Fall 2015/Pasadena

ET543

H. J. Lee

ET543: THE THEOLOGY AND ETHICS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. (4 Units: 161 hours). Hak Joon Lee.

DESCRIPTION: As a Baptist pastor and more, Martin Luther King, Jr. is an iconic figure in modern American history, one whose influence reaches well beyond the nation. The aim of the course is to study King’s key theological and ethical motifs and the distinctive characteristics of his spiritual formation and public ministry in shaping our own ministerial and public leadership in today’s religious, cultural and political contexts. In particular, the course focuses on King’s communal and political spirituality and ethics as they are related to his ideas of God, the beloved community, humanity, love, justice, and the mission of the church, exploring his enduring relevance and legacy in the global era.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Upon successful completion of this course, (1) students will appreciate King’s spirituality in pursuit of deepening their own spirituality and identity as Christian leaders; (2) students will deepen the theological grounding of their own ethics; (3) students will be able to apply the insights of King’s theology and ethics (most notably, the vision of the beloved community, nonviolence, love-justice dialectic) to their own ministry; (4) students will learn about public theology through the historical example of King in articulating the public meaning and significance of their Christian ministries and discipleship.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets twice weekly for two hour sessions for a total of 40 instructional hours in the classroom for lecture and discussion.

REQUIRED READING: Approx. 1,300 pp. of required reading.

Cone, James. Martin and Malcolm and America. Orbis, 2012. ISBN: 978-1570759796, Pub. Price $24.00 [100pp.]

King, Martin Luther, Jr. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr. Edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003. ISBN: 978-0060646912, Pub. Price $23.99 [450 pp.].

Lee, Hak Joon. The Great World House: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Global Ethics. Pilgrim Press, 2011. ISBN: 978-0829818215, Pub. Price $25.00 [100 pp.].

Robinson, Jo Ann Gibson. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It. Edited by David Garrow. University of Tennessee Press, 1987. ISBN: 978-0870495274, Pub. Price $18.95 [100 pp.].

Salvatierra, Alexia & Peter Heltzel. Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in the Service to the World. IVP Books, 2014. ISBN: 978-0830836611, Pub. Price $16.00 [150 pp.]

Thurman, Howard. Jesus and the Disinherited. Beacon Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0807010297, Pub. Price $16.00 [110 pp.].

Course Packet (accessible electronically). [Approx. 100 pages].

Choose ONE of the following:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Ethics. Fortress Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0800683061, Pub. Price $60.00 [Approx. 200 pp.].

Ellsberg, Robert, ed. Dorothy Day: Selected Writings. Orbis Books. 2005. ISBN: 978-1570755811, Pub. Price $24.00 [200 pp.]

Jensen, Richard J. and John Hammerback. The Words of Cesar Chavez. Texas A&M University Press, 2002. ISBN: 978-1585441709, Pub. Price $19.95 [180 pp.]

Park, Andrew Sung. Racial Conflict and Healing: An Asian-American Theological Perspective. Orbis Books, 1996. ISBN: 9781608990498, Pub. Price $23.00 [198 pp.]

Volf, Miroslav. Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation. Abingdon Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0687002825, Pub. Price $28.99 [200 pp.].

West, Traci. Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women's Lives Matter. Westminster John Knox Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0664229597, Pub. Price $30.00 [179 pp.].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Baldwin, Lewis V. To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Fortress, 1992. ISBN: 978-0800625436, Pub. Price $23.00.

________. There is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King, Jr. Fortress Press, 1991. ISBN: 978-0800624576, Pub. Price $26.00.

Bounds, Elizabeth. Coming Together/Coming Apart. Routledge, 1997. ISBN: 978-0415912624, Pub. Price $43.95.

Cone, James. The Cross and The Lynching Tree. Orbis Books, 2013. ISBN: 978-1626980051, Pub. Price: $24.00.

Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. NYU Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0814721353, Pub. Price $20.00.

Fluker, Walter E. They Looked for a City: A Comparative Analysis of the Ideal of Community in the Thought of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr. University Press of America, 1989. ISBN: 978-0819172631, Pub. Price $57.99.

Haley, Alex. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Ballantine Books, 1992. ISBN: 978-0345350688, Pub. Price $7.99.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love. Fortress, 2010. ISBN: 978-0800697402, Pub. Price $24.00.

______. Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Beacon Press, 2010. ISBN: 978-0807000762, Pub. Price $24.95.

Long, Michael G. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Creative Living. Chalice Press, 2004. ISBN: 978-0827204966, Out of Print.

Marsh, Charles and John Perkins. Welcoming Justice: God’s Movement toward the Beloved Community. IVP Books, 2009. ISBN: 978-0830834532, Pub. Price $16.00.

Paris, Peter. The Social Teachings of the Black Churches. Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998. ISBN: 978-0800618056, Pub. Price $18.00.

________. The Spirituality of African Peoples: The Search for a Common Moral Discourse. Fortress, 1994. ISBN: 978-0800628543, Pub. Price $23.00.

Tutu, Desmond. No Future without Forgiveness. Doubleday, 2000. ISBN: 978-0385496902, Pub. Price $16.99.

Ward, Brian and Tony Badger, eds. The Making of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. NYU Press, 1996. ISBN: 978-0814792964, Pub. Price $30.00 [224 pp.].

West, Cornel. Black Prophetic Fire. Beacon Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-0807003527, Pub. Price: $25.95.

________. Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. Penguin Books, 2005. ISBN: 978-0143035831, Pub. Price $16.00.

Williams, Reggie. Bohoeffer’s Black Jesus. Baylor University Press, 2014. ISBN: 978-1602588059, Pub. Price $39.95.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. 1,300 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4] [74 hours].
2. Attendance and participation in discussions (5%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-3] [40 hours].
3. Three Journal Entries: 3.5 pages each, double spaced (45%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1, 2, 4] [12 hours].
4. A final term paper (12 pages, double spaced) examining one contemporary ethical issue (e.g., racism, classism, ecology, religious conflicts, gender justice, intergenerational tension) using Dr. King and another scholar or a school of ethical thought/movement (e.g., the Black power movement, the Occupy Movement, the Tea Party Movement) (50%) [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-4] [35 hours].

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the TH5 or C4 or C5 program requirement in the 120 MDiv. Option to meet the C4 or C5 requirement in the 80 MATM Program (Fall 2015). Option to meet requirement in Just Peacemaking emphasis, Asian American Contexts emphasis, or Christian Ethics emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.