PE023 - Using the Old Testament in Christian Ethics

The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, often feels like a strange, and alien landscape.

It can strike us as puzzlingly irrelevant (for instance, its instructions on ‘un/cleanness’), puzzlingly offensive (its attitudes to women, including ritual laws relating to child-birth and menstruation, or its instructions on slavery), even morally repugnant (the prevalence of violence and warfare, and especially what it says about “holy war”).

In PE023 we will address those issues, deal with a range of approaches to using the HB/OT as Christian Scripture, and explore the ethical richness of this portion of the Christian canon. You will be equipped to develop a coherent understanding of the OT as a resource for Christian ethics, and figure out ways you can use it in your life, work and ministry. The OT may strike us as a strange land. But I think you’ll find it one worth exploring. I look forward to you joining me as we explore it together. -Andrew Sloane

Pre/Co-requisite Units: 

Pre-requisites (all levels): 12 credit points OT, and 12 credit points CH/TH/PE

Unit Exclusions: 

none

Full Course Unit Descriptor:

For the full Course Unit Descriptor, please see the Australian College of Theology website