DESCRIPTION: Should Christians seek political and social power? This course aims to help students understand the goal of Christian social engagement. Is the goal to faithfully witness to divine power, seek power, or both? Or does it depend upon the nation-state from which the Christian comes? The course will consider the impact of globalization and political power on our world, and in conversation with Liberationist, Catholic, Anabaptist, and Neo-Calvinist perspectives, begin to develop an approach to living with fidelity to Christ's kingdom today.

COURSE OBJECTIVES/LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will (1) begin to understand globalization and its cultural, economic, and political effects on the church; (2) interact critically and sympathetically with the various Christian approaches to the core questions of the course; (3) consider the importance of Christian engagement in society; (4) begin to develop their own theological approach to Christian public engagement in light of the challenges in our era; (5) begin to develop an approach to ministry that recovers or creates ways of shaping Christian life as a response to some of the challenges of globalization.

RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY: Students will begin to develop a theological basis for understanding the practice of faithful Christian discipleship in the midst of the unique challenges of our era. It is vital that leaders of the church prepare themselves to present an understanding of social and political power that recognizes their proper use and deforming capacities.

COURSE FORMAT: The course is a two-week intensive, meeting daily for four hours of lecture/discussion and some presentations.

REQUIRED READING:

Avram, Wes, ed. Anxious About Empire: Theological Essays on the New Global Realities. Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2004.

Budde, Michael. The (Magic) Kingdom of God: Christianity and Global Culture Industries. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1998.

Heslam, Peter S. Globalization: Unravelling the New Capitalism. Cambridge: Grove Books, 2002.

Webb, Stephen H. American Providence: The Global Destiny of American Christianity. New York: Continuum, 2004.

Course Reader. Readings from James K. A. Smith, Introducing Radical Orthodoxy; John Bolt, A Free Church, A Holy Nation: Abraham Kuyper's American Public Theology; Craig A. Carter, The Politics of the Cross: The Theology and Social Ethics of John Howard Yoder; James W. Skillen, In Pursuit of Justice: Christian-Democractic Explorations and With or Against the World? America's Role among the Nations; and others to be determined.

1. Students will keep a journal for interaction with the reading material (25%).

2. A midterm exam on Friday (25%).

3. Prepare a class presentation for July 14. Depending upon class size, this may be a group project. This will reveal your developing thought about the core questions of the course and provide an opportunity for feedback from the professor and fellow students as you write your research/position paper (15%).

4. A research/position paper of 8-10 pages (12 point Times New Roman font with one inch margins) that will present your answer to the central question of the course. While the aim is to present the student's perspective, the paper should be conversant with a range of theological perspectives. Due on August 4 (negotiable with the professor) (35%).