DESCRIPTION:

This is a seminar for doctoral students and open to a limited number of master's level students. The seminar's thesis is that Christian ethics would be significantly stronger if it paid attention to the way of Jesus Christ. Surprisingly, most ethicists do not concretely do so. Yet increasingly interesting resources are at hand. Our objectives are: 1) to increase knowledge of resources in a sample of canonical exegetical approaches, historical Jesus approaches, and Christian ethicists whose writing is strengthened by their methodologically successful attention to Jesus; 2) to detect Christian ethicists' methodological assumptions that either block or enhance their ability to write ethics that learns constructively from Jesus; 3) to write a constructive essay that combines accurate interpretation of the way of Jesus with a critical ethical method.

Surprisingly, many churches teach, preach, and practice without much concrete attention to the way of Jesus, instead emphasizing general inspiration, or doctrine, or exegesis of other aspects of biblical literature. The result often is a church ripe for co-optation by secular ideologies and accommodation to secular culture rather than being transformative. The same is true of much teaching of Christian ethics. Our objective is to recover a transformative vision in a way that is faithful to Jesus Christ, fully Lord and fully Savior.

The course will meet weekly for three-hour sessions. At each meeting two students will present their critical assessment for Christian ethics of a major book; all seminar participants will be expected weekly to have read one of the books being discussed in order to engage actively in discussion.

I. The Problem:

Gustafson, James. Christ and the Moral Life. University of Chicago Press, 1968.

Stassen, Glen and John Howard Yoder. Authentic Transformation: A New Vision of Christ and Culture. Abingdon, 1996.

Troeltsch, Ernst. The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches. Vol. 1. Beacon, 1981, pp. 39-58.

II. New Testament Studies:

Borg, Marcus. Conflict, Holiness, and Politics in the Teaching of Jesus. Trinity, 1984.

France, R. T. Divine Government: God's Kingship in the Gospel of Mark. SPCK, 1990.

Hays, Richard. Moral Vision of the New Testament. HarperCollins, 1996.

Herzog, William R., II. Jesus, Justice, and the Reign of God. Westminster John Knox, 1999.

Horsley, Richard; Michael Crosby; Sharon Ringe; Ched Myers et al, The New Testament: Introducing the Way of Discipleship. Orbis, 2002.

Myers, Ched. Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus. Orbis, 1989.

Wright, N. T. Jesus and the Victory of God. Fortress, 1997; and see Richard Hays, "Victory over Violence: The Significance of N. T. Wright's Jesus for New Testament Ethics," in Newman, ed., Jesus and the Restoration of Israel. InterVarsity Press, 1999.

III. Christian and Theological Ethics:

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. The Cost of Discipleship. Fortress, 1963.

Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Sex, Gender, & Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Cone, James. God of the Oppressed. Orbis, 1997.

Moltmann, Jürgen. The Way of Jesus Christ. HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.

Rasmussen, Larry. Earth Community Earth Ethics. Orbis, 1998; OR
Moe-Lobeda, Cynthia. Healing a Broken World: Globalization and God. Fortress, 2002.

Segundo, Juan Luis. The Historical Jesus of the Synoptics. Orbis, 1985.

Spohn, William. Go and Do Likewise. Continuum, 1999.

Verhey, Allen. Remembering Jesus: Christian Community, Scripture, and the Moral Life. Eerdmans, 2002.

Wink, Walter. Engaging the Powers: Discernment and Resistance in a World of Domination. Fortress, 1992.

Yoder, John Howard. The Politics of Jesus. Eerdmans, 1994.

1) Weekly reading; 2) Seminar presentations assessing assigned books; 3) Major paper assessing either a contribution of studies of the Synoptics to a dimension of Christian ethics or the use of Jesus in the ethical method of one Christian ethicist. (Assignments for master's level students will be negotiated.)

For master's level students: NS500 New Testament 1: Gospels; two prior courses in Christian ethics, one in Christian philosophy, and two in theology; and permission of the instructor.

For master's level students: elective.

None.