DESCRIPTION:

This aim of this course is to introduce students to the different ways in which Christians grapple with issues of moral perplexity and contention. A primary concern of the course is to demonstrate how the moral life of Jesus' followers is anchored in a continuing, growing commitment to God and the reign of love and justice which empowers the church to further the purposes of God in our lives and world. Moral theory, Biblical exposition, and Christian experience and reflection will be brought into critical and constructive interplay as several issues of moral import are explored.

Moral perplexity and contention are everyday facts in our world today. Christian leaders need to be able to teach and counsel people amid the moral challenges of modern life. They also need to be able to understand the moral dimensions of institutional leadership and the need to reflect critically on their own assumptions and commitments and the biases of the larger culture in order to understand and bear witness to the full teaching of Christ. This course seeks not only to adjudicate moral issues, but also to sensitize people to how the purposes of God can be best embodied and extended in their own hearts and the world around them. This course will help Christian leaders understand and analyze different types of moral arguments and moral alternatives in light of the need to be faithful to the Gospel of Christ and calling of the church.

Lectures and discussion. Class will meet twice a week for two-hour sessions.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love. Walker & Co., 1996.

Sider, Ronald. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Word, 1990, any edition

Stassen, Glen and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. InterVarsity Press, 2002.

A few additional readings that are readily available on the Internet.

Students will also choose one of the following parallel reading tracks:

1) Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Evil. HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.
And Stassen, Glen. Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace. Pilgrim, 1998.

2) Roberts, Samuel K. African American Christian Ethics. Pilgrim, 2001.

3) Sanders, Cheryl Jeanne. Empowerment Ethics. Fortress, 1995.
And Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Beacon, 1996.

4) Tooley, Michelle. Voices of the Voiceless: Women, Justice, and Human Rights in Guatemala. Herald, 1997.
And De La Torre, Miguel A. Reading the Bible from the Margins. Orbis, 2002.

5) McClendon, James W. Systematic Theology, Vol. 1: Ethics. Abingdon, 1986.

6) Clark, David K. and Robert V. Rakestraw. Readings in Christian Ethics, Vol. 2: Issues and Applications. Baker, 1996.

Reading and analyzing assigned texts; class participation; five brief-essay quizzes.

Meets M. Div. core requirement in Christian Ethics (ETH).

No final exam; students may make up a quiz at exam time.