WORLD RELIGIONS: Traditions in the Modern World

Religion 301 W—Fall 2001

http://faculty.samford.edu/~drbains/relg301


Mon., Wed., Fri. 10:30 to 11:35am
322 Chapman Hall

Office Hours: Mon. 4:05-5:00pm
Tues. & Thurs. 11-12am

   David R. Bains
Department of Religion
319 Chapman Hall
email: drbains@samford.edu
phone: 726-2879

Course Description:

Investigates the beliefs and practices of major world religions. Special attention is given to formative periods in their history and to their place in the modern world.

Learning Objectives:

The student will be able to:

  1. explain core beliefs and practices of major world religions.
  2. demonstrate how these beliefs and practices have been shaped and reshaped by the cultural context in which the religion has developed.
  3. show how the religious tradition is continuing to adapt and express itself in the modern world.
Required Texts: (In roughly the order they will be read.) McDermott, Gerald R. Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions: Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2000. ISBN 0830822747

Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice-Hall, 1999. ISBN 0-13-011994-6.

Armstrong, Karen. Buddha. New York: Viking Press, 2001. ISBN 0670891932

The Bhagavad-Gita. Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller. New York: Bantam Books, 1986. ISBN 0553213652

Nhat Hanh, Thich. Being Peace: Parallex Press, 1988. ISBN 0938077007

The Koran. Translated by N.J. Dawood and Thomas Wyatt. New York: Penguin, 1999. ISBN 0140445587

Malcolm X, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. New York: Ballentine Books, 1965. ISBN 0345350685

Office Hours:

 I have set office hours for Mon. 4:05-5:00pm, and Tues. & Thurs.11-12am, but I am available to meet with students at many other times, as well. Please email, phone, or see me afterclass.

Attendance and Grading / Department of Religion and Philosophy:

The attendance policy of the Department of Religion and Philosophy will be enforced.

Roll will be taken each day. In a MWF class a student may miss six classes without penalty. After the seventh absence your final grade will be reduced one letter grade. After the ninth absence the student will receive an FA for the course.

Three tardies count as one absence. If you come in after your name is called, you will need to notify your professor at the end of the class period, or else the tardy will become an absence

The Department of Religion and Philosophy grading scale is:
 
A = 95-100% C+ = 78-81%
A- = 92-94% C = 74-77%
B+ = 88-91% C- = 70-73%
B = 85-87% D+ = 66-69%
B- = 82-84% D = 62-65%
D- = 60-62%

Papers that are turned in after the set due date will be penalized one full letter grade for each week that they are late.

Samford University complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Students with disabilities who seek accommodations must make their request through Kathleen Troiano in Disability Support Services. This office is located in Counseling Services on the lower level of Pittman Hall, or can be reached by calling 726-4078 or 726-2105. A faculty member will grant reasonable accommodations only upon notification from the Disability Support Services.

Academic Integrity:

Students are expected to observe high standards of intellectual integrity. (See the Student Handbook.) While study groups are only not permitted but encouraged, all work submitted in this class must be your own. Suspected lapses in academic integrity will be investigated and adjudicated in accordance with the university's values policy.

In all essays and papers you must follow a recognized system for citation of quotes and ideas. Since religion is an interdisciplinary field you may follow whatever system you prefer (e.g., MLA, Chicago, etc.). Other guidelines for essays will be provided

Schedule:

The dates for each unit and assignment are subject to change. The readings and topics for each unit are listed in the order in which we will deal with them readings are underlined. Specific assignments will be announced in class as we go, but as a rule, stay ahead.

Unit I: What are religions? Answers from philosophy, social science, and theology.

[Aug. 27 - Sept. 5]

Ways of studying religion. Fisher, chapter 1

Aug. 29: William James, "Lecture II: Circumscription of the Topic" from Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902 RESERVE or download HTML Note: in this PDF file you only need pp. 25 to 41  PDF

Aug. 31: Clifford Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural System" in The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). RESERVE  An excellent 3-page summary (in English) available from Det Teologiske Fakultet, Aarhus Universitet http://www.teo.au.dk/html/geertz/Classic6c.htm

McDermott, Can Evangelicals introduction, chapters 1 to 5

Take-home I due Sept. 7

 Unit II: Religion in South Asia: Foundations and Theravada Buddhism [Sept. 7- Sept. 21]

The concept of Hinduism

Pre-Hinduism or Early Hinduism Fisher,79-88

Vedic Hinduism (Handout of Creation accounts and other excerpts from the Rig Veda)

Caste System in Modern India--Listen to August 29, 2001 Report on National Public Radio, "Durban--India" Follow the link and scroll down to the article.  Requires RealPlayer.

