Learning Lab – Course – Dialogues Units

Dialogue Between Christianity and Ethics

1. Dialogue Ethical systems – core issues. Core dialogues within Christianity. Core dialogues between Christians and Utilitarians, Kantians, Sartre, Nietzsche Ayer Mackie. Dialogue between Christians and other religious frameworks.

2. Dialogue Conscience – core issues. Different views on the origin of conscience and the formation of conscience. Authority: Autonomy heteronomy, theonomy? Dialogue around different definitions of conscience. Dialogue within Christianity about conscience.

3. Dialogue life and death issues. What is distinctive about the Christian contribution to these debates? The value of human life, the value of animal life, the importance of justice and truth-telling, the importance of promise-keeping, respect for persons, respect for creation.

Guest lecturer, Professor John Swinton, University of Aberdeen. Assisted dying.

4. Dialogue Wealth and poverty. Jesus’ distinctive teaching and whether it is relevant today. Business ethics. Max Weber: Protestant work ethic. How to achieve a fair redistribution of wealth. Utilitarian views. The causes of poverty. Can only the wealthy afford to be ethical?

Guest lecturer, Dr Mike Laffin, University of Aberdeen. Are Christian ethics relevant in the modern world?

Approx. 16 hours of guided learning with 13 videos, course notes, 4 Multiple choice Quizzes, 2 Guest lectures.

Dialogue Between Christianity and Philosophy

5. Dialogue Self Death Afterlife. The soul, the significance of death, the existence of an afterlife. Dialogue with Christian philosophers, dialogue with atheist philosophers. The question of religious language, Science and religion, proof and probability, plausibility issues. Dialogue internal to Christianity; different ideas about judgement, heaven, hell and resurrection. Different ideas about the relationship between faith and reason. Dialogue between Christianity and other religious views

Guest lecture: Sam Newington, University of Aberdeen. What is hell?

6. Dialogue Miracles. Dialogue between Christian philosophers and atheists, dialogue within Christianity. Issues arising from religious language, science and religion, religious experience, faith and reason. Dialogue over definition.

7. Dialogue Religious experience. Dialogue between Christian philosophers and atheists. Ontological questions, religious language, science and religion, proof and probability. Dialogue inside of Christianity: authenticity of claims, authority of claims, faith and reason dialogue, attributes of God. Dialogue with the claims of other faiths.

8. Dialogue between Christianity and other truth claims. Dialogue with atheism, post-modernism, relativism, claims regarding pluralism of truth claims, competing truth claims of science. Internal dialogue regarding the source of religious truth claims, methods of discernment, pluralism, exclusivism, inclusivism, and anonymous Christians.

Approx. 16 hours of guided learning with 4 videos, course notes, 4 multiple choice quizzes, 1 guest lecture.