Winter 2016/Fuller Live!

Houston, Menlo Park, Pasadena

ET501

Casarez

ET501: CHRISTIAN ETHICS (Spanish) (4 Units: 160 hours). Tommy A. Casarez.

DESCRIPTION: A foundational course in Christian ethics that studies Christian vision, values, and convictions shaping moral agency, decisions, and practices. Seeking a holistic Christian ethics that aids personal spiritual-moral growth, ecclesial practices, and the enhancement of social justice to serve the triune God who revealed in Jesus Christ as Lord in all of life and ministry, the course studies different methods of ethical reasoning, authority of Scripture, formation of moral agency, norms of love and justice, together with the issues of economic, racial, and ecological justice, sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, violence and peacemaking with a special attention to global and pluralistic contexts of Christian ministry today.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will demonstrate that they (1) understand core Christian moral convictions, vision, values, virtues of Christian faith (e.g., the kingdom of God, the Ten Commandments, covenant, the Sermon on the Mount, the sanctifying work of the Spirit, love and justice, human dignity, nonviolence, etc.); (2) have learned the basic skills of critical moral description, analysis, and ethical reasoning; (3) understand and can assess different ethical views and assumptions besides their own; (4) have gained competence in teaching Christian ethics in their own particular social contexts and in articulating their moral convictions in the public realm in conversations with others; (5) have learned how to identify and apply core Christian vision, values, and virtues to major contemporary ethical issues.

COURSE FORMAT: This class meets on four Saturdays for eight-hour sessions for a total of 32 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 8 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.

REQUIRED READING: Approx. 1,200 pp. of required reading.

Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. Orbis, 1988. ISBN: 978-0883445426, Pub. Price $15.66 [334 pp].

Isasi-Diaz, Ada Maria. En La Lucha/ In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology. Fortress, 2004. ISBN: 978-0800635992, Pub. Price $16.00 [276 pp.].

Smedes, Lewis. Mere Morality:What God Expects from Ordinary People. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802802576, Pub. Price $22.00 [294 pp.].

Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. InterVarsity Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0830826681, Pub. Price $40.00 [400 pp. assigned].

RECOMMENDED READING:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Creation and Fall: Two Biblical Studies. Touchstone, 1997. ISBN: 978-0684825878, Pub. Price $14.00.

Garcia, Ismael. Introduccion a la Etica Cristiana. Abingdon, 2003. ISBN: 978-0687073870, Pub. Price $19.99.

Giles, James E. Bases Biblicas de la Etica. Casa Bautista de Publicaciones, 2003. ISBN: 978-0311461424, Pub. Price $11.50.

Hauerwas, Stanley. Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics. Notre Dame, 1991. ISBN: 978-0268015541, Pub. Price $22.00.

Lovin, Robin W. Christian Ethics: An Essential Guide. Abingdon, 2000. ISBN: 978-0687054626, Pub. Price $17.99.

ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:

1. Class instruction including 32 hours of lectures, PowerPoint presentations, and small group discussion. [32 hours].

2. Four 250 to 350-word posts and four 100-word replies (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [12 hours, including 8 hours of DLAs].

3. 1,200 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [67 hours].

4. 2,500-word term paper comparing 2 Christian ethical perspectives analyzing a variable that affects the outcome of a moral issue within the student’s context (45%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-2, 4-5]. [30 hours].

5. Group project totaling 4 single-spaced pages per member broken into smaller assignments, helping students grow in specialized knowledge of a specific topic and apply class concepts to a topic not covered by lectures (20%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [12 hours writing; 10-12 hours group interactions/editing].

6. Mid-term exam, in-class. (15%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #5]. [5 hours].

PREREQUISITES: Spanish.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Option to meet the C4 requirement in the 120 MDiv Program, 80 MATM, and 80 MAICS Programs (Fall 2015). Meets ETH in the 144 MDiv Program. Meets MAT program requirement (Winter 2010) and Seminary Core Requirement (SCR) for other MA degrees (Winter 2010). Requirement in Christian Ethics emphasis and Just Peacemaking emphasis.

FINAL EXAMINATION: None.