Christian Ethics

An AIBI online course where you develop your own Christian ethics and compile a 1500 word term-paper outlining and justifying your ethical stance. This course is suitable for those in ministry training. It is advisable to be a mature Christian with good bible knowledge before taking this course.

A major part of this course is developing your views from Scripture and informed by a wide range of literature. There is no one "text-book" but a large number of links to high-value sites on ethics. The idea is that you will explore the issues and answer certain key questions:

  1. Is the accurate knowledge of moral values (such as right/wrong, good/evil) essential for right living?

  2. What is the rational basis for such values?

  3. What is the biblical basis for such values?

  4. Is there a heirarchy of moral values? Are some weightier than others?

  5. How should moral values be weighed or arranged? Can a system be devised for this?

  6. How does this system apply to the problem of the choice between two evils?

  7. How does this system apply to the major ethical issues of war & peace, sexual ethics, genetics and financial and political decision-making?

Assignment

Use the Scriptures and the links below to compile a 1500 word term-paper outlining and justifying your personal ethical system.

Your ethical system as expressed in the term paper should include the following:

A. Scriptural basis - how does Scripture call us to ethical behavior?

B. How you resolve situations in which there is a "choice between two evils".

C. Your reasoning with regard to peace, violence and war.

D. Attitude to life issues such as human cloning, abortion and genetics.

E. Work ethic, business ethics and ethics of wealth and poverty.

Term papers should be biblically based and demonstrate an understanding of the main issues, theories and terminology employed in Christian ethics. Papers may be longer than 1500 words if required. Please do NOT preach. Papers should employ a proper academic style, be in MS-Word or similar word processor format (rtf, pdf, WordPerfect etc) and be spell-checked and referenced.

Links

Christian Ethics Today
An extensive collection of online articles on Christian ethics

Christian Ethics - from a Mennonite Perspective
The Mennonites (Anabaptists) are noted for pacifism, social involvement and ethical concern.

Ethics Resource Center
Ethics Resource Center - business and global ethics and values formation.

Global Ethics
Site devoted to ethics, use the search engine to find interesting articles

DMOZ links on Christian Ethics
The Open Directory Project listing of web-sites on Christian ethics and morality.

Online Guide To Ethics and Moral Philosophy
Many links, but read with some discernment as there are some strong philosophical stances.

Faith At Work
Ethics for the workplace and the marketplace.

Business Ethics
Business ethics - DMOZ links.

Virtue Theory - DMOZ Links
Links on the concept of "virtue" and its application to ethics.

Pacifism
Pacifist documents and writings. Why pacifists believe as they do.

Genetics And Ethics
Looks at genetics and the ethical problems raised by recent research.