Summer 2014/Pasadena

ET547

Williams

ET547: LOVE AND JUSTICE: THE CHRISTIAN ETHICS OF DIETRICH BONHOEFFER AND MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. (4 Units: 172 hours). Reggie L. Williams.

DESCRIPTION: Although Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr. are two of the most influential Christian figures in Western world history, they were not always the celebrated models of prophetic Christian discipleship that they have become. Bonhoeffer and King lived among Christians who were devoted to worldviews and lifestyles that the two men interpreted to be little more than legally endorsed injustice, and theological opposition to Christ. And though they lived in different time periods, in different geography, under different governments, and as different races, the similarities that we encounter by reading them together help us identify the tools that equipped them to recognize faithful Christianity from within a multiplicity of counterfeits. These two figures help demonstrate for us how our interpretation of Jesus informs our ethical engagement with society, for better or for worst.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Our learning outcomes follow a simple plan of identification, analysis, synthesis, and application. Upon successful completion of this course, students will have demonstrated (1) Familiarity with key themes in the life and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King Jr.; (2) the ability to examine connections between a clear interpretation of the way of Christ, and social ethics; (3) the ability to articulate awareness of their own Christian social identity by integrating what they have learned from Bonhoeffer and MLK into their lives and context through a contemporary moral dilemma; and (4) application of this course content to a contemporary dilemma by completing and action plan.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets twice weekly for four-hour sessions during a two week intensive for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.The course will include regular discussion, and a small-group justice oriented action plan intended to facilitate student engagement with their broader city community.

REQUIRED READING: Approximately 1,150 pages of reading.

Green, Clifford, J. and Michael P. DeJonge. The Bonhoeffer Reader. Fortress Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0800699451, Pub Price $39.00 [832 pp.].

Jenkins, Willis and Jennifer M. McBride. Bonhoeffer and King: Their Legacies and Import for Christian Social Thought. Fortress Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0800663339, Pub. Price $25.00 [304 pp].

King, Martin Luther and Washington, James M. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. HarperOne, 2003. ISBN: 978-0060646912, Pub. Price $23.99 [736 pp.].

Additional Reading will be selected from the following books:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Ethics (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works English Vol. 6), Fortress Press, 2008. ISBN:  978-0800683269, Pub. Price $16.99 [pp. 47-102,171-217].

Gandhi, Mahatmaan & Fischer, Louis. The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas.Vintage, 2002. ISBN: 978-1400030507, Pub. Price $15.95 [pp. 31-98].

____________. Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha). Dover Publications, 2001. ISBN: 978- 0486416069, Pub. Price $14.95 [pp. 3-50].

Green, Clifford. Bonhoeffer: A Theology of Sociality. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999. ISBN: 978-0802846327, Pub. Price $36.50 [pp. 19-65].

Lee, Hak Joon. The Great World House: Martin Luther King Jr. and Global Ethics. Pilgrim Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0829818215, Pub Price $25.00.

Niebuhr, Reinhold and D.B. Robertson. Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. Westminster John Knox Press, 1992. ISBN: 978-0664253226, Pub. Price [pgs. 27-44].

_________ and Cornel West. Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics. Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0664235390, Pub. Price $30.00 [pp. 231-256].

Selby, Gary. Martin Luther King and the Rhetoric of Freedom: The Exodus Narrative in America's Struggle for Civil Rights (Studies in Rhetoric and Religion). Baylor University Press, 2008. ISBN: 978-1602580169, Pub. Price $34.95 [pp. 27-49].

Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Beacon Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0807010297, Pub. Price $16.00 [pp. 1-35].

RECOMMENDED READING:

King, Martin Luther, and Clayborne, Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Intellectual Properties Management in association with Warner Books, 1998. ISBN: 978-0446676502, Pub Price $16.00.

Schlingensiepen, Ferdinand. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance. T&T Clark, 2010. ISBN: 978-0567493194, Pub. Price $22.50.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

  1. 1,150 pp. of required reading [58 hours].

  2. Mid-Term Essay [5 double-spaced pages] (30%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #2 and 3]. [12 hours].

  3. Reading reflection journal [10 double-spaced pages] (10%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome # 1, 2, and 3]. [10 hours].

  4. Justice Action Plan (20%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3-5]. [35 hours]. This is a group project that includes a cumulative 10-page double-spaced paper, and a group presentation. Students will select and become involved in a justice-related experience called an action plan, designed to help gain knowledge, sensitivity, and skills in connecting the classroom conversation to concrete race/ethnic and gender justice advocacy.

  5. Classroom presentations (15%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3 and 4]. [5 hours]. This is a group project. It does not require a written submission.

  6. FINAL Term Paper [8 double-spaced pages] (25%) [This assignment is related to learning outcome #3-5]. The perm paper is not a group project. It connects the student’s Christological hermeneutics with the race/ethnicity and gender justice advanced in the group action plan. This is not a report; it is a thesis-driven argument providing a theological justification and analysis for how and why the topic under discussion in the justice action plan is a Christian problem. [12 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C5 or TH5 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.


NOTE: This ECD is a reliable guide to the course design but is subject to modification. Textbook prices are set by publishers and are subject to change.

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