DESCRIPTION: This course examines the conditions within which Christians might embody the Gospel as good news in a secular world. In order to do so, it first interrogates the cultural logic of late capitalism and then turns to ethical modes of Christian discipleship, specifically offering a theological account of Trinitarian abundance and peace. It advances the claim, "God has given his people everything they need to worship him," which will be understood as a claim both about the material conditions of contemporary existence and about the ethical options available to Christians within that context.

SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: The course will assist students both to think about and to engage ethical issues relevant to their personal lives and the work of the church in public life.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students successfully completing this course will have

1. Cultivated skills for teaching Christian ethics in their places of ministry;

2. Nurtured capacities for dialogue with those who hold ethical views other than their own;

3. Increased ability to grow in their own ethics, and to be able to articulate how it relates to biblical faith;

4. Developed ability to reason ethically in relation to several concrete contemporary ethical issues;

5. Demonstrated an ability to reason ethically and to anticipate how they might do so effectively in relation to other ethical issues beyond those explicitly studied in this course.

Coetzee, J. M. "The Lives of Animals." The Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Princeton University 1997 Public Lecture [50 pp.] www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/lectures/documents/Coetzee99.pdf.

Jennings, Willie J. The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race. Yale, 2010. Retail price: $35.00. ISBN: 978-0300152111 [384 pp.].

Johnson, Kelly. The Fear of Beggars: Stewardship and Poverty in Christian Ethics. Eerdmans, 2007. Retail price: $20.00. ISBN: 978-0802803788 [236 pp.].

Safran Foer, Jonathan. Eating Animals. Little, Brown & Co., 2009. Retail price: $14.99. ISBN: 978-0316069885 [352 pp.].

Yoder, John Howard. The Politics of Jesus: Vicit Agnus Noster. Eerdmans, 1994. Retail price: $22.00. ISBN: 978-0802807342 [270 pp.].

1. Four integrative reviews of the required readings, 3-4 pp. each (40%). Instructions for completing the reviews will be distributed to students via email during the first week of the term (the week of June 20) and respective reviews will be due to the instructor (via email) by July 11, 2011.

2. An exam reflecting on class discussion and interaction (30%).

3. In conversation with the instructor, sub-groups of students will plan for a visit to/volunteer with an agency involved in social ministries. Students will then work within their small group and write individual reflections on their learning goals and experience, 6-8 pp. due September 2, 2011 (30%).