Fall 2008/Pasadena
ET501
Stassen

ET501: CHRISTIAN ETHICS. Glen Stassen.


DESCRIPTION: This introduction to Christian ethics aims to identify and compare fundamental assumptions that shape how Christians practice their Christian discipleship, seeking a method that aids repentance and correction, and growth in wholeness and commitment to serve Jesus Christ as Lord in all of life and ministry. The agenda will be set by the Sermon on the Mount, and so the course will include issues of violence and peacemaking, sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, truth-telling, love, justice (economic, racial, and ecological), and prayer.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: The first course objective is that you understand and dialogue with some of the key variables in different ways of reasoning besides your own. Second, that your own ethics grows in its relation with biblical faith, especially Jesus' kingdom ethics, and in your ability to explain your ethics to someone else. Third, that you increase your skill in teaching or communicating your Christian ethics in your present and future places of ministry and in helping others live Christian ethics. Fourth, that you be able to reason articulately in relation to several contemporary ethical issues that we will study. Fifth, that the course's holistic method, with its variables, help you identify key ingredients in reasoning ethically about other issues beyond those we can study in this one term.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: Christian ministers teach Christians to be disciples and to make disciples and to do the teachings of Jesus, equipping persons to be Christians in character and lifestyle, followers of Christ, rather than unaware captives of a secular culture. Christian ethics seeks to develop skills for that central ministry, which is at the heart of what Jesus did and taught. Such skills begin with growth in our own Christian ethics as well as in understanding the fundamental assumptions in others' ethics. We will study how biblical and theological faith are integrated with experiential information in growing character and in confronting moral problems faced by church members and other folks. We will include a focus on practices of Christian churches, not only individual decision-making.

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

REQUIRED READING:

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

Sider, Ronald. Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America. Baker, 1999.

Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. InterVarsity Press, 2002.
  1. Students will also choose one of the following parallel reading tracks:

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

  3. De La Torre, Miguel A. Christian Ethics from the Margins. Orbis, 2004. And
    Tooley, M. Voices of the Voiceless: Women, Justice, and Human Rights in Guatemala. Herald, 1997.

  4. Roberts, Samuel K. African American Christian Ethics. Pilgrim, 2001. And
    Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Beacon, 1996.

  5. Smedes, Lewis. Mere Morality. Eerdmans, 1987. And
    Smedes, Lewis. Sex for Christians: The Limits and Liberties of Sexual Living. Eerdmans, 1994.

  6. Stassen, Glen, ed. Just Peacemaking: Ten Practices for Abolishing War. Pilgrim, 1998 or 2004. And
    Kimball, Charles. When Religion Becomes Evil. HarperSanFrancisco, 2002.

ASSIGNMENTS: Five half-hour in-class essay quizzes on your analyzing of assigned texts with help from lectures (2/3 of grade). Term paper on suggested topics (1/3).

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets MDiv core requirement in Christian Ethics (ETH).

FINAL EXAMINATION: Optional makeup for one of the in-class essays.

This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. (7/08)