Axial Age in India

The Hindu (Indian) World view: Samsara

The Upanishads (Handout from the Chandogya Upanishad)

Jainism Fisher, Chapter 4, pp.125-136

Armstrong, Buddha

Deer Park Sermon

 Theravada Buddhism, Fisher, 137-157

Take-home II due Sept. 24

 Unit III: Devotional and Modern Hinduism [Sept. 24- Oct. 3]

Devotionalism / Bhakti

Fisher, 88-116

Bhagavad Gita

 Hinduism in the Modern World Fisher, 116-124

The Vedanta Society--Swami Vivekannanda comes to America

ISKCON

Hindutva
Readings TBA

 Visit to Hindu Temple and Cultural Center in Pelham (open every day, communal gatherings on Saturday and Sunday late mornings) Unit IV: East Asian Religions and Modern Mahayana Buddhism [Oct. 5- Oct. 29]

Bodhisattva ideal and Pure Land Buddhism

Fisher, 157-171 Taoism and Confuscianism Fisher, Chapter 6

Selections from the Tao Te Ching
http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taote-ex.html

Selections from the Analects http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/analects.html

 McDermott Ch. 7 & 8

Mediation Buddhism (Zen)

Oxherding Pictures

Greyston Foundation http://www.greystonbakery.com/foundation.html

Mountain Record http://www.mro.org/mr/journal.shtml

Zen Mountain Monastery http://www.mro.org/zmm/zmm.shtml

 Buddhism in the Modern World Fisher, 171-177

Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Smokey Bear Sutra by Gary Synder

 McDermott, Chapter 6

Take Home III Due Oct. 31

 Unit V: Judaism and its confrontation with Modernity [Oct. 31 - Nov. 12]

Selections from Hebrew Scriptures, TBA
Fisher, Chapter 8
Herman Wouk,This is My God, ch. 13-16, [on Law and Talmud
Pittsburg Platform (1885) http://ccarnet.org/platforms/pittsburgh.html

A Statement of Principles for Reformed Judaism (1999) http://ccarnet.org/platforms/principles.html

The Sacred Cluster: The Core Values of Conservative Judaism http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/luminaries/monograph/core.shtml

Take Home IV Due Nov. 14

 Unit VI: Islam and concluding problems [Nov. 14 - Dec. 7]

Fisher, Chapter 10

Koran, Suras TBA

Sikhism and Religious Reform (Bah'ai)

Fisher, Chapter 11 & pp. 437-439

Autobiography of Malcolm X, 126-382

 Final Exam--Take Home Due Dec. 10 Assignments Since this is a "W" or writing course significant attention will be given to take-home writing assignments. The format of these will very. Some will be multi-page essays, others may demand more concise essays. These assignments will assess your command of the major worldviews of the religious traditions and their historical development. They will also assess your ability to compare different religious traditions showing how they address particular issues similarly or differently.

There will also be several short quizzes on days to be announced. These will test your mastery the basic vocabulary and chronology of the religious traditions.

Encountering different religions in the "real world" is an essential part of the learning process. A site visit report is also required. The weight assigned to each assignment is shown in the chart below.

Take Home I 7.5%
Take Home II 15%
Take Home III 15%
Take Home IV 10%
Final Exam 25%
Quizzes 15%
Report on field visit 7.5%

Resources:

This is a short list of resources that will be useful in exploring world religions. This is only a starting point. You will want to use other sources as well. Consult the bibliographies at the end of each chapter in Fisher, Living Religions.

I am in the process of ordering new books to enhance the library’s collection on World Religions. Let me know what the library does not have that you need.

••••Tweed, Thomas A., and Stephen Prothero, eds. Asian Religions in America: A Documentary History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Location: On reserve. ••••Plantinga, Richard J.,ed Christianity and Plurality: Classic and Contemporary Readings. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1999. A useful book for explore issues raised by McDermott. A collection of the most important texts the Christian theology of religion from throughout Christian history. The essays by Hendrik Kraemer and Karl Rahner are recommended for providing two dramatically different views of the issue. ••••Eliade, Mircea, ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion. 16 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1986.
The major scholarly reference. An essential source. Location: Theology Reference section BL31 E46 1986. ••••Eck, Diana, ed. On Common Ground: World Religions in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. CD-ROM. An interactive CD-ROM that provides basic overviews of the major world religions and some minor ones. Devotes particular attention to their presence in America and to the implications of religious diversity for American life. The section on "Encountering Religious Diversity" is particularly good. Lots of good pictures. Some good music and interviews. Runs on either Mac or Windows..
Location: Multiple copies will be available at the reserve desk.
For a guide to using this resource see http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ocg/
For the continuing work of the team that created it see http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~pluralsm/ ••••Smith, Jonathan Z., ed. Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion. New York: Harper Collins, 1995. Perhaps the best of many one-volume reference books, Good essays on major traditions and themes. Basic information on people and concepts. Look on the shelf in this section for other good sources.
Location: Theology Reference section BL31 H37 1995

Smith, Jane I. Islam in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Seager, Richard Hughes. Buddhism in America New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.

Basic, up to date texts. Additional works in this series are forthcoming.
Location: On reserve for this course.

Other Internet Guides.
I maintain a selective list of links in World Religions on my web page. (http://faculty.samford.edu/~drbains/relg301/301links.html). The category indices maintained by Google, Yahoo, and other web sites are quite useful. Beware, however, the quality of web sites varies greatly.