Winter 2017/Pasadena
ET501
Casarez
ET501: CHRISTIAN ETHICS (4 Units: 160 hours). Tommy A. Casarez.
DESCRIPTION: A foundational course in Christian ethics that studies core Christian ethical vision, values, and convictions (telos, norms, and virtues) shaping and guiding Christian moral agency, decisions, and ecclesial practices. The course discusses the methods of ethical decisions, authority of Scripture, formation of moral agency, norms of love and justice, together with the issues of economic, racial, and ecological justice, the sanctity of life, sexual faithfulness, and violence and peacemaking with special attention to global, pluralistic contexts of Christian ministry today.
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Students will demonstrate that they (1) understand core Christian moral convictions, vision, values, and virtues of Christian faith (the kingdom of God, covenant, law, cruciformity/cross, love and justice, human dignity, nonviolence, community, 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 once per week for three hour sessions for a total of 30 hours of classroom instruction for lecture and discussion plus 10 hours of directed learning activities for a total of 40 instructional hours.
REQUIRED READING: Approx. 1,200 pp. of required reading.
King, Martin Luther, Jr. Strength to Love. Fortress, 2010. ISBN: 978-0800697402, Pub. Price $24.00 [192 pp.].
Hays, Richard. The Moral Vision of the New Testament: Community, Cross, New Creation, A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics. Harper Collins, 1997. ISBN: 978-0060637965, Pub. Price $26.99 [300 pp. assigned].
Niebuhr, H. R. The Responsible Self. Westminster/John Knox, 1963 (reprint edition 1999). ISBN: 978-0664221522. $30.00 [100 pp.].
Smedes, Lewis. Mere Morality:What God Expects from Ordinary People. Eerdmans, 1989. ISBN: 978-0802802576, Pub. Price $23.00 [294 pp.].
Stassen, Glen, and David Gushee. Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. 2nd ed. Eerdmans, 2016. ISBN: 978-0802874214, Pub. Price $40.00 [300 pp. assigned].
RECOMMENDED READING:
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Creation and Fall: Two Biblical Studies. Touchstone, 1997. ISBN: 978-0684825878, Pub. Price $15.00.
Calvin, John, and John T. McNeil ed. Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion. Westminster John Knox, 1960. ASIN: B00IYW227A, Pub. Price $14.98.
Gutierrez, Gustavo. A Theology of Liberation. Orbis, 1988. ISBN: 978-0883445426, Pub. Price $24.00.
Hauerwas, Stanley. Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Ethics. Notre Dame, 1991. ISBN: 978-0268015541, Pub. Price $23.00.
Isasi-Diaz, Ada Maria. En La Lucha/ In the Struggle: Elaborating a Mujerista Theology. Fortress, 2004. ISBN: 978-0800635992, Pub. Price $23.00.
Lehmann, Paul L. Ethics in Christian Context. Westminster John Knox, 2006. ISBN: 978-0664230050, Pub. Price $40.00
Lovin, Robin W. Christian Ethics: An Essential Guide. Abingdon, 2000. ISBN: 978-0687054626, Pub. Price $17.99.
Niebuhr, Reinhold. The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation. Vol. I: Human Nature. Westminster John Know, 1996. ISBN: 978-0664257095, Pub. Price $60.00.
Palmer, Micheal. Moral Problems: A Coursebook. Toronto, 1995. ISBN: 978-0802076618, Pub. Price $31.95.
ASSIGNMENTS AND ASSESSMENT:
Class instruction including 30 hours of lectures, PowerPoint presentations, and small group discussion. [30 hours].
Five 250 to 350-word posts and five 150-word replies (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [12 hours, including 10 hours of DLAs].
1,200 pages of required reading. [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [77 hours].
3000-word term paper comparing 2 Christian ethical perspectives analyzing a variable that affects the outcome of a moral issue. The final term paper is the signature assignment for ET501. The scholarly paper has to engage at least two different Christian ethical perspectives on the same ethical issue or variable, e.g. human dignity, justice, or power, in light of a student’s own particular cultural context (50%). [This assignment is related to learning outcome #1-2, 4-5]. [30 hours].
Group project (of 4 people per group) totaling 2 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. Students will provide an in-class PowerPoint presentation as a group (25%). [This assignment is related to learning outcomes #1-5]. [6 hours writing; 5 hours group interactions/editing].
PREREQUISITES: None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Fulfills the TH5 or TH6 requirements in the 120 MDiv Program (Fall 2016). Fulfills the TH6 requirement in the 80 MAT and 80 MATM Programs (Fall 2016). Option to meet the C4 or TH5 requirements in the 120 MDiv Program (Fall 2014). Option to meet the C4 requirement in the 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.