From the end of Feb 2020 we will be running our next module, The Good Life. So far we’ve done modules on biblical theology and systematic theology, and this module will focus on practical theology. The task of practical theology is to figure out how to take what we learn from other fields of theology and feed it into the way we live our daily lives. This has to do with how we behave, how we feel, how we think, how we engage with others, and most importantly how we relate to God.

There are many subjects that could be covered under practical theology, but our first module on it be focus on ethics. We’re going to spend some time thinking about what it looks like to live and choose well, following the pattern we introduced in our module on systematic theology, of drawing on both scripture and philosophy.

The five lessons of this module will cover the following topics:

1. In our first lesson, we will introduce you to practical theology, how it relates to biblical and systematic theology, and how we should think about biblical ethics. We’ll see that wisdom plays an important role in living well in God’s world.

2. In our second lesson, we will discuss how we can use philosophical ethics (particularly those of Aristotle and Confucius) to deepen our understanding of biblical ethics, and help us think more fully about living well without sacrificing the authority of scripture.

3. Our third lesson will explore a topic that we may not instinctively associate with ethics: friendship. We’ll explore the role of friendship in living well in God’s world, applying what we’ve learnt over previous two lessons.

4. In our fourth lesson, we will discuss the factors that we should consider when making ethical decisions, both from scripture and from philosophy.

5. And in our final lesson, we will apply the principles of decision making to the question of how we treat the poor around us and in our various communities.

We aim our lessons at Christians who are interested in digging deeper into their faith. Our teaching philosophy is that this can be done in a way that is both accessible to newcomers to a topic and challenging to those experienced with it. Lessons are fairly interactive, and we encourage questions from attendees.

You do not need to know anything about ethics in order to join, you do not need have come to either of our previous modules. You do not need to bring anything other than a pen, and you will not be expected to do homework of any kind.

Modules run on Monday evenings for five weeks, from 24 February to 23 March 2020, at Tokai Community Church. We will send our communications a week or two before we start up, and you’re welcome to drop out then if something’s come up. You don’t need to come to every lesson, but we would prefer it if you did, because we don’t have time to do full recaps.

If you have any further questions, feel free to email us at info@faithseekingunderstanding.co.za.