DESCRIPTION:

This introduction to Christian ethics aims to identify and compare basic convictions, regular practices, and dimensions of character that shape how Christians exercise 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 issues of violence and peacemaking, sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, truth-telling, love, justice (economic, racial, and ecological), and prayer, will be included.

Christian ministers teach Christians to be disciples and to make disciples, 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, in confronting moral problems, and in practices of Christian churches.

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. (Out of Print).

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

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.

None.

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

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