Comparative Study of Religious Ethics

HTS 2851, Comparative Study of Religious Ethics, Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Spring Quarter 2007
Dr. Paul D. Numrich

COURSE DESCRIPTION: An introduction to the ethical systems of selected world religions (including Christianity), with comparative analysis of one practical ethical issue (for this quarter, “human health” broadly construed).

OBJECTIVES:

1. To introduce the comparative study of religious ethics.
2. To explore how selected world religions (and their sub-groups) approach practical ethical issues.
3. To begin to understand “religion” in comparative perspective.
4. To develop one’s own perspective on non-Christian religions in preparation for faithful participation in inter-religious encounters and informed leadership among fellow Christians.
5. To enhance the scholarly enterprise of the Theological Consortium.

READINGS:

M. Christian Green and Paul D. Numrich, Religious Perspectives on Sexuality: A Resource Guide (Chicago: Park Ridge Center, 2001)

T. William Hall, Richard B. Pilgrim, and Ronald R. Cavanagh, Religion: An Introduction (Harper, 1985), Chapter 8

James B. Martin-Schramm and Robert L. Stivers, Christian Environmental Ethics: A Case Method Approach (Orbis, 2003), Chapters 2 and 3

Religious Traditions and Health Care Decisions handbook series (Chicago: Park Ridge Center)

Ninian Smart, Worldviews: Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs (Scribners, 1983), Chapter 6

 

[I]t seems to me that the purport of religion is to stress the spiritual life—worship of God, a vision of the goodness of the world, the practice of meditation, a perception of the impermanence of things, and so on. Morality has to be related to such spiritual vision and life. It is true that the religions do not agree by any means and their atmospheres often greatly differ. But they still are like fingers pointing at the moon: they point to what lies Beyond. This pointing to what lies beyond challenges the “worldly” notions of happiness and welfare that often enter into the calculations of modern folk, in the utilitarian tradition. True peace of spirit can (I would suggest, from a religious angle) be achieved only if one is in relationship to what lies Beyond. What is needed is transcendental humanism: prizing human welfare but seeing it in the light of a vision of what is eternal.

-- Ninian Smart, Worldviews, 3rd ed., 116-117