Saints and Sinners

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The central issue for this course is the relationship between ethics and Christian faith. Among the issues we will study are the following: how Christian beliefs shape one's ethical views; how different Christian theologies give rise to different understandings of the moral life; the tie between spirituality and ethics; and how the universal call to holiness gives rise to certain moral ways of being. We will use classical and contemporary theological works (including those of Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, and John Calvin) and spiritual writings (such as Jean-Pierre de Caussade's Abandonment to Divine Providence and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship).