COURSE DESCRIPTION

Studies religions of the world with attention to origin, history, and doctrine. Lecture 3 hours per week.

GENERAL COURSE PURPOSE

To introduce students to the attitudes of other cultures and to other religions and philosophic ideas. There will be a use of the critical methods of interpretation introduced in the twentieth century. There will be a study of the interplay of belles letters and wisdom literature.

ENTRY LEVEL REQUIREMENTS

None

COURSE OBJECTIVES

At the completion of this seminar, students will have developed a comprehension of what religion is in varied cultural settings. Specifically, students should be able to

• Distinguish among terms such as religion, theology, and metaphysics.
• Identify recurring types of world religions: mysticism, loving devotion, obedience and law, and the golden rule
• Use methods of criticism in the study of religion
• Witness the role great religious founders have filled in human history
• Appreciate the distinctive genius of each great religion studied.

• Hinduism: a critical survey of Vedic and Brahmanic literature and thought forms
• Buddhism: Theravedan, Mahayana, and Zen; personalism and detachment; the central philosophy of enlightenment.
• Confucianism: the high ethical religion of China.
• Taoism: the law of the universe and its dialectical unfolding
• Selected motifs.
• Religion's imagination: the Chinese-Japanese TAG, Hundu Dharma, Buddhist Dhamma, Humanist rights, Judaic Torah, Muslim Shariah, Christian spirit
• Religion as metaphor: interplay of belles letters and wisdom literature.