CE 511- Fundamental Issues in Christian Ethics Fundamental Issues in Christian Ethics This course examines fundamental issues raised

in defining Christian ethics, delineating its sources and methods, discovering and constructing normative theories, and analyzing processes of moral decision-making. Within each issue attention is paid to the interplay between Christian ethics and systematic theology, as well as the development of constructive responses. Objectives: There are various ways to study Christian Ethics. One approach is to look at the history and development of Christian ethical thinking from the earliest Christian writers (the Church Fathers) to the present. Another way is to examine various types of Christian ethical theories, e.g., Natural Law, Christian Realism, Narrative Ethics, Liberation Theology, Theology of Struggle, Eco-theology, Feminist ethics, etc. A third way is to start with ethical issues that have been important to Christianssuch as poverty, war, and bioethicsand examine the way various Christians have dealt with them. Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. This course will combine aspects of all of these approaches in an effort to appreciate the development, diversity, and unique concerns that have characterized Christian ethics. 1. Christianity and Society a. Ernst Troeltsch, Church and Society Troeltsch, E. (1949). The Social Teachings of the Christian Church. New York, Macmillan b. Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel Rauschenbusch, W. (1910). Christianity and the Social Crisis. New York, Macmillan. 2. The Ethics of Transcendence a. Richard Niebuhr Niebuhr, H. R. (1970). Radical Monotheism and Western Culture with Supplementary. New York, Harper Torch books. --------, H. R. (1978). The Responsible Self. San Francisco, Harper & Row. --------, H. R. (1951). Crist and Culture. New York, Harper & Brothers. b. James Gustafson Gustafson, J. (1983). Ethics from a Theocentric Perspective: Theology and Ethics, Vol. 1. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. 3. Ethics of Realism a. Reinhold Niebuhr Niebuhr, Reinhold. Moral Man and Immoral Society, Westminster John Knox Press (January 2002)

4. Ethics of Agape a. Paul Ramsey Basic Christian Ethics (LTE) (Library of Theological Ethics) b. Joseph Fletcher Situation Ethics, Westminster John Knox Press; 2nd edition (November 1, 1998) 5. Ethics of Discipleship a. John Howard Yoder Yoder, J. H. (1994). The Royal Priesthood: Essays Ecclesiological and Ecumenical. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans. Yoder, J. H. (1994). The Politics of Jesus. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans. 6. Ethics of Liberation Bonino Jose Miguez, Doing Theology in a Revolutionary Situation ----------, Toward a Christian Political Ethics 7. Eco-feminist Ethics Larry L. Rasmussen, Earth Community, Earth Ethics (Ecology & Justice) Denise L. Carmody, Christian Feminist Theology: A Constructive Interpretation Lois Daly, Feminist Theological Ethics 8. Ethics of Character Hauerwas, S. (1983). Peaceable Kingdom: A Primer in Christian Et,hics. Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press. Philip Wogaman, Reading in Christian Ethics: A Historical Sourcebook Bible and Ethics in the Christian Life by Bruce C. Birch & Larry L. Rasmussen