Syllabus

ThS663J   Death and Dying:  Christian Perspective

Fall 2003, September 2 - December 12, 2003

Instructor:  Marshall K. Christensen, Ph.D.

E-mail:  mchristensen@westernseminary.edu  Office phone:  503-517-1813

 

Course Description:

This course is a study of the theological, cultural, and practical aspects of ministry as related to the process of death and dying.

 

Course Goals and Objectives:

1.      to affirm the value and meaning of life

2.      to understand the processes of aging and dying

3.      to develop a theology about death and eternity

4.      to develop related ministry skills

5.      to develop cultural awareness about death and dying

 

Course Requirements:

1.      attend all class sessions and prepare for participation in class discussions

2.      complete reading assignments

3.      make three class presentations based upon out of class activities, including:

  1. talk with a pastor about counseling for the dying and ministry to the grieving
  2. interview mortician
  3. interview hospice director
  4. interview emergency room doctor
  5. research how non-Christian religions view dying, death and eternity
  6. write two eulogies (i.e. for: child, elderly believer, non- believer, famous person,

           crime victim, indigent/unknown, family member, layperson in church)

  1. select and comment on the appropriateness of several Scriptures for ministry

to the dying and the grieving

  1. write prayer for the terminally ill
  2. plan a memorial service
  3. review legal and ethical issues on "compassion and dying" website and www.internationaltaskforce.org/
  4. interview a hospital chaplain
  5. develop a resource of church music on the meaning of death and eternity

 

Text:  Billy Graham, Death and the Life After, Word, 1987

 

Course Grading:

1.      Class attendance, preparation and participation:   25 percent

2.      Reading assignments:

Text plus 700 pages @ 100% of:                           25 percent

Text plus 600 pages @   75% of:

Text plus 500 pages @   50% of:                

3.      Class presentations:                                                50 percent

 

Weekly Study Guide and Issues for Discussion

Sept. 4:  Introduction:  How the study of death and dying informs human understanding

              about life.  Some historical perspectives:  Ancient,

              Medieval and Modern.

 

11    A Biblical Theology for Death and Dying

       Reading:  Selections from Old and New Testament

 

18    Quality of Life vs. Sanctity of Life:  Lecture and discussion with Dr. Jerome

       Wernow

             Reading Reference:

                                       Thomas A. Shannon, author; James J. Walter, editor, Quality of

                                       Life: The New Medical Dilemma, see chapter: "The Four Views

                                       Of Personhood," by Joseph Fletcher 

                                       Gilbert Meilaender, "Bioethics and the Character of Human

                                         Life,"  The New Atlantis, Spring 2003

                                        B. Holly Vautier, "Definition of Death," Dignity and Dying: A

                                         Christian Appraisal, Eerdmans Publishing Co.

                                        Hugh Barbour, O. Praem, "Pro-Lifers and the Psalmist's

                                         Curses,"  Chronicles, June, 2003

                                         Gregory L. Waybright, "A Pastor's Experience," Dignity and

                                         Dying: A Christian Appraisal, Eerdmans Publishing Co.

 

25 Ministry with Children who are Terminally Ill: A conversation with Cody

     Martin

 

Oct      2  Care for the Terminally Ill:  Conversation with Alita Whitney

        Reading Reference: http://www.hospicefoundation.org/publications/books.htm

                                        Review the Living With Grief book series

 

9        Film:  Shadowlands

                  Reading References:  C. S. Lewis:  A Grief Observed

                                          Gerald L. Sittser,  A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows

                                                                        Through Loss

 

16      Themes on Death and Dying in Classical Literature with Guest, Thelma

       English     

      Reading Assignment:  Augustine,  Confessions

       John Bunyan, Pilgrims Progress

       John Milton, Paradise Lost

       John Donne,  Devotions (see chapter: Death's Duel)

       William Shakespeare, Hamlet

       Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust

                                                       Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

 

23      Ministry to the Dying and Ministry to the Bereaved:  Conversation with Pastor

                  Robert Christensen

                  Reading Assignment:  Thomas Lynch, "Good Grief, Good Funeral," The

                                                      Christian Century, July 26, 2003

 

 

30     Discussion:  Soren Kierkegaard,  Sickness Unto Death

 

Nov.     6   Film:  Charles Dickens:  A Tale of Two Cities

 

13    Student Project Reports

 

20    Student Project Reports

 

    27  Thanksgiving

 

Dec.      4   Christian Theology on Death and Eternity

                   Selected Reading:  Hans Kung,  Eternal Life

                               Xavier leon-Dufour, Life and Death in the New Testament:  The

                                                                Theology of Jesus and Paul

                               Frederick Buechner,  The Eyes of the Heart: A Memoir of the Lost

                                                                       and Found

                                                                  The Sacred Journey

                                                                  Now and Then

                               Henri Nouwen,  The Return of the Prodigal Son

                               Leo Tolstoy,  A Confession

                               Hans Jonas, The Burdens and Blessings of Mortality

                               Aries, P., The Hour of Our Death

                               

 

              Reading Reports Due

 

             11  The Sanctity of Life: Living Well/Dying Well--A Class Colloquy