SPRING 2003 COURSES IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Humanities Core Credit under the old core; Textual Analysis Mode Credit for new core; Required for Religious Studies Major

M W F 10:10-11:00 —Vulgamore 201

Instructor: Ron Mourad

(517) 629-0354 (O)/(734) 475-0475 (H)

1. Attend all classes

2. Read all assigned material and participate actively in class discussions and activities

3. Two exams

4. Two quizzes

5. Field Report (see handout)

Willard G. Oxtoby, World Religions: Western Traditions.

Gwilym Beckerlegge, The World Religions Reader

Participation: 15%

Exam One: 20%

Exam Two: 25%

Quiz One: 10%

Quiz Two: 10%

Field Report: 20%

RS 102:1 Introduction to Eastern Religions

1 Unit CRN # 2066

Humanities Core Credit under the old core; Historical & Cultural Analysis Mode Credit for new core; Required for Religious Studies Major

Instructor: Cybelle Shattuck

TR 12:10-1:30, Vulgamore 204

Description & Objective:

In light of a typology of religious phenomena, this course will critically explore the religious wisdom of the East as represented by Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, and (time permitting) Confucianism, and Taoism, and expressed in their respective sacred literature, myths, symbols, beliefs, and practices.

In addition to intellectual familiarity with the contents of these traditions, the course aims to inculcate in students a critical appreciation for the religious imagination of a tradition other than one's own.

Texts:

Coomarasway & Nividita, Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists

Oxtoby, W. World Religions: Eastern Traditions

RS 102:2 Introduction to Eastern Religions

1 Unit CRN # 2067

Humanities Core Credit under the old core; Historical & Cultural Analysis Mode Credit for new core; Required for Religious Studies Major

Instructor: Cybelle Shattuck

TR 2:10-3:30, Olin 112

Description & Objective:

In light of a typology of religious phenomena, this course will critically explore the religious wisdom of the East as represented by Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Shinto, and (time permitting) Confucianism, and Taoism, and expressed in their respective sacred literature, myths, symbols, beliefs, and practices.

In addition to intellectual familiarity with the contents of these traditions, the course aims to inculcate in students a critical appreciation for the religious imagination of a tradition other than one's own.

Texts:

Coomarasway & Nividita, Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists

Oxtoby, W. World Religions: Eastern Traditions

Description:

The New Testament is not a single book, but an anthology reflecting different authors, historical circumstances, literary genres, and theological agendas. This course is designed as an introduction to the critical study of this and related literature, and of the Jewish, Hellenistic, and Roman cultural environment that was its background. In the context of this environment, we shall examine how a small group of Jews connected with a prophet named Jesus became a separate religion with its own rituals and literature about one they regarded as ‘Son of God’.

We shall analyze the earliest extant Christian documents (the letters of Paul), the production of ‘gospels’ about Jesus, and the development of the early Christian movement, as reflected both in canonical and extracanonical literature. Our aim in this course is to reconstruct the history, literature, and religion of the first Christians in their various shapes. We shall also explore biblical scholarship as an academic field of the liberal arts, and why every educated person ought to know about its findings of the last 200 years. Our main task, however, is to understand what the New Testament writings may have meant in their original, historical context. Students will read the entire New Testament as well as selected extracanonical documents.

Goals:

1. To acquire a general understanding of the methods and results of modern New Testament scholarship.

2. To practice using the techniques of linguistic and literary criticism (close reading) to interpret New Testament literature.

3. To acquire a basic understanding of the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures that constitute the environment in which the New Testament developed.

Required Textbooks:

1. Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings (2nd ed.; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).

2. Bart D. Ehrman, The New Testament and Other Early Christian Writings: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

Evaluation:

Quizzes and/or web summaries 30%

Workbook exercise 20%

Research paper 20%

Two exams 30%

The Dead Sea Scrolls belong to the most important archaeological findings of the past century. The ancient library of a Jewish group called the Essenes, contemporary with the life of Jesus of Nazareth, is shedding significant new light on the textual history and formation of the Old Testament as well as the historical and theological backgrounds of the New Testament.

