THEO 210 — Christian Ethics: Foundations and Contemporary Issues
Every theological claim implies an ethical one. If God created humans in the divine image, that says something about how humans should be treated. If Christ died for sinners, that says something about grace, forgiveness, and the limits of judgment. If the Spirit produces love, joy, and peace, that says something about what the Christian life should look like in practice. THEO 210 traces the line from theological conviction to moral action, asking the question that every student of theology eventually faces: now that I know what Christians believe, how should Christians live? The course assumes the student has completed THEO 201 and THEO 202, which established the doctrinal vocabulary. THEO 210 now asks what that vocabulary means for human action. The doctrine of the image of God grounds the ethics of human dignity. The theology of sanctification shapes how Christians think about moral transformation. The course also draws on HIST 201 and HIST 202, which traced how the church's ethical thinking developed over two thousand years. The course covers four areas: foundations (sources of moral knowledge, ethical frameworks), biblical ethics (Torah, prophets, Jesus, Paul), historical development (Augustine through Hauerwas), and contemporary issues (war and peace, economic justice, environmental ethics, bioethics, sexuality and gender). On contested issues, the course presents the range of faithful Christian positions with their best biblical and theological arguments. It does not advocate for one position. The student's own moral reasoning is their responsibility; the course's responsibility is to equip them to reason well.
Learning outcomes
- Describe the major sources of moral knowledge in the Christian tradition (Scripture, natural law, tradition, reason, experience) and articulate how different traditions prioritize these sources differently
- Describe the major ethical frameworks (virtue ethics, deontological ethics, consequentialism) and evaluate how Christians have appropriated and critiqued each
- Describe the ethical teaching of the Old Testament (Torah, prophets, wisdom literature) and the range of Christian approaches to the continuing authority of the Mosaic law
- Describe the ethics of Jesus as presented in the Synoptic Gospels (especially the Sermon on the Mount) and Pauline ethics (law and gospel, the fruit of the Spirit, the body of Christ), engaging the primary texts
- Trace the development of Christian ethical thought from Augustine (just war, virtues) through Aquinas (natural law, cardinal and theological virtues) through the Reformers (Luther's two kingdoms, Calvin's third use of the law) to modern ethicists (Barth, Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr, Hauerwas)
- Analyze at least three contemporary ethical debates (from among war/peace, economic justice, bioethics, environmental ethics, sexuality/gender) by identifying the range of Christian positions, the biblical and theological reasoning behind each, and the methodological commitments that produce the disagreements
- Engage primary ethical sources (Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Bonhoeffer, King, Hauerwas, Catholic social teaching documents) and follow their moral arguments in historical and theological context
- Articulate how one's own tradition's ethical methodology shapes its conclusions on specific moral questions, and evaluate the strengths and limitations of that methodology in conversation with other traditions
Foundations: What Is Christian Ethics?
Introduce the sources of moral knowledge for Christians (Scripture, natural law, tradition, reason, experience), how different traditions weight them, and the major ethical frameworks (virtue ethics, deontological ethics, consequentialism) with their Christian appropriations.
Biblical Ethics: Law, Prophets, and Wisdom
Examine the ethical teaching of the Old Testament across three literary traditions: Torah (the Decalogue and case law as gift following liberation), prophets (worship without justice offends God), and wisdom (practical wisdom and the ethics of limitation). Analyze four Christian approaches to the continuing authority of the Mosaic law.
The Ethics of Jesus and the Apostles
Examine the ethics of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (the antitheses, love of enemies, four interpretive approaches) and Paul's indicative-imperative structure ('be what you are'), the fruit of the Spirit, and the body of Christ as the communal shape of the moral life.
The Christian Ethical Tradition: Augustine to Hauerwas
Trace the development of Christian ethical thought from Augustine (sin as disordered love, just war) through Aquinas (natural law, cardinal and theological virtues) through the Reformers (Luther's two kingdoms, Calvin's third use of the law) to modern ethicists (Barth, Bonhoeffer, Niebuhr, Hauerwas).
Contemporary Issues I: War, Economy, and Creation
Apply the ethical frameworks from Modules 1-4 to three contemporary issues: the war-and-peace debate (just war, pacifism, just peacemaking), economic justice (Catholic social teaching, evangelical range, liberation theology), and environmental ethics (dominion as exploitation vs. stewardship, creation care).
Contemporary Issues II: Life, Sexuality, and the Ethical Life
Apply ethical frameworks to bioethics (abortion, euthanasia, reproductive technology), sexuality and gender (traditional and affirming positions, hermeneutical methods), and the integration of ethical method into a lifelong practice of moral reasoning.