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Course Criteria
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4.00 Credits
4 hours This course will introduce the religious and philosophical traditions of South Asia. Particularly, it will focus on the historical, textual, and doctrinal foundations of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It will analyze excerpts of their sacred scriptures, survey their beliefs, study their practices, and explore their ethical systems. Additional consideration will be given to contemporary issues facing these traditions. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HEPT, Intcl)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours This course will introduce the religious and philosophical traditions of China, Korea, and Japan. Particularly, it will focus on the historical, textual, and doctrinal foundations of Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shintoism. It will analyze excerpts of their sacred scriptures, survey their beliefs, study their practices, and explore their ethical systems. Additional consideration will be given to contemporary issues facing these traditions. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HEPT, Intcl)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours Using archaeological, literary, and artistic sources together with the Bible, this course examines the environment within which the biblical books were written. Both Old and New Testaments are examined in the light of outside sources. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours An examination of the different ways in which the Jesus tradition was assimilated in the first two centuries of the common era. The course centers its attention on the four New Testament portraits of Jesus because they became the accepted interpretation of Jesus. Those portraits will be compared and contrasted with other ancient options available from recent discoveries. Topics studied will include: the canonical Gospels and the Synoptic problem, several non-canonical Gospels (including especially the Gospel according to Thomas), and the quest for the historical Jesus. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HEPT)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours This course offers an on-site introduction to the "Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," signed in 1999, and to the significant venues of Lutheran- Catholic ecumenism. In order to provide background for the modern ecumenical movement between the two church traditions, the course traces the development of the religious, ecclesiological, and liturgical heritage of Germany and Italy, highlighting the historical development of Christianization from Rome (ancient sites, Vatican) to the Roman settlements among Germanic peoples though the origins of the schism of Martin Luther's time (Wittenberg) to modern efforts on behalf of Roman Catholic-Lutheran reconciliation currently underway (Ecumenical Research Institute, Strasbourg, France-"Joint Declaration on the Doctrine ofJustification"). The course is of particular benefit to students interested in the areas of European history and culture, museum studies, religion, ministry, and languages. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. Offered alternate years. (Rel, Hist, Intcl)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours This course in early Christian history explores the diversity of Christian beginnings through the writings of early Christians that were not included in the New Testament canon. Focusing on the first four centuries of the common era, the course will trace the emergences of the categories "orthodoxy" and "heresyin the context of the struggle for authority between bishops and Gnostic Christian teachers. It examines the testimony of the martyrs whose tortured bodies became central icons and alternative sites of Christian spirituality. It explores the ways in which early Christianity both replicated and modified the values and insights of the larger Greco-Roman world. Attention will be given throughout the course to often invisible historical subjects, such as women and slaves, and to the intersection between historical and contemporary religious debates. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HEPT, Hist)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours A historical survey of the role of religion in American life, focusing on the interaction between religion and culture in the United States. The course will examine the development of religious pluralism in the U.S. and explore selected issues that have arisen and continue to affect American culture, such as religious liberty, revivalism, utopianism, immigration and ethnicity, slavery, fundamentalism, and the contributions of women and minorities. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HB, Hist)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours All religious traditions are in some measure shaped by their conceptions of human nature. Academic theories of religion, too, are shaped by conceptions of human nature. Human self-understanding is therefore central both to the believer's search for religious meaning and to the scholar's search for the meaning of religion. This course will examine the roles played by conceptions of human nature in various religious traditions and in various theories of religion. The course will also assess whether and how contemporary scientific accounts of human nature challenge traditional belief systems. Prerequisite: REL 101 or 111 or REL 112. Offered alternate years. (Rel, HEPT, HB)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours An introduction to the life and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran theologian executed for his participation in a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler. His theological ethics are examined in their historical context through three major primary texts: The Cost of Discipleship, Ethics, and Letters and Papers from Prison. Attention is given to the significance of Bonhoeffer's work for today. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. Offered alternate years. (Rel, HEPT)
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4.00 Credits
4 hours Ever since the rise of modern science in the 17thcentury a lively debate has centered on supposed conflicts between the methods and content of science and those of the religious life. Are the assertions of faith open to scientific scrutiny Are the biblical narratives of creation compatible with evolutionary theory Is the experience of revelation in conflict with the empirical methods of science This course explores aspects of the history and substance of such issues. Prerequisite: one of REL 101, 111, or REL 112. (Rel, HEPT)
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