This course will introduce students to the Dead Sea Scrolls and their contribution to our understanding of the Bible and particularly of Jesus of Nazareth and the early Church. The course will provide a survey of the Scrolls, a brief history of the period in which the Scrolls were written, and a presentation of the various ways in which scholars have interpreted them. The course will also include in-depth study of selected texts and themes that shed light on life and teachings of Jesus, the Gospels, and the letters of Paul. The course will conclude with a discussion of the use of the Scrolls and related literature for Old and New Testament interpretation.

An exhibition on the Dead Sea Scrolls will go on display at the Public Museum of Grand Rapids in February 2003, and the class make a field-trip to this exhibition.

Goals:

1. To acquaint the students with the historical interconnection of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the world of the Bible.

2. To enable the students to see the relevance and value of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other intertestamental literature for understanding the text of the Bible.

3. To develop skills in reading biblical and other ancient literature in their own historical, literary and theological contexts.

4. To understand how the Scrolls and the New Testament interpreted the Hebrew Bible.

5. To acquaint the students with the various Jewish groups and theological emphases of the intertestamental period that are relevant for the study of early Christianity.

Required Textbooks:

1. James C. VanderKam, The Dead Sea Scrolls Today (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995).

2. Geza Vermes (ed.), The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (New York, N.Y.: Allen Lane / The Penguin Press, 1997).

3. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

Evaluation:

1. Attendance and participation 15%

2. Midterm exam 20%

3. Research paper 35%

         4. Final exam 30%

(517) 629-0354 (O)/(734) 475-0475 (H)

This course explores epistemology, or the theory of knowledge, as it applies to religious belief. What is the nature and source of religious belief, and is it irrational? Is there a difference between faith and belief? Is there a conflict between Christian and scientific beliefs? We will examine several classic answers to these questions from thinkers such as Thomas Aquinas, Blaise Pascal, and John Locke. We will also carefully consider the defense of religious knowledge propounded by Alvin Plantinga, a contemporary philosopher of religion.

1. Attend all classes.

2. Read all assigned material and participate actively in class discussions.

3. Two short papers (minimum 1500 words each - approximately 6 typed pages).

5. One final exam.

Paul Helm, ed. Faith and Reason.

Alvin Plantinga. Warranted Christian Belief.

Papers: 25%/each

Final: 25%

Presentation: 10%

Participation: 15%

RS 289: 2 Mysticism and Ecstasy

1 Unit: CRN# 2070

MWF 1.10-2.00 Ferguson 230

Instructor: Ron Mourad

Description:

A number of authors, both contemporary and classical, have thought that mystical or ecstatic experiences provide evidence that supports religious belief. The purpose of this class is to investigate this contention. We will begin by examining and classifying reports of mystical experiences. Next, since many of the subjects of these experiences claim that they defy description in ordinary terms, we will explore the limits and puzzles of religious language. Last, we will question the evidential significance of these experiences. Are mystics reasonable if they base their beliefs on religious ecstasy? Do their experiences provide any support for other people's religious beliefs?

RS 320 Gender and Biblical Interpretation

1 Unit CRN# 2071

Fulfills the Gender Category Requirement

Instructor: Sarianna Metso

TR 3.10-4.30 pm Vulgamore 123

Description

Goals:

1. To become acquainted with some of the principal methods of biblical interpretation in the Jewish and Christian traditions.

2. To discover the indicators by which biblical texts show that they are products of androcentric, patriarchal societies, and to critique the gender constructs in those societies.

3. To discover the cultural functions of biblical literature, both in the cultures that produced the literature and in contemporary cultures.

4. To explore the relationship between biblical perspectives on gender relationships and the religious authority of the Bible. We will be concerned with questions such as: Does the Bible teach a specific hierarchy and prescribed roles for men and women? Can the Bible itself be a liberating resource of role-oppressed women and men.