Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

Economics, Justice and Theology

Unit Code: 
CT382
RTI: 
Whitley College
Unit Value: 
15 points

This unit aims to equip students with the resources to understand a variety of economic models and to formulate a theological critique of these. The unit will embody a dialogue between the approaches of an economist and a theologian. The relationship between society and the economy will be considered and theological resources such as economic language in the Scriptures, economic models in Scripture and early Christianity, and contemporary Christian social teaching will be explored. In particular, theological critique will be directed to current neo-liberal economic models, bearing in mind issues of distributive justice and economic policy.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. Analyse the underlying assumptions of selected economic models;
  2. Describe the economic dimensions of biblical language and ethics;
  3. Articulate the similarities and differences between ancient imperial economies and contemporary capitalism;
  4. Discuss the role of Scripture in formulating critiques of economic policy and in exploring alternative economic models;
  5. Demonstrate a knowledge of selected contemporary Christian teaching on economic justice.
Lecturer/s: 
Mark Brett
Lecturer/s: 
William Stent
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 2
Day: 
Monday
Time: 
6:00 - 9:00
Location: 
Whitley College
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2013
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Graduate Diploma in Theology
Courses: 
Master of Divinity
Courses: 
Master of Theological Studies
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Disciplines: 
Systematic Theology
MDiv Field: 
Theology and the Public Realm
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Unit Level
GradDip Field: 
Elective
MDiv Type of Study: 
Integrative
Prerequisites: 

Foundational units in Old Testament, New Testament and Systematic Theology.

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures, tutorials and seminars

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours per week: 
12
Total workload hours for unit: 
144
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

One tutorial paper of 1,000 words

Weighting: 
15%
Assessment Type: 

One seminar paper of 2,000 words

Weighting: 
35%
Assessment Type: 

One essay of 3,000 words

Weighting: 
50%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

Barrera, Albino, Economic Compulsion and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: CUP, 2005.

Beed, Clive and Cara Beed, Alternatives to Economics: Christian Socio-Economic Perspectives. Latham: University Press of America, 2006.

Boland, Lawrence A, Critical Economic Methodology: A Personal Odyssey. London: Routledge, 1997.

Daly, Herman E. & Cobb, John D. For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy toward Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future. 2nd ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

Gutierrez, Gustavo, A Theology of Liberation. New York: Orbis Books, 1973.

Herzog, William R., Jesus, Justice and the Reign of God. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2000.

Hollenbach, David, The Common Good and Christian Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Hopkins, David and Stager, Laurence, The Hebrew Bible in Its Economic Environment. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2007.

Long, D. Stephen, Divine Economy: Theology and the Market. London: Routledge, 2000.

Oslington, Paul (ed), Economics and Religion, 2 vols. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 2003.

Silver, Morris, Economic Structures of Antiquity. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1995.

Smith, Adam, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations 1776,  Ed. Edwin Cannan,  London: Methuen,1904.

Stackhouse, Max L., (ed.), God and Globalization:  Volume 4. Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 2007.

Stiglitz, Joseph, Making Globalization Work: The next steps to global justice. Camberwell: Penguin, 2006.

Walsh, Michael & Davies, Brian (eds), Proclaiming Justice and Peace: Papal Docu­ments from Rerum Novarum through Centesimus Annus. Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1991.

Waterman, A. M. C. (ed), Political Economy and Christian Theology since the Enlightenment: Essays in Intellectual History. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.