Christian Ethics for Biosphere and Context

Transcription

1 KNT2964HF Christian Ethics for Biosphere and Context Professor: Bryan Jeongguk Lee. Phone (416) This course examines various theoretical and practical ethical issues that Christians face in today s changing society, with special emphases on multicultural reality in Canada and the global ecological crisis today. The course consists of four parts: the theoretical foundation for Christian ethical thinking (part 1), social justice issues in Canadian multi-cultural multi-ethnic, and multi-religious society (part 2), ecological crisis and the church s response (part 3), integration (part 4). Lecture and seminar. Minor and major papers, short weekly reading report and group discussion report, and one seminar presentation. Prerequisite: Introductory theology courses. Schedule: Mondays, 2 4 pm. Instructor: Bryan Jeongguk Lee (Info) ACADEMIC OUTCOMES: The student will demonstrate the ability to Describe ethical themes within the Old and New Testament Explain Biblical ethical values within their cultural context Define their operative ethical system and apply it to justice, social and ecclesial issues today Apply ethical themes and values to various contexts within congregational and community life CRITICAL KNOWLEDGE (USE OF KNOWLEDGE) a willingness to use thinking, problem solving and decision making abilities to achieve personal, ecclesial, and societal goals an ability and willingness to use knowledge sufficient for professional levels of interaction an ability to think, problem solve, and make decisions at a critical level of operation and act to improve (e.g require students to recognize methods, etc. modeled in class and apply them as well as evaluate them critically (e.g. they pose appropriate questions and start to formulate answers) the ability and willingness to adapt to change and manage conflict arising from change in socially constructive and professional ways (e.g. show a willingness to enter into discussion with others in conflictual situations and to listen to them reflectively) the ability and willingness to identify pastoral boundaries that raise ethical and pastoral questions and to formulate appropriate responses to such boundary issues. 1

2 COURSE POLICIES Policies for courses are contained in the TST Basic Degree Handbook and the Knox Student Handbook. In particular note: Late Policy: 4 points deducted per week late (2 off by Monday, 2 more by Thursday) Completion of Course work: all course work (including any late work) must be completed by the end of term, the due date of final paper. Only in the case of illness (with a note from a doctor), bereavement or other unusual circumstances will an extension be considered and this must be authorized by the Basic Degree Committee and the Faculty. Style Guidelines for Papers: see Knox Style Manual booklet and A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, by Kate L. Turabian assignments: Papers and assignments are not accepted by , except by prior permission by professor. SHOULD SUCH PERMISSION BE GRANTED IT REMAINS THE STUDENT S RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THE PROFESSOR HAS RECEIVED THE SUBMISSION. Plagiarism Policy: See TST Basic Degree Handbook Consultation: Please do not hesitate to consult with me about any questions you may have. EVALUATION: 1. Reading Report and Group Discussion Report (60%) - Three components: 1) summary of the reading, 2) personal impression and reflection, and 3) a very concise summary of the group discussion and your take on it. - Ideally 3 pages, maximum 4 pages, double space. (80% of the paper should be about the reading material and only briefly (20%) about the group discussion) - Due at START of class in hard copy. (No submission allowed, if not arranged separately.) 2. Student presentation (20%) - On ways of making difference as a Christian and as a congregation in regard to the themes dealt in the course - Two (or three) students pair up (depending on class enrolment) for a minute presentation. - This presentation could be in following forms: preaching, congregational education, worship plan, church outreach plan, event plan, combination of any of these or other creative form. - Exhibition of research and theologico-ethical knowledge of the subject - Articulation, persuasiveness and practicality - Passion and creativity 3. Term paper (20%): pages (double space) - on ONE of the following themes (variations of the themes dealt in part 2 and part 3 of the course): Multiculturalism in Canadian society and Christian Church; encountering others; ecology and faith, the future of the creation; ecological mission of the church; being and doing of the church. - It is encouraged to build on your presentation. PRESCRIBED TEXT: 2

3 Weston, Anthony. A Practical Companion to Ethics. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, nd edition. Lee, Bryan Jeongguk. Celebrating God s Cosmic Perichoresis. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications, And articles in the Reading Packet COURSE SCHEDULE: Part 1: Bible, theology, church and ethics Week 1: Introduction of students and the course Group discussion and report: What is the basis for my moral decisions as a Christian? 1) A Practical Companion to Ethics, Week 2: Theories in ethics: method, resources, and contexts Group discussion and report: How does Christian ethics relate to the mission of God? Read and report for next week: 1) A Practical Companion to Ethics, (18 pages) 2) Jesus and the Minjung in the Gospel (Ahn, Byung Mu). (14 pages) 3) Justice and the Poor (Wolterstorff). (30 pages) Week 3: The church, mission, and the Kingdom of God (eschatological ethics) Group discussion and report: What should be some of stark characteristics of Christian Ethics? 1) A Practical Companion to Ethics, (21 pages) 2) God the Economist (Meeks) (48 pages) Part 2: Living in love and justice in today s society Week 4: The church, Kingdom of God, and our society Group discussion and report: What are some of missional roles of the church in society? How can the church fulfill such roles? 3

