You may be unable to sort out what you think of the idea of ethics. That's all right. Ethics is not a simple subject since it falls at the junction of faith and action. This course is designed to make careful distinctions about ethical thinking and acting and to illustrate how belief is the foundation of ethics and how ethics is the science of making right choices so our decisions correspond to our faith. Here's a quick distinction between ethics and morality which you will find helpful in the following course material.
Ethics is the delineation of broad principles which govern human life.
Therefore, to undertake an exploration of Christian ethics is to examine these basic principles in the light of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Similarly one could do ethics from a Jewish, Islamic, or Buddhist perspective. While these other traditions of ethics are important, this course will confine itself to the Christian world view. In contrast to ethics, morality is the embodiment of the broad principles mentioned above within a specific context. For example, the practical dimension of loving are understood differently in our North American culture as opposed to the medieval one.