Courses

In our current cultural contexts, now more than ever, there are few issues more controversial, important and practical than biblical social justice. How do we implement God’s justice on earth? This course has practical and urgent implications for the individual as well as the evangelical Church and its mission.

The urgent issues that we are confronting such as homelessness, racism, indigenous issues, and inequalities exposed and exacerbated during the pandemic and subsequent developments are placed within the larger context of the themes of social justice in Scripture and biblical theology. We will bring the two horizons together of Scripture and the present (our current contexts and current events) and determine biblical teaching, biblical practice and relevant strategies that speak to the needs at hand.

This course will examine the biblical foundation for the definition and practice of social justice in the church, by exploring the Old Testament foundations, the theology and practice in the life of Jesus and the early church, and the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities for application in the contemporary Canadian, North American and global context. Content will be alternated with interactive activities of reflection and application. Each student will integrate the biblical content, course activities and field experience with their specialization.

Knowing

• Understand the biblical basis for the practice of social justice for the individual, the church, local and global contexts.
• Learn exegetical principles that bring the diverse horizons together of the Old Testament contexts, the New Testament contexts and our contemporary contexts.

Being

• Be committed to personal and communal righteousness
• Be a person who integrates tangible connections between Scripture, theology and action.

Doing

• Research a biblical topic/theme, passage or practice that is relevant to one’s specialization and relates to the Church and current personal and communal practice.
• Interact critically with current biblical scholarship on social justice
• Develop a life map that discerns one’s call to social justice
• Engage in field experience in which social justice is being enacted in local contexts and theologically reflect on that experience.