DBMF 405 Divorce, Remarriage and Blended Families

Divorce has both a direct and indirect effect on nearly everybody today. Within the Christian community alone, theological beliefs and debate about divorce and remarriage can be heated and divisive. Yet, for an increasing majority of Americans, it is an emotional and relational reality. Children are often left in the disturbing wake. This course is designed to provide awareness regarding the causes of divorce and the implications on children, families and society, as well as the skills and techniques necessary for helping individuals remarry and join blended families successfully. Time is also spent on the grief following the loss of a spouse to death. This course includes extensive readings and quizzes on those readings, a theological research paper, and case study analysis of families in various stages of divorce, as well as blended families.

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

No details available.

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Case Study Assignments (5)

The student will write an original story for each of the Case Study Assignments. These are stories that will each become a case study. The length of each paper will vary, but each will be formatted according to current APA style. The required sources and citations for each paper will also vary, but each paper will require at least 1 biblical citation. The student must follow the provided order of how the body of each paper should be structured as dictated by each specific assignment. (CLO: A, C, E, F, G) 

The student will develop a personal theological position regarding his/her beliefs about divorce and remarriage. Grading of the student’s paper will include the review of proper hermeneutic and biblical support. Within his/her paper, the student will include proper scholarly and biblical support, offering arguments for and against his/her own proposed position. The student will summarize his/her findings and stated position in a 5–6-page paper (not including Title Page and References) written in current APA style. The paper will use a minimum of 5 sources and contain at least 10 paraphrased citations from these sources. Acceptable sources for these citations include any combination of at least 5 of the following: course textbooks; scholarly journal articles; course presentations; recommended textbooks from the course guide, such as the House (1990) text. In excess to these required citations, the student must include at least 5 Bible citations. (CLO: D)

Quizzes (4)

The student will complete four (4) quizzes within this course that cover Textbook material from the assigned modules: weeks. Each quiz will cover varying numbers (20, 10, 5) of varying question types (multiple-choice, true/false, essay). The quizzes may have different time limits, but each quiz allows for one attempt. (CLO: A, B, C, D, F, G)