PE003-812 - Christian Social Ethics

  • 2,976 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 12
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • Category developing unit
    B
  • philosophy ethicsUnit Discipline

Exclusions

Prior to 2020, this unit content was delivered under the unit code PE603.

At the time of publication of this statement, ACT permits students to include up to 24cps from the following PE units as contributing towards the Ministry & Practice requirement of ACT awards, provided any unit(s) in question are not also counted towards Christian Thought requirements: PE001-512/712/812 Christian Ethics, PE002-612/712/812 Theological Ethics, PE003-612/712/812 Christian Social Ethics, PE007-612/712/812 Christian Apologetics.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

Demonstrate Advanced knowledge and understanding of Christian social ethics.

B. Be able to

1. Examine the nature and elements of Christian social ethics

2. Critique historical approaches to Christian ethics

3. Demonstrate skills of Christian social ethical reasoning in relation to selected contemporary issues

4. Present Research-Aware evidence-based perspectives on Christian social ethics

C. Be in a position to

1. Applying perspectives from ‘Christian Social Ethics’ to contemporary Christian living and ministry practice as a reflective practitioner

Content

Section A: Developing a Christian Social Ethic

1.      Social ethics: its nature, biblical & theological basis and principles; personal and social ethics.

2.      Social structures and institutions: their nature; persons and roles; responsibility and social structures.

3.      Concepts of justice; creation, humanity and sin, and society.

Section B: Historical Approaches to Social Ethics

A study and comparison of four of the following:

  • Catholic
  • Lutheran
  • Reformed
  • Anabaptist
  • Anglican
  • Evangelical

Section C:  Ethical Evaluation of Alternative Methods of Social Change.

Ethical evaluation of the following aspects of Christian involvement in social change:

  • Evangelism
  • Social action
  • Counter-culture and alternative communities
  • Non-co-operation and civil disobedience
  • Revolution
  • Reform

Section D: Ethical Issues

Candidates choose two or more of the following topics for study:

 

  • Government and the State
  • War and armed conflict
  • Business and economic ethics
  • Crime and Punishment
  • Law and Liberty
  • Population, consumerism, and ecological sustainability 

Set Readings

In addition to the set texts, and appropriate works listed in the Bibliography for PE001 and PE002:

 

Bohr, D., Catholic Moral Tradition (Revised ed.; Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2006).

Bradstock, A. and Rowland, C. (eds), Radical Christian Writings: A Reader (Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers, 2002).

Cahill, Lisa Sowle. Global Justice, Christology and Christian Ethics. (Cambridge: CUP, 2015)

Carson, D. A., Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 2008).

Claar, V. V. and R. J. Klay, Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2007).

Connelly, M., Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2008).

Dyck, A. J., Rethinking Rights and Responsibilities: The Moral Bonds of Community (2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2005).

Frame, T., Living By the Sword? The Ethics of Armed Intervention (Sydney: University of NSW, 2004).

Frame, T., Church and State: Australia’s Imaginary Wall (Sydney: University of NSW Press, 2006).

Gill, R. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Christian Ethics (2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2012).

Gill, R., A Textbook of Christian Ethics (4th edn; London: T. & T. Clark, 2014).

Hargaden, K. Theological Ethics in a Neoliberal Age: Confronting the Christian Problem with Wealth (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2018).

Hilborn, D. (ed.), Movement for Change: Evangelical Perspectives on Social Transformation (Carlisle, UK: Paternoster Press, 2004).

Honderich, T., Punishment: The Supposed Justifications Revisited (5th ed. London: Pluto Press, 2006).

Lazareth, W. H., Christians in Society: Luther, the Bible, and Social Ethics (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2001).

Marshall, C. D., Beyond Retribution: A New Testament Vision for Justice, Crime, and Punishment (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001).

McFague, S., A New Climate for Theology: God, the World, and Global Warming (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2008).

O’Donovan, O., The Ways of Judgment (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 2005).

Oslington, Paul, ed. The Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014).

Phillips, E. Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2012).

Radan, P., D. Meyerson and R. F. Croucher, Law and Religion: God, the State and the Common Law (London: Routledge, 2005).

Storkey, A., Jesus and Politics: Confronting the Powers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005).

Witte, J. & G. S. Hauk (eds), Christianity and Family Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017)

Wolterstorff, N., Justice: Rights and Wrongs (2nd ed. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Yoder, J. H., The Politics of Jesus, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm B. Eerdmans, 1972).

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