt nots” but rather a roadmap for a lifelong adventure guided by “ten words” on life, freedom, love, and justice.  David draws deeply and widely on the best Jewish and Christian scholarship over the centuries --- and then follows the ten principles wherever they lead, even into the thorny controversies of the present time.  Doing Right works as a stand alone study but it is also the companion to Becoming Good.  Becoming Good focuses on virtue ethics, the ethics of “being” and character; Doing Right studies the ethics of “doing,” of decision and action.

Contents: 
Defining ethics; what makes ethics “Christian”; four broad principles of Christian ethics; why focus on the Decalog?  Jesus’ model of how to interpret the commandments; ten chapter-length studies of how each of the ten commandments guides our love for God, our love for our neighbors, our search for justice/righteousness, and for life/freedom.

Uses
» textbook for seminary, college, church, and study group courses on Christian ethics and/or the Ten Commandments (great discussion questions with each chapter);
» personal study resource for pastors, teachers, and thoughtful laity.

Reviews & Comments
This is a timely book! David Gill has drawn on a variety of sources--popular writings, ethical handbooks, biblical scholarship (including profound insights from the Jewish community) and historical lessons--to produce one of the best studies of the Ten Commandments to come our way for quite a while.
     -Richard J. Mouw, President, Fuller Theological Seminary

Instead of simply pointing an accusing finger, Doing Right offers a truly refreshing and freeing alternative to today's seemingly ubiquitous ethical decay.  David Gill’s examples, illustrations and humor portray the genuine benefits of conducting business and life according to God’s principles and priorities.
      -Lori Randles Lagerstrom, Sales Director

Doing Right is a thoughtful, scholarly, humorous and loving exploration of God’s model of relationships outlined in the Ten Commandments. I was captivated by David Gill’s theme that treats negative boundaries as only the beginning of what must ultimately become positive mandates to love. This is an ethic that takes seriously our fallenness but offers hopeful ways to bring healing, justice and freedom to ourselves and others.
     -Rebecca Klint Townsend, MD

To our peril we've reduced the discussion of the Ten Commandments in the United States to a fight over a two-ton monument in the rotunda of the Alabama Supreme Court. The God who has set us free in Jesus Christ has a road map that will lead us in the way of freedom. Doing Right is an outstanding book that calls us back to the importance of the Decalogue for anyone who desires to live a good life.
-Time Shaw, Associate Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley

Ordering Info 
ISBN: 978-0-8308-3218-7
Retail price: $20.00
» from InterVarsity Press
» from www.amazon.com

Becoming Good is a careful study of Christian virtue or character ethics based primarily on Jesus’ famous description of good character in the Beatitudes at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount and Paul’s famous virtues of faith, hope, and love.  It is not enough to give people a new set of ethical guidelines;  we need a renewal and strengthening of our character and of the communities in which we live.  David digs deep into the biblical text and vocabulary, helps us listen to the great biblical and ethical teaching of the past two millennia, and provides abundant contemporary illustrations and applications.  Becoming Good works as a stand alone study but it is also the companion to Doing Right.  Becoming Good focuses on virtue ethics, the ethics of “being” and character; Doing Right studies the ethics of “doing,” of decision and action.

Contents::
Defining ethics, virtue, and character; how is character formed/reformed?; the role of community; the goodness of God; five chapters on the content of biblically-shaped character based on the Beatitudes, the Pauline virtues (faith, hope, love), wisdom, and holiness;

Uses:
» textbook for seminary, college, church, and study group courses on Christian ethics, character and virtue ethics, the Beatitudes, and faith, hope, and love(great discussion questions with each chapter);
» personal study resource for pastors, parents, teachers, and thoughtful laity.

Reviews & Comments:
David Gill provides us with insight and information about the formation and building of good moral character based on sound biblical principles.  Becoming Good is easy to read and understand for a layman like me.  This book is a valuable resource as I build a team and seek to do God’s will.
     -Mike Holmgren, pro football coach

What I really like about David Gill’s way of presenting Christian ethics is his own virtuous style --- a mean between two extremes.  He is resolute (neither bombastic nor vague), collegial (neither too technical nor too popular), and soundly original (serving up neither warmed up leftovers nor cultic spin-off.
     -Carol Adeney, translator, bibliotherapist, lay reader

Becoming Good is a powerful plea for the formation of Christian character with the gospel as the ruling criterion.
     -Donald Bloesch, theologian

David Gill’s Becoming Good is in every respect a reflection of his personal life as a Christian intellectual and educator.  In dialogue with students as well as debate with fellow scholars he (like Becoming Good) is intense in communicating the urgency of Christ-centered living, unpretentious in presenting ideas in a crisp and popular style, and biblically motivated in consistently supporting arguments with the Scriptures.
     -Rupe Simms, professor of Africana studies, North Park University

Ordering Info
ISBN: 978-0-8308-2272-0     
Retail price: $16.00  
» from InterVarsity Press
» from www.amazon.com

Should God Get Tenure? Essays on Religion and Higher Education (1997) is a collection of fifteen essays on various aspects of Christianity, or religion more broadly, and higher education.  Is there a place for God-talk and religious perspective in today’s university?  Juniata College in Huntingdon PA established an endowed chair, the “J. Omar Good Distinguished Visiting Professorship” for an annual residence by a leading “evangelical” scholar who addressed the intersection of faith and thought in his or her field of study. 

David W. Gill, the “J. Omar Good Distinguished Visiting Professor” in 1994-95, recruited fifteen of the former Good Professors, from the first twenty years of the program, to contribute essays on the topic, in tribute to Mr. Good’s vision and generosity.  In addition to serving as editor of this collection, he contributed a chapter on “Ethics With and Without God.”  Other chapters discuss major issues or leading figures in sociology, psychology, science, literature, philosophy, and other arenas. 

Despite the skittishness of some academics and administrators about allowing religious presence in the halls of academia, the fact is that there is no more appropriate place to debate our differences and commonalities, the upsides and downsides of religious ideas, behaviors, and institutions.  If the university is not such a forum, religious difference and conflict is forced out into the street, the court system, the media, and perhaps the battlefield.  And even in university settings, surveys continually reaffirm that most people say that their moral/ethical values come from their religious background or convictions.  Ignoring this in our universities is folly.

Contents:
Introduction: Should God Get Tenure? (David W. Gill); On Being A Professor: The Case of Socrates (Bruce Reichenbach); Academic Excellence: Cliché or Humanizing Vision (Merold Westphal); Religion, Science, and the Humanities in the Liberal Arts Curriculum (H. Newton Malony); Tolstoy and Freud on Our Need for God (Robert C. Roberts); Religious Toleration and Human Rights (Paul A. Marshall); Christianity, Higher Education, and Socially Marginalized Voices (Laree Hersch Meyer); Diversity, Christianity, and Higher Education (Robert G. Clouse); Evangelical Civility and the Academic Calling (Richard J. Mouw); Ethics With and Without God (David W. Gill); C. S. Lewis on Eros as a Means of Grace (Corbin Scott Carnell); Faith and Imagination (Jill Pelaez Baumgaertner); Prayer and Higher Education (Carnegie Samuel Calian); What We Can Learn About Higher Education from the Jesuits (W. Ward Gasque); The Evangelical Mind in America (Mark A. Noll); The Brethren and Higher Education: Tension and Tradition (Donald F. Durnbaugh); Postscript: J. Omar Good – the Man and His Legacy (Earl C. Kaylor, Jr.)

Uses:
» research and discussion by and among university faculty and administrators & educational thinkers and leaders

Reviews & Comments
These high quality essays illustrate well the wisdom that Christian scholars have to offer the contemporary academy.  The contributors are outstanding teachers who offer their best insights on topics that should concern every Christian educator.
     -George M. Marsden, University of Notre Dame; author of The Soul of the American University

A first-rate anthology that fills an important need.  The essays are excellent, and it is refreshing to find a book of applied ethics that is respectful of religious tradition.
      -Christina Hoff Sommers, Clark University

A thought-provoking challenge for academics to consider the place of theological and religious perspectives in education. These essays are an excellent resource for reading and consideration by people from all faiths or by those who do not practice any faith but are interested in higher education.  The authors raise issues that are rarely discussed but are critical for the future of higher education.
      -Rabbi Lee T. Bycel, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion

Ordering Info:
ISBN: 0-8028-4307-7
This book is out of print.  Try searching at amazon.com or in the used book outlets on line. 

The Opening of the Christian Mind (1989) is David W. Gill’s manifesto and handbook for “taking every thought captive to Christ.”  It is a product of not just his wide reading on the topic but his own experiences as a student at UC Berkeley and SF State in the 1960s and as a doctoral student at USC in the 1970s. It is also a statement of the basic mission and vision of New College Berkeley, which Gill and a few other Berkeley alumni and friends founded and operated from 1977-90.

The Opening of the Christian Mind is a strong argument forChristians to “love God with their minds” not just their feelings, and to be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” as St. Paul put it (Romans 12:1-2).  It builds on earlier work such as Harry Blamires’s famous The Christian Mind but proposes that secular humanism is not the primary obstacle or alternative to “thinking Christianly” in our technological and pluralistic era.  Gill proposes six defining marks of a Christian mind and outlines a curriculum and strategy for acquiring one. 

Uses:
» individual or group study and discussion (great questions for reflection or discussion at the end of each chapter)
» university or church-appropriate

Reviews & Comments
A carefully crafted analysis of the contemporary context (“techno-pluralism”) and its challenges.  The book seeks to show how we can move from a “fragmented, half-developed mind” to a “Christian mind.”  A clear and constructive as well as practical prescription.
     -Dr. David Fraser, Eastern College

The Opening of the Christian Mind is aimed primarily at university students and young professionals but Gill is a winsome writer and the issues he raises and recommendations he makes are important for everyone wanting to integrate faith with life.
     -G.W., Bookstore Journal

The reader learns the principles of developing a mature faith in the midst of the complexities of modern life . . . an outstanding choice for use in a small group or adult class.
     -Laurel Gasque, Christian Week

Ordering Info: 
ISBN:  0-8308-1279-2
This book is out of print.  Try searching at amazon.com or in the used book outlets on line.

Peter the Rock is a series of studies of basic Christianity based on the New Testament accounts of Peter in the Gospels, Acts, and Letters. Peter is David Gill’s favorite figure in the New Testament, next to Jesus.  After teaching and preaching on Peter for years and reading all the books he could find, Peter the Rock emerged as David’s own “lessons learned.”

Conversion, discipleship, servanthood and leadership, failure and recovery . . . Simon Peter has lessons for us in each area.  His story cuts across the New Testament more than any other figure except for Jesus Christ.  He is far from perfect, an ordinary man in so many ways.  We can relate.  But God does extraordinary things through Peter. 

Because his stories are in all four Gospels, Acts, in Paul’s Letters, and with First and Second Peter in the New Testament, Peter provides a fascinating avenue for lacing together the New Testament with all its variety. 

Uses:
» great, widely-tested, proven material for adult education and small group study; good questions at end of each chapter
» study resource for preachers and teachers
» alternative perspectives for New Testament scholars to think about

Reviews & Comments

In a near conversational patter that does not jar in print . . . Peter the Rock will help many ordinary Christians aspire to extraordinary heights in their personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
     -Dale Sanders, Eternity Magazine

Peter’s strengths and weaknesses are highlighted, both to good advantage. . . A welcome addition to the biographical material on Peter, this book is not just a re-run of the same old stuff.
     -John Kennington, Conviction Magazine

Every Bible student must respect and share David Gill’s enthusiasm for Peter. . . Gill has a talent for drawing insightful applications from Peter’s history. Readers will particularly appreciate the treatment of Peter’s denials (“Autopsy of A Defeat”) and his restoration (“Peter’s Stunning Comeback”).
     -Moody Monthly

David Gill’s approach is unlike other authors who read discipleship from their own perceptions. . . .  Peter the Rock offers valuable ground upon which to build a bridge between Protestantism and Catholicism. . . Laymen and clergy alike will definitely appreciate David Gill’s presentation.  This is a book that cannot only help us stand in the shadow of a mighty apostle, but also challenges us to cast the same shadow.
     -Rev. Harald Haugan, Rector, All Souls Episcopal Church, Jacksonville FL

Ordering Info: 
ISBN:  0-87784-609-X
This book is out of print.  Try searching at amazon.com or in the used book outlets on line.

The Word of God in the Ethics of Jacques Ellul originated as David W. Gill’s Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Southern California.  It is a study of how the sociologist and ethicist of Bordeaux, France, Jacques Ellul (1912-94) usedJesus Christ (the living, incarnate Word of God) and the Bible (the inspired, written Word of God, according to Christian faith and tradition) in formulating his ethical analysis of urban-technological civilization (Ellul is most famous as a sociologist of technology) and politics and the nation-state.  This book is an abridged and slightly edited version of Gill’s dissertation, published five years after he finished his doctorate (1979).  The publication series was the American Theological Library Association Monograph series, was set up to recognize outstanding doctoral research across North America.

After all the Jesus and Scripture we study come to us from two thousand and more years ago, and from vastly different cultural settings.  David Gill begins by surveying how leading thinkers in the field of ethics debate the ways the Bible and Jesus might (or might not) be relevant to a contemporary ethics.  Then he analyzes Jacques Ellul’s views and uses of Jesus and Scripture.  Major chapters examine Ellul’s specific ethical discussions of “urban-technological civilization” and “politics and the natiuon-state” – two broad areas in which Ellul wrote voluminous sociological treatises as well as ethical commentaries.

David W. Gill corresponded with Jacques Ellul from 1971 to 1981.  He met him personally in 1982, spent a sabbatical year studying and meeting with him in 1984-85, and often met, interviewed, and corresponded with him until his death in 1994.  David has published many articles and reviews of Ellul, is often the author of introductions or back cover notes for Ellul’s books, and is the founding president of the International Jacques Ellul Society (www.ellul.org) and also a founding board member of l’Association Internationale Jacques Ellul, based in Bordeaux.

Uses:
» mainly of interest to Ellul researchers and to Christian ethicists

Reviews & Comments
We are indebted to [David Gill] for careful scholarship, a judiciously cautious loyalty, a clarity of exposition, and an ongoing attention to this prophetic law professor from Bordeaux whose challenge is always as unpredictable as it is insistent.
     -Edward LeRoy Long, Jr., Drew University

Gill respects Ellul immensely but is not a hagiographer.  . . . The book is an excellent introduction to Ellul’s thought.  However, its origins as a Ph.D. thesis are not entirely masked and . . .[it] would not make easy reading for the uninitiated.
     -G. A. Cole, The Reformed Theological Review

As a handbook to Ellul, with a helpful bibliography of primary and secondary material, we could ask for none better.  As a critical piece this book succeeds because Gill is uniquely positioned:  he has walked with Ellul in France.  That probably accounts for much of this book’s difference from other merely cerebral analyses.  Gill has achieved a multi-leveled, clearly developed, and richly interpretive exposition.
     -Mark Fackler, Fides et Historia

Ordering Info: 
ISBN: 0-8108-1667-9
This book is out of print.  Try searching at amazon.com or in the used book outlets on line.

David W. Gill's Writing Projects & Plans for the Future