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 grappling with
concrete issues. An analytical model of essential ingredients will be used to
compare representative methods in Christian ethics.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR LIFE AND MINISTRY: Authentic Christian ministry helps persons
become faithful disciples, which requires growing character and calling forth
faithful deeds or practices. But we 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.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: I hope that you will develop skill in analyzing the key
variables that shape some leading methods in Christian ethics. Second, that you
will develop a holistic awareness of how these variables work together to shape
the way Christian ethicists do ethics. Third, that these two analytical and
synthesizing skills will help your writing about concrete questions in
Christian ethics. Fourth, that your analysis and comparison of these variables
can build the base for cumulative sharpening of your own self-critical
definition of these variables in your own method in Christian ethics, and thus
your own ethical growth. Fifth, that together we can discuss how to do
Christian ethics within a tradition, while learning from other traditions.
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 weekly for three-hour sessions, with the final seminar discussion
meeting during the final exam period.
REQUIRED READING: