Summer 2015/Houston

ET501
Christian

ET501: CHRISTIAN ETHICS (4 Units: 160 hours). Dr. Charles W. Christian

DESCRIPTION: A foundational course in Christian ethics that studies Christian vision, values, and convictions shaping moral agency, decisions, and practices. Seeking a holistic Christian ethics that aids personal spiritual-moral growth, ecclesial practices, and the enhancement of social justice to serve the triune God who revealed in Jesus Christ as Lord in all of life and ministry, the course studies different methods of ethical reasoning, authority of Scripture, formation of moral agency, norms of love and justice, together with the issues of economic, racial, and ecological justice, sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, violence and peacemaking with a special attention to global and pluralistic contexts of Christian ministry today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will demonstrate that they (1) understand core Christian moral convictions, vision, values, virtues of Christian faith (e.g., the kingdom of God, the Ten Commandments, covenant, the Sermon on the Mount, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, love and justice, human dignity, nonviolence, etc.); (2) have learned the basic skills of critical moral description, analysis, and ethical reasoning; (3) understand and can assess different ethical views and assumptions besides their own; (4) have gained competence in teaching Christian ethics in their own particular social contexts and in articulating their moral convictions in the public realm in conversations with others; (5) have learned how to identify and apply core Christian vision, values, and virtues to major contemporary ethical issues.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets over four weekends for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: Approx. 1,200 pp. of required reading.

Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Intervarsity Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0830826681, Pub. Price $35.00 [400 pp. assigned].

Wright, Christopher J.H. Old Testament Ethics for the People of God. IVP Academic, 2011. ISBN:978-0830839612, Pub. Price $32.00 [520 pp. assigned]

CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING SETS:

SET 1:

Evans, James Jr. We Shall All Be Changed: Social Problems and Theological Renewal. Fortress Press, 1997. ISBN: 978-0800630843, Pub. Price $24.00 [120 pp. assigned]

Harrison, Beverly Wildung. Justice in the Making: Feminist Social Ethics. Westminster/John Knox, 2004. ISBN: 978-0664227746, Pub. Price $32.00 [235 pp. assigned].

SET 2:

King, Jr., M.L. Why We Cannot Wait. Signet Classics Edition, 2000. ISBN: 978-0451527530, Pub. Price $9.99 [166 pp. assigned].

Welch, Sharon. A Feminist Ethic of Risk. Fortress Press, 1990. ISBN:978-0800631857, Pub. Price $25.00 [208 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Baker-Fletcher, Garth Kasimu. Dirty Hands: Christian Ethics in a Morally Ambiguous World. Fortress Press, 2000. ISBN: 978-0800630782, Pub. Price $17.00 [156 pp.]

Batstone, David. Saving the Corporate Soul – and Who Knows? – Maybe Your Own. Jossey Bass, 2003. ISBN: 978-0787964801, Pub. Price $26.95 [250 pp.]

Grenz, Stanley J. The Moral Quest. Intervarsity, 1998. ISBN: 978-0830815685, Pub. Price: $30.00 [379 pp.]

Hays, Richard B. The Moral Vision of the New Testament. HarperCollins, 1996. ISBN: 978-0060637965, Pub. Price: $27.00 [520 pp.]

Heyer, Kristen. Kinship Across Borders: A Christian Ethics of Immigration. Georgetown University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-1589019300, Pub price $29.95 [208 pp.]

Lee, Hak Joon. The Great World House: Martin Luther King, Jr., and Global Ethics. Pilgrim Press. ISBN: 978-0829818215, Pub. Price: $25.00 [256 pp.]

Lebacz, Karen and Joe Driskill. Ethics and Spiritual Care. Abingdon, 2000. ISBN: 978-0687071562, Pub. Price $21.00 [174 pp.]

Marsh, Charles and John Perkins. Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement Toward Beloved Community. IVP, 2009. ISBN: 978-0830834532, Pub. Price $15.00 [140 pp.]

Sanders, Cheryl. Empowerment Ethics for a Liberated People. Fortress Press, 1995. ISBN: 978-0800629175, Pub. Price: $18.00[152 pp.]

Sider, Ronald J. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Thomas Nelson, 2005. ISBN: 978-0849945304, Pub. Price $15.99 [368 pp.]

Smedes, Lewis. Sex for Christians: The Limits and Liberties of Sexual Living. Eerdmans, 1994. ISBN: 978-0802807434, Pub. Price: $20.00 [244 pp.]

Stassen, Glen, ed. Just Peacemaking: The New Paradigm for the Ethics of Peace and War. Pilgrim Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-0829817935, Pub. Price $18.00 [224 pp.]

Wells, Samuel. Improvisation: The Drama of Christian Ethics. Brazos Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-1441212887. Pub. Price $24.00 ($13.20, Kindle). [240 pp.]

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,200 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1] [78 hours].
2. Two 500-word take-home Case Studies based upon assigned texts and lectures. Special emphasis will be placed upon the Evans/Wildung or King/Welch book set– whichever the student chooses. (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #2 and 3] [20 hours, including 10 hours of DLAs].
3. Two half-hour in-class essay quizzes on assigned texts and lectures (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1]. [4 hours].
4. 2,500-word term paper (30%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #3 and 4]. [30 hours]. The final term paper is the signature assignment for ET501. The 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.

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C4 or TH5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program. Meets ETH in the 144 MDiv Program. Meets MAT program requirement and Seminary Core Requirement (SCR) for other MA degrees (Winter 2010). Requirement in Christian Ethics emphasis and Just Peacemaking emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.