CHET 60013
Introduction to Contemporary Theological Ethics
3 semester hours, Brite Divinity School, Fort Worth, Texas, Spring 2018
Friday, 9:30-12:00, Moore 309
Instructor: Charles Bellinger c.bellinger@tcu.edu 817-257-7668
Prerequisites: none.
Description of Content: This course will survey the major methodological questions of theological ethics since the early 20th century, its thematic subdivisions, and the schools of thought and individual authors who have shaped the discussion of ethical questions within the theological world. Topics addressed will include: the Bible and ethics, moral discernment, violence and war, gender and sexuality, natural law, virtue, social justice, ecology, and liberation.
Course
Objectives:
1. Students will be introduced to key vocabulary terms in theological ethics.
2. Students will read and respond in writing to some of the key authors,
topics, and schools of thought in contemporary theological ethics.
3. Students will develop critical thinking skills at the intersection of
theological anthropology and ethics.
Course procedures:
1. Lectures.
2. In-class discussions.
Requirements and grading:
1. Class participation and comments* on reading assignments (10%).
*By midnight on the day before a class meeting, each student needs to email me
three (one sentence) statements and/or questions related to the reading
assignments for that week.
2. Vocabulary quiz (10%).
3. Four take-home exams, 5-6 pages [double-spaced, include page numbers, no
separate title page needed] (80%). [Note: there are five exams on the schedule;
students may choose, if they wish, to skip one of those exams, or to do all
five and have the one with the lowest grade removed from the final grading
calculation.]
Texts:
Alison, James. Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay. New
York: Crossroad, 2001. ISBN: 9780824519223, $30
Bellinger, Charles. The Trinitarian Self: The Key to the Puzzle of Violence. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick, 2008. ISBN: 9781556352324, $19
Gill, Robin, ed. Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics, 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780521164832, $25
Parsons, Susan. Feminism and Christian Ethics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. ISBN: 9780521468206, $29
optional: Floyd-Thomas, Stacey M., and Miguel A. De La Torre, eds. Beyond the Pale: Reading Ethics from the Margins. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011. ISBN: 9780664236809, $25
There will be additional readings assigned by the instructor during the semester. Students must have the ability to check their TCU email account and do so regularly, because I will communicate with you in that way regarding reading assignments and other course matters. See:
http://lib.tcu.edu/staff/bellinger/60013/60013_2018_links.htm
Schedule |
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lecture/discussion topics |
reading assignments |
Week 1 |
Jan. 19 |
Introduction to course |
Girard, “The First Stone” |
Week 2 |
Jan. 26 |
Aquinas |
David Bentley Hart, excerpts from Atheist Delusions |
Week 3 |
Feb. 2 |
vocabulary quiz SK |
Gill: ch. 4-5 (NT) |
Week 4 |
Feb. 9 |
Ministers Week, no class |
|
Week 5 |
Feb. 16 |
Barth and Bonhoeffer |
excerpts from Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer optional: excerpt from Beyond the Pale [Bonhoeffer] |
Week 6 |
Feb. 23 |
Bonhoeffer and MLK |
excerpts from Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King, Jr. |
Week 7 |
March 2 |
war
|
Gill: ch. 13 (war) |
Week 8 |
March 9 |
dimensional
anthropology |
Bellinger: ix-13, 27-82 |
Week 9 |
March 16 |
Spring Break, no
class |
|
Week 10 |
March 23 |
paper due (9am) |
Gill: ch. 7 (virtue) |
Week 11 |
March 30 |
Good Friday, no
class |
|
Week 12 |
April 6 |
Alison and Girard |
Gill: ch. 19 (sexuality) |
Week 13 |
April 13 |
paper due (9am) |
Gill: ch. 9 (liberation) |
Week 14 |
April 20 |
Parsons and the paradigms of feminism |
Gill: ch. 8 (gender) |
Week 15 |
April 27 |
paper due (9am) |
Gill: ch. 16 (ecology) |
Week 16 |
May 4 |
no class |
|
Week 17 |
May 11 |
[Finals Week, no final] |
|
Email Notification:
Only the official Brite student email address will be used for all course notification. It is your responsibility to check your email on a regular basis.
Late Work Policy:
Work turned in up to 24 hours after the deadline will receive a one grade notch reduction (from A- to B+, for example); work turned in 24-48 hours late will receive a two notch reduction; work turned in 48 hours to one week late will receive a three notch reduction. After that, no credit will be given. If a student has special extenuating circumstances, he or she can request an extension of the deadline by contacting the instructor.
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