4 1) A Practical Companion to Ethics, (18 pages) 2) The Han of the Korean-American Community (Andrew Park) (15 pages) 3) The Glory of God Gives Life (Fensham) (7 pages) Week 5: Encountering others : cultural, religious and ethnic diversity and its ethical implications Group discussion and report: What is the state of Canadian multiculturalism? Is it working in our society? In your church? At Knox and TST? In Toronto? In Ottawa? 1) A Practical Companion to Ethics, (28 pages) 2) Big Oil, the Environment and Human Rights (Al Gedicks) (44 pages) 3) Covenanting for Justice and the Earth (WARC) (5 pages) 4) Pensioner Protest (1 page) Week 6: Cry of the 3 rd world people, cry of the Earth: intersection of economy, environment, and human rights as a theological-ethical problem. Group discussion and report: What difference can we make as a consumer/investor, a Christian and a church about the plight of 3 rd world people? Read and report for next week: 1) Bryan Lee Introduction, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 2) The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis (Lynn White Jr.) (14 pages) Part 3: Thinking theologically and ecologically about God s Creation: Kinship of the Creation Week 7: Theological discussions on environmental ethics 1: doctrine of creation and theological anthropology Group discussion and report: What are the causes of current ecological crisis and how much is the Christian church responsible? 1) Bryan Lee Chapter 3 2) In and of the World? Christian Theological Anthropology and Environmental Ethics (Anna Peterson). (28 pages) Week 8: Theological discussions on environmental ethics 2: Christology and Trinitarian eschatology 4

5 Group discussion and report : How serious are Christians about the environment? 1) Bryan Lee Chapter 4 2) The Cosmic Community (Juergen Moltmann) (13 pages) 3) Global Eco-Justice: The Church s Mission in Urban Society (Larry Rasmussen) (14 pages) Week 9: Responsible living in the more-than-human world: ecclesiology and missiology (domination / stewardship, loving and hoping for the Creation) Group discussion and report: What significance does Christian worship have for ecological crisis and the hope of the Creation? Read and report for next week: 1) Bryan Lee Chapter 5 Part 4 Sharing Ideas / Integration Week 10: Student Presentations on ways of congregational changes 1 Group discussion: What was the most interesting about today s presentations? (No report next week) Week 11: Student Presentations on ways of congregational changes 2 Group and report: What was the most interesting about today s presentations? (No report next week) Not-So-Major Paper due next week! Week 12: Integration (Importance of questioning and questioning our answers in faith community) Not-So-Major Paper due! BIBLIOGRAPHY (Articles in Reading Packet) Clarke, Patricia. Pensioner Protest. In The United Church Observer. New Series Vol. 76 No. 5, December P. 44. Gedicks, Al. Big Oil, the Environment and Human Rights. In Resource Rebels: Native Challenges to Mining and Oil Corporations. Cambridge, MA: South End Press,

6 Park, Andrew Sung. The Han of the Korean-American Community. In Racial Conflict & Healing: An Asian-American Theological Perspective. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, Covenanting for Justice and the Earth (WARC) Niebuhr, Reinhold. General Essays on Love and Justice in Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. edited by D.B.Robertson. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, Ahn, Byung-Mu. Jesus and the Minjung in the Gospel of Mark. In Voices from the Margin : Interpreting the Bible in the Third World. edited by R.S. Sugirtharajah. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, Revised and expanded 3rd ed. Fensham, Charles. The Glory of God Gives Life in Emerging from the dark age ahead: the future of the North American church. Ottawa : Novalis, The Declaration of Faith Concerning Church and Nation (PCC) Becoming Human: On Theological Anthropology in an Age of Engineering Life (CCC) Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The Love of God and the Decay of the World North American Declaration on Trade 2004 Meeks, Douglas. God and the Market Logic. In God the Economist: the Doctrine of God and Political Economy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Justice and the Poor The Gospel and Culture Bosch, David. Mission as Contextualization. In Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, White Jr., Lynn. The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis. In Ecology and Religion in History. New York: Harper and Row, Sittler, Joseph. A Theology for Earth. In Evocations of Grace: the Writings of Joseph Sittler on Ecology, Theology, and Ethics. edited by Steve Bouma-Prediger and Peter Bakken. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., Hutterman, Aloys. Genesis 1 The most Misunderstood Part of the Bible. In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Ecology in a Biblical Perspective. In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth,

7 Peterson, Anna. In and of the World: Christian Theological Anthropology and Environmental Ethics. In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Berry, Thomas. The New Story In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Boff, Leonardo. Science, Technology, Power, and Liberation Theology. In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, Rasmussen, Larry. Global Eco-Justice: The Church s Mission in Urban Society. In Worldviews, Religion, and the Environment: a Global Anthology. edited by Richard C. Foltz. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth,