Fall 2003/Pasadena
ET832/532
Stassen
ET832/532: METHOD FOR CONCRETENESS IN CHRISTIAN ETHICS. Glen Stassen.
DESCRIPTION:
- This doctoral seminar, open by special permission to a limited
number of advanced master's students, is a systematic and comparative analysis
of essential ingredients in an ethical method adequate for developing Christian
character and grappling with concrete issues. An analytical model of essential
ingredients will be used to compare representative methods in Christian ethics.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- Authentic Christian ministry helps persons become faithful
disciples, which requires growing character and calling forth faithful deeds or
practices. But persons and practices are shaped powerfully by perceptions,
loyalties, beliefs, and styles of reasoning that we are often unaware of. The
seminar identifies key variables that shape our ethics, and compares how they
interact.
COURSE FORMAT:
- Seminar discussions, in which we help each other map different
methods in Christian ethics as they relate to a concrete issue. The seminar
will meet Wednesday afternoons for three-hour sessions.
REQUIRED READING:
- Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Love Your Enemies: Discipleship, Pacifism,
and Just War Theory. Augsburg/Fortress, c1994.
- Gushee, David. Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust. Augsburg
Fortress, 1994.
- Hauerwas, Stanley. Suffering Presence: Theological Reflections on
Medicine, the Mentally Handicapped and the Church. University of Notre Dame
Press, 1986. OR
- _________. A Community of Character: Toward a
Constructive Christian Social Ethic. University of Notre Dame Press,
1981.
- Hollenbach, David. The Common Good and Christian Ethics.
Cambridge University Press, 2002.
- Mount, Eric. Covenant, Community, and the Common Good. Pilgrim
Press, 1999.
- Mouw, Richard. Uncommon Decency: Christian Civility in an Uncivil World.
InterVarsity Press, 1992.
- Rasmussen, Larry. Earth Community, Earth Ethics. Orbis, 1996.
- Sider, Ronald. Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in
America. Baker, 1999.
- Walzer, Michael. On Toleration. Yale University Press, 1997.
- Yoder, John Howard. The Priestly Kingdom: Social Ethics as Gospel.
University of Notre Dame Press, 1984.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- Attend all seminar sessions prepared to analyze the readings of the
day and to hand in a two- or three-page analysis paper on the readings for the
day. Choose a concrete ethical issue; write a paper comparing two or more
ethical arguments on the issue and seeking to develop your own method, due the
first week of January classes. Reduced assignment to be negotiated for
500-level students.
PREREQUISITES:
- One prior course in Christian ethics and one in theology, and
written permission of instructor.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
- Elective.
FINAL EXAMINATION:
- None. At the time of the exam, we shall meet for the final seminar
discussion.