This semester is my first time teaching a course on Biblical Ethics. It’s been a steep learning curve for me, so I’ve been preparing by reading more than I normally do for a class.
Over Christmas break I also listened to five free thought-provoking courses:
1. Michael J. Sandel’s course “Justice” at Harvard University. Sandel has taught political philosophy at Harvard since 1980, and over 15,000 students have taken his course. WGBH and Harvard University coproduced the course as a TV series in 2005, which is what you can watch free online or via iTunes. (The 24 lectures are also available on YouTube.) I watched the course and then read Sandel’s corresponding book that released in 2009: Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Sandel is thoughtful, respectful, and provocative. I disagree with his liberal political bent and the ultimate grounds for his ethical views, but I love how he engagingly teaches with the Socratic method.
2–3. Wayne Grudem’s Sunday School classes on “Christian Ethics” and “Politics” for Scottsdale Bible Church. I imported all of the MP3s from these classes into iTunes, which says that Christian Ethics has 60 tracks (2.1 days) and Politics 46 (1.6 days). Many of the lessons overlap with Grudem’s books on politics and poverty, but most of the Ethics course is a draft of one of Grudem’s forthcoming books: Christian Ethics: Living a Life Pleasing to God (Crossway). Grudem earned an MDiv from Westminster and PhD from Cambridge, and before that he earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard in economics. I know that some evangelicals strongly disagree with him on politics and economics, but I stand by what my Dad and I wrote about Grudem in 2010. [Update on 7/30/2018: See Wayne Grudem’s massive book Introduction to Christian Ethics.]
4. Ronald H. Nash’s course “Christian Ethics” at Reformed Theological Seminary. My first exposure to Nash was reading his textbook on philosophy in college. This was my first time listening to him teach, and I wasn’t expecting him to be so feisty. When it comes to people on the evangelical left like Ron Sider and Jim Wallis, let’s just say that Nash strongly disagrees! (This same course appears to be available from Biblical Training.)
5. David Clyde Jones’s course “Christian Ethics” at Covenant Theological Seminary. Jones is gentle, devotional, and thoughtful. His corresponding book is penetrating: Biblical Christian Ethics (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994).
One More Course (but Not Free). In February I listened to a forthcoming Logos Mobile Ed course that is currently available for pre-order: Biblical Sexual Ethics by David Instone-Brewer. I don’t agree with every detail of his exegesis and application, but he is as informed as they come on the issues of marriage, divorce, remarriage, intermarriage, polygamy, abortion, and homosexuality in the context of the Old and New Testaments.
Do you recommend any other courses on ethics that are available for free online?
I’ve also downloaded for free and listened to William Edgar’s (from WTS) course on Medical Ethics. I also got John Frame’s course on Pastoral and Social Ethics free. I think they were both from iTunes University.
Thanks!
I just found them and added them to my listening queue:
1. William Edgar, Medical Ethics
2. John Frame, Pastoral and Social Ethics. I’ve been rereading parts of Frame’s book on ethics this semester as well. (Nearly four years ago Doug Moo gave me permission to upload his review of that book here.)
Amen to Sandel. The book made a huge impact on me. It makes a point that secularists need to hear: “Justice is judgmental.” You can’t not have a “vision of the good” that guides your definition and practice of justice.
Andy, thank you for listing Ron Nash’s contribution to the ethics discussion in your list. I was Ron’s pastor during the 1990s when he taught at RTS in Orlando. He was a dear friend and scholar. Your description as “feisty” is on target. But the source of that was he had a passion for truth and was not afraid to point to those he believed were departing from the truth of God’s word.
This past weekend I was in Orlando for a wedding and my wife and I got to spend Sunday afternoon with Ron’s widow, Betty Jane. Our discussion, as usual, gravitated to talk about Ron. She commented on the number of emails/letters she gets from men and women who have just “discovered” Ron’s teaching through places like BiblicalTraining.org and RTS podcasts. It gives her great joy to know that even though he is no longer with us physically, he continues to speak and teach through these avenues.
I debated Ron Gleason, the author of Death Penalty on Trial, in a debate available for free online. I argued that the death penalty is no longer mandatory because the law demanding death penalty ultimately pointed to and has been fulfilled by Christ’s death.
I appreciate any feedback on the debate.
Thanks for sharing these! I definitely plan to listen to Nash’s lectures one of these days.
I thought John Feinberg is another good Evangelical who have written and lectured on Christian ethics.
Here’s a link where you can find his lectures for a Winterim course all in one location: https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/john-feinbergs-lectures-issues-in-christian-ethics/
Thanks, Jim. I’m using the Feinberg book as the main textbook for my course.
Nice!
There is tons of stuff by Scott Rae on OpenBiola: http://open.biola.edu/authors/scott-b-rae
Specifically, this course: http://open.biola.edu/collections/ttpt-703-the-church-and-society
Thanks, Adam! I’ve been reading through Scott Rae’s ethics textbook this semester, which I think would make a good college-level text.
We used it at Talbot in conjunction with several other texts, and it is one I often recommend to lay people. I’m thankful I can call him a mentor and a friend.