This selection of essays by Professor Oswald Bayer of Tübingen ranges widely over such topics as marriage and family, natural law, evil and pastoral care. The unifying theme is the freedom given as a gift by God to humanity, with a distinctive feature of our humanity being the gift of language, which echoes God’s creating act and reflects humanity’s being made in the likeness of God. The essays offer critiques of the contributions of Kant, Hegel and other philosophers ancient and more modern on some of these issues. The selection was made, and editing and translation undertaken, with a view to making this work by a major Lutheran ethicist accessible and relevant to an English-speaking readership.