Spring 2019/Menlo Park

ET513

Sanders

ET513: PERSPECTIVES ON SOCIAL ETHICS (4 Units: 160 hours). Ron Sanders.

DESCRIPTION: This course will examine the relationship between the church and state in contemporary culture.We will explore different approaches to evangelical engagement in public policy issues including human sexuality, war and peace, the environment, human rights and justice.The emphasis of this course will be to develop an approach to political engagement that reflects the Scriptural emphasis on being a distinct community of faith as well as an ability to communicate about those issues in a public square.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated: (1) the ability to understand the biblical and theological bases for Christian ethics in the public square. (2) The ability to apply different ethical approaches to the church’s public witness in political discourse.(3) Confidence in the way of Jesus and humility in offering a Christian ethic in the public square.(4) The ability to evaluate contemporary social issues and offer a theological and biblical basis for a Christian moral response to those issues in a winsome manner.

COURSE FORMAT: The class meets once per week for three-hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction of lectures, seminar-style discussion, and group presentations. There will also be 10 hours of directed learning activities including preparation of group presentations, online discussions via Canvas, and specified recommended readings. Students will be expected to have completed the required reading before the beginning of each class. The classroom hours plus directed learning activities equal a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: 1008 total number of pages required.

Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. 2nd ed. Eerdmans, 2016. ISBN: 978-0802874214, Pub.Price $40.00. Available on eReserves. Also available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [63 pp. assigned - Chs. 16,17,23].

Hunter, James Davidson. To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World. Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0199730803, Pub. Price $32.95. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [286 pp. assigned].

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love. Fortress, 2010. ISBN: 978-0800697402, Pub. Price $24.00 [192 pp. assigned].

Mouw, Richard J. Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World. IVP Books, 2010. ISBN: 978-0830833092, Pub. Price $16.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [169 pp. assigned].

Stassen, Glen Harold. “The Fourteen Triads of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-7:12).” Journal of Biblical Literature 122, no. 2, June 1, 2003 [41 pp. assigned. Available on eReserves].

Townes, Emilie. “Ethics as an Art of Doing the Work our Souls Must Have,” and Riggs, Marcia. “Living as Religious Ethical Mediators: A Vocation for People of Faith in the Twenty-first Century” in Womanist Theological Ethics: A Reader. Eds. Katie Geneva Cannon, Emilie M. Townes, And Angela D. Sims. Westminster John Knox Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0664235376, Pub. Price $26.88 [23 pp. assigned. Available on eReserves].

Walzer, Michael. In God’s Shadow: Politics in the Hebrew Bible. Yale, 2012. ISBN: 978-0300180442, Pub. Price $30.00. Available as an e-book from the Fuller Library [212 pp.].

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. “Theological Foundations for an Evangelical Political Philosophy.” Found in Sider, Ronald J. and Diane Knippers eds. Toward an Evangelical Public Policy: Political Strategies for the Health of the Nation. Baker Books, 2005. ISBN: 978-0801065385, Out of Print [22 pp. assigned. Available on eReserves].

RECOMMENDED READING: A list of recommended reading will be given on the first day of class along with the syllabus.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

Required reading and in-class quizzes (15%). There will be a total of seven in-class quizzes (your best five grades out of the seven will be taken into account for your grade. The quizzes will be a 10-20 minute journal reflection on the assigned reading for the week, taken at the beginning of each class period. Your grade will be based on the percentage of reading that you finished on time for that week’s reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [73.5 hours (70 hours of reading and 3.5 hours of journal-type writing DLAs)].
Precis Assignment.Each student will be required to write a 3 pg. summary and 1 pg. reflection of Strength to Love by Martin Luther King Jr. (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, #2]. [16.5 hours (15 hours of preparation and 1.5 hours of DLA through peer discussion)].
Group presentationon political issue (15%). Each group will be assigned a current political topic. They will research and present from both the conservative and progressive perspective (theological and/or political) and argue for a particular way that Christians can participate on this issue. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2, # 4]. [10 hours].
3,000 word term paper. The final term paper is the signature assignment for ET513. This scholarly paper has to engage at least two different Christian ethical perspectives on the same ethical issue or variable, e.g. human dignity, justice, power, in light of a student’s own particular cultural context (35%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #4]. [25 hours].
Participation in class discussions, online forums (5 online discussions in forum posts required), and small group discussions (5%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3]. [5 hours of DLAs].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Fulfills the TH5 or TH6 requirements in the 120 MDiv Program (Fall 2016). Fulfills the TH6 requirement in the 80 MAT and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2016). Option to meet the C4 or TH5 requirements in the 120 MDiv Program (Fall 2014). Option to meet the C4 requirement in the 80 MATM and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets ETH in the 144